# I Just Want It Straight Is Purina Dog Chow Good At All!!!!



## pupskersandhutch (Nov 20, 2006)

I just want to know so I tell my friend a straight answer!!!


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## LabLady101 (Jul 5, 2006)

There is no straight answer. The only answer I'll ever have for something like this is "if you're dog is doing well on it and you're getting the results you want, then there's no reason to switch- regardless of what anyone says". Dog food is just a HIGHLY personal thing. There is no right or wrong, or straight answer.


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## all4thedogs (Sep 25, 2006)

Its not something that I would feed my dogs. I am not at all impressed with the ingredients. Here are just the first few ingredients "Ground yellow corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal digest" 

First off, I want a specific meat (like Chicken) as the first ingredient, NEVER corn or another grain. I personally do no like corn in a dog food. I consider it a filler, which equals waste. Next is poultry by-product meal. There are 2 major concerns with this. First it is named poultry, not a specific named meat, this could be chicken, turkey, duck etc, I like my ingredients to be specific. Next, I personally do not like by-products. There is more corn (in the form of gluten), soybean meal, which is a common allergen. Animal digest, which I personally find disgusting. 

All in all I consider Dog Chow a very low quality food. I would no recommend it to anyone.


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## all4thedogs (Sep 25, 2006)

The Naturally Complete Formula is a little better, but I still would not feed it to my dogs. (Whole grain corn, chicken meal, beef, whole wheat, corn gluten meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), soybean meal, brown rice, oat meal, pearled barley).

Again with the corn, but this time there is specific meats. Also wheat is a very common allergen in dogs etc


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## britishbandit (Dec 11, 2006)

Very true Lablady. But here's my personal opinion on the matter. Sure, a dog can live on low quality food, but then again, we could live on McDonalds every meal, every day.......it doesn't mean it's good for us or doing our bodies any good. Same goes for our dogs.

I would never feed my dogs a food crammed with fillers and garbage they don't need, that may end up making them eat and eat and eat because they aren't getting the nutrients they need. I want my dogs to have the best quality of lives, and live a very long time. Food is a part of that, so I only feed premium high quality food. That doesn't mean you have to spend a bomb on it either, there is good quality food out there a very reasonable prices. Some cheaper or the same in price than (what I call junk), like Pedigree, Eukanuba, Iams, Purina....etc.

Feeding low quality food years ago also cost me a lot in vet bills, and also cost my dogs quality of life. Anywhere from my dogs getting sick a lot, the runs, dry flakey skin, eye problems. It cost me more in vet bills than it would've in feeding better food in the first place. Plus I had to see my dogs constantly "miserable". Never again.


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## LabLady101 (Jul 5, 2006)

britishbandit said:


> Very true Lablady. But here's my personal opinion on the matter. Sure, a dog can live on low quality food, but then again, we could live on McDonalds every meal, every day.......it doesn't mean it's good for us or doing our bodies any good. Same goes for our dogs.


Ya know, come to think of it, I don't know why we keep comparing some of these dog foods to McDonalds. Really, have you seriously taken a look at some of the healthier items McDonalds is offering these days? Not only that, but I will say in McDonalds defense that they are one of the very few fast food chains that has not "supersized" their combos as of late. Look at Hardees, Taco Johns, etc. and what they offer as a "small" combo and you'll see what I mean. Also, if you are going to continue to go down this avenue, you might as well be aware that the ingredients in Dog Chow (although it's not one of my personal favorites either) are far better than most foods at McDonalds. You're not going to see McDonalds feed you corn or rice. So, while I'm definately not trying to endorse eating at McDonalds every day, I just don't think this analogy fits anymore- any way you flip it. 

No, I personally will never feed Dog Chow to my dogs, but I do have to say that there is nothing wrong with it if a dog is doing well on it. For crying out loud, some of the most respected breeders in the country feed it and their dogs are perfectly healthy- with generations of health tested dogs to back them up! Are you going to tell them they are all wrong for feeding it? I'm not. Obviously they know what works for their dogs and it's not up to me to mess with a winning formula. It really does depend upon the individual dog as well as the owner. If the dog is doing great and the owner is getting the results they want to see, there is no reason to switch regardless of the "quality" of the food- which, btw, is very much in the eye of the beholder for this very reason, no two people can completely agree.


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## britishbandit (Dec 11, 2006)

Have you looked at the McD's food guidelines? I think you'd be surprised that even their salads are high in calories.

Anyway, that's beside the point, the point I was making is that we too can live on junk (choose your own junk if you don't like the McD's example), we can live on it, it still doesn't make it healthy or good for us.

Call me stubborn because I've experienced what poor quality dog food can do. I've had problems with 3 dogs from it, and did have with Tysa and PJ before I switched them to a premium food. I've studied a lot on dog nutrition, and a lot of the lower end foods do have a lot of stuff that our dogs don't need, and not enough of what they do need.

My dogs took a huge turn for the better, shiney healthy looking coats, more energy, clearer eyes, firmer stools....overall, a big difference. Nothing changed besides the food. So you tell me? Why do you think that is?


Oh, edited to add - I never said anyone was "wrong" for feeding it. But you want healthier, happier dogs, yeah, I suggest using a better food.


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## LabLady101 (Jul 5, 2006)

I've also studied a lot on dog nutrition, and while I agree I like to feed what I would personally consider better quality than Dog Chow, I can find nothing technically wrong with Dog Chow. No, it's not a food I would prefer to feed my dogs, but I can't see anything wrong with it if someone's dog is doing very well on it. Feeding these types of foods does not always end in tragedy. Frankly, if it did I'm sure it wouldn't be out on the shelves anymore. There definately are much worse things dogs could be fed.

I'm not saying that your personal experiences are wrong. I'm just saying that it's not the end of the world if someone's dog does do best on foods like Dog Chow and they stick with it for that reason. Also, those results would depend upon the person seeing them. For example, I would not see a shiney coat as a good thing, not in my breed. For my breed, I want to see a duller coat with a coarse to the touch texture. Soft and shiney would be very incorrect for my breed. And since I happened to care that my dogs are in correct coat for their breed, I won't feed them some of these "higher" quality foods that are too rich for them and therefore give them the runs no matter how little you feed besides utterly destroying their proper coats. So, you see, that's also where it comes down to this being in the eye of the beholder.


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## workingdog (Oct 19, 2006)

I would never feed purina dog chow but i do feed purina one. My dogs look great and feel great. We have some of the top pulling dogs in the NW and let me tell you, that can't happen on crap food. I do mix it with Chicken soup for the dog lovers soul but i just started that.


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## Keno's Mom (Nov 20, 2006)

IMO - No - there are far better quality foods out there. Stay away from Purina products (dog and cat).


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## skelaki (Nov 9, 2006)

Purina dog food is about as good as if you fed your children (or future children) a diet of McDonalds hamburgers every day, every meal.


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## tessa_s212 (Jun 16, 2006)

Judging entirely on the ingredients, no, it is not a good dog food by my standard.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

^^Very educational site.


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## workingdog (Oct 19, 2006)

Well all i can say, is the proof is in the pudd'en for us.


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## wheezie wayne (Dec 23, 2006)

check out the ingredients. lots of by products and grains


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## broadwaybones (Jun 11, 2007)

If there is nothing wrong with the current state of food that most dogs are eating today then why do these current statistics exist:
1 in every 3 dogs will get cancer.
50% of those will die from it!
Cause believed to be (by Vet Med Journal) environmental substances
There are chemical preservatives used in pet food that OSHA has deemed toxic waste. Others that are used in the production of pesticides and rubber.
BHA and BHT are know to cause liver cancer in animal!!!
Why do they continue to use these.
Simple- commercial dog food can sit on a store shelf for two years and not go bad.
That is an oxymoron.
If the commerical dog food companies were to switch to an all natural means of preserving their foods, they would only have a shelf life of 6 to 9 months.
$$$$ placed before quality and health.
Would you want to support those companies?
I don't!


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## GreyhoundGirl (May 23, 2007)

britishbandit said:


> My dogs took a huge turn for the better, shiney healthy looking coats, more energy, clearer eyes, firmer stools....overall, a big difference. Nothing changed besides the food. So you tell me? Why do you think that is?


Just want to add a bit more to this. Jenny ( who we always assumed she was a black dog...) She was fed kibbles and bits, iams, purina, purina ONE, beneful, pedegree, every crappy food you can think of! She had a black coat. ~ About the beginning of 2007 we switched her over to CSFTDLS (super quality food!) and her coat is now Brindle. (yes, you heard me) This is a perfect coat coming in over her previously dull, rough, coarse coat. Her coat is now very shiney and soft, she has no dandruff and even sheds less! We very often get compliments on her coat. (although personally I think she looks a little funny now, I guess I'm so used to her being black... lol) 



britishbandit said:


> more energy, clearer eyes, firmer stools


Same with Jenny... I feel that my experiences with Jenny mean that CSFTDLS is a much better food to be feeding then any of the ones I named above. 

EDIT: And what we have to remember is, feeding poor quality food may be cheaper in some cases now, but in the long run you'll have more vet bills to pay... So you'd probably come out on top from feeding good quality foods, as far as money goes.


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## BoxMeIn21 (Apr 10, 2007)

Yep Purina is crap in my book and in pretty much all the dog food sites I have looked at - except for Purina's ofcourse 
Here's the food analysis site. 
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
Here's Purina One's review...
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=259&cat=all


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

> I Just Want It Straight Is Purina Dog Chow Good At All!!!!
> 
> I just want to know so I tell my friend a straight answer!!!



The answer is NO. There's nothing good about DDD (dead, dieing and diseased) in dog food, not to mention that includes DDD dogs and cats along with horse, cow, road kill, etc.


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## Zelek (Jun 3, 2021)

LabLady101 said:


> Ya know, come to think of it, I don't know why we keep comparing some of these dog foods to McDonalds. Really, have you seriously taken a look at some of the healthier items McDonalds is offering these days? Not only that, but I will say in McDonalds defense that they are one of the very few fast food chains that has not "supersized" their combos as of late. Look at Hardees, Taco Johns, etc. and what they offer as a "small" combo and you'll see what I mean. Also, if you are going to continue to go down this avenue, you might as well be aware that the ingredients in Dog Chow (although it's not one of my personal favorites either) are far better than most foods at McDonalds. You're not going to see McDonalds feed you corn or rice. So, while I'm definately not trying to endorse eating at McDonalds every day, I just don't think this analogy fits anymore- any way you flip it.
> 
> No, I personally will never feed Dog Chow to my dogs, but I do have to say that there is nothing wrong with it if a dog is doing well on it. For crying out loud, some of the most respected breeders in the country feed it and their dogs are perfectly healthy- with generations of health tested dogs to back them up! Are you going to tell them they are all wrong for feeding it? I'm not. Obviously they know what works for their dogs and it's not up to me to mess with a winning formula. It really does depend upon the individual dog as well as the owner. If the dog is doing great and the owner is getting the results they want to see, there is no reason to switch regardless of the "quality" of the food- which, btw, is very much in the eye of the beholder for this very reason, no two people can completely agree.


Lady the fact you're defending McDonald's makes me seriously question your intelligence. The reason people are bringing up McDonald's is because it's easily understood by everyone that eating fast food all the time is not good and McDonald's is universally known to be junk fast food all over the world. Secondly, from the brief research I have done the ingredients are absolute garbage compared to other alternatives. Why are you here giving stupid opinions and claiming you studied when it's clear you didn't. It really irks me when people like you give terrible information and pretend you know what you're talking about. If you don't know what you're talking about just shut the hell up and don't spread misinformation. Especially if you yourself aren't feeding it to your own dogs 🤡


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## LittleFr0g (Jun 11, 2007)

This thread is 14 years old


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