[GUER03]

My previous female wasn't able to eat NutroMax, Science Diet, Iams because she would break out quite a bit. The vet at that time, about 15 years ago, told me to try plain old Purina products, so I did. She did good on it so I kept her on Purina products the rest of her life. She was 12 when she passed.

Now, as I am shopping around for a pup I am looking at and pricing everything I could need/want for when I have my new pup. I want to have everything in place for when she arrives. So, I wanted to ask if anyone uses/used Nutro Max for their Dobe? There is such a huge selected of 'choice' dog food now so I'm kinda confused. Thanx for any help you may give.

 

[joce]

for whats in nutro it is pretty overpriced. May be better than purina but its not the greatest.

Look into solid gold,innova,canidae. I'm sure others will have more suggestions.

 

[dobes4me]

I fed Abby Nutro Max for the first 10 years of her life (she is now almost 12 1/2), then switched to Nutro Ultra Holistic when we moved to Arizona. I thought I was feeding her a good quality food. When we got Indy, our dog trainer educated us on what to look for in a quality dog food. We then switched to Natural Balance Organic and used that until a couple of months ago when we switched to Innova.

There's nothing wrong with Nutro Max. Before Abby, we used it for many years on other dogs. That said, now that I know there are better brands out there, I would never go back to Nutro. I am very happy with the Innova I am now feeding them. One of the main differences I saw in the dogs when we switched them to a better quality food was that they looked better (coat was shinier and softer, etc). Also, the size and quantity of their stools decreased.

I would definitely look at other brands...

 

[RockysBigBro]

I fed my pup Rocky Nutro Max puppy for the first week that I had him, because thats what the breeder fed him. He was perfectly fine on it and enjoyed the taste. After coming to this website and doing research on different food brands, I realized that there are much better foods out there.

The first 6 months are when a puppy grows the most, so I wanted to give Rocky the best possible start. About a week ago I switched him to Canidae All life Stages. I have already noticed his stools becoming firmer and smaller. (Less poop to clean, Woo Hoo!) Im sure in the long run I will notice other benefits like better coat and better health, but its too early to see much of a difference yet. Here a large bag of Canidae costs $35 while Nutro costs about $30, so its no big difference. The portion sizes are a bit smaller in Canidae, so the bag lasts longer, which makes it even more cost effective. I can also feed Canidae to my older dog, so thats pretty awsome.

This website was a big help to me when I was searching for a good food:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

Hope I helped

 

[CoAl-s-Mom]

If you want to feed Nutro, I would go with the Ultra version. I recently was reading the ingredients at Petco and it looked pretty good. The other Nutro products aren't great IMO.

I fed Nutro quite a few years ago and my Dobermans threw up bile on a regular basis. I'm not the only Doberman owner to notice that problem with Nutro either.

 

[MandysBlackRoses]

I fed Nutro Max to the puppies for the first 3 weeks, then switched to Nutro Natural, then to Nutro Ultra. It's not the greatest buy for your money. But they make big bags, and it's easy to find.

I read someplace that Nutro worked really great with black coats. I'm sure alot of other brands do as well...But the girls coats are looking awesome on it.

 

[GUER03]

Wow, it sounds like it wouldn't be the best selection for me then. I am planning on a Black female so I'd like something that would be good for her coat so I'll probably try one of the others mentioned here. I'll do some more research on here and read some dog food threads and get a little more familiar with whats out there.

I do a lot of hunting so I usually have a lot of meat. I save the deer femurs for my dogs and one time I gave her an Elk femur. It looked like a Dinosaur bone that Fred gives to Dino!

I like to make some deer meat on the grill and feed that about once a week as well. They love that also and the vet said it was pretty good for them since there were no chemicals, preservatives and stuff like that in the meat. Thanx again for all the help.

 

[hbwright]

I switched both the dogs to Canidae and while my senior is still in the switching phase I switched the puppy over faster (just had more senior food left over then the REALLY crappy puppy food I was feeding Jordan). In literally days Jordan's coat is so soft and shiney it almost looks wet all the time. At first I was thinking it was just puppy fur and it is supposed to look young and vibrant, but this is dramatic. I've also started to notice a difference in my senior dogs coat (she is a golden/chow/GSD, etc. kind of hairy, beautiful mongrel type dog).

I considered using the Nutro Ultra but it is more expensive then the Canidae and I'd have to use two different foods. I started using Nutro for the cats and wasn't impressed and I used the wet food for my senior but if you look at the recall list you'll see how that went.

 

[lyngr]

We currently use California Natural.. Our girls are doing fantastic on it. The dobe has a BEAUTIFUL coat and tolerates it very well (and she has a very sensitive stomach).
It's also fairly easy to find.

**I also think it's worth mentioning that you should consider supplimenting the kibble with enzymes (miracle stuff imo) like 'Dogzymes'.**



(Canidae is great stuff too).

 

[Tessa]

I switched from nutro to best breed german diet about 4 years ago noticed a big difference within a few months. I still believe a raw diet is best but just havnt graduated to that yet

 

[dobes4us]

I feed nutro in the past for a number of years and my guys did very nice on it. But with liver problems and allergies, I have taken them off. We recently got a puppy and she is on and will remain on Canidae. Three dogs, three different foods, its fun!!!

 

[Riagogogo]

A puppy needs different things than an adult. But from an adult dobe owner standpoint, I've done massive research. Rudi was on Iams lamb and rice when I got him from the rescue at 2 1/2 years old. After the first 9-12 months I switched him to Nurto naturals lamb and rice......he continued to have a dry/flaky coat. I switched him over to Innova EVO (chicken/turkey based) about 3 months ago and the difference has been amazing. The adult EVO doesn't have any grains, which I beleive a puppy needs more carbs vs protein until a year old or so. Innova is as close to a raw diet without all the prep.

 

[LTH]

As lots of you already know, Gaston & Roxy eat Canidae All Life Stages. I have people tell me all the time how great their coats are and I have to agree!!!!

 

[dobes4me]

**I also think it's worth mentioning that you should consider supplimenting the kibble with enzymes (miracle stuff imo) like 'Dogzymes'.**

I totally agree. I swear by that stuff!
http://www.naturesfarmacywest.com/

 

[robinb]

Canidae is one of the few companies that claim that all the ingredients are sourced from America. I like Canidae and also like the fact that it does not contain anything from China.

 

[BackInBlack]

I have to chime in with my solid gold bit..... I think they have excellent products. www.solidgoldhealth.com They source only in america also. The exception is lamb, which they get from New Zealand.

I do agree that I think RAW is the best, I just never thought I could stomach it. (I hate handling raw meat) So far so good.

I honestly think that it varies from dog to dog what they will do best on though.

Solid Gold makes a product called SeaMeal, that I think improves coats. You could also add fish oil or flaxseed oil.