Originally Posted by bernermom

We just recently started Riley on new food. It's called Blue. He Loves it!!!!!! Has anyone ever used it before?

We started our puppy on Blue. Appeared to be a bit rich and contributed to soft stools. Switched to adult food at 9months & things improved greatly.
That's our experience thus far.

Being a new owner, I read many articles regarding the "best food" for our BMD. We have settled on Buffalo "Blue". I read the first three ingredients on each dog food label at Tractor Supply, the local supermarket and Petco. This was the only food available that did not list by-products or other such items among its major ingredients. It contains meat, fruits and vegetables. We have seen a change in both his energy level and all-around appearance.

Originally Posted by stitch413

hey all,

Been at the vets so many times and he couldn't figure out why he wouldn't eat properly... The problem is solved now though.

We put him up at my sister's house with his Brother 'Buffalo King'. King is an absolute beast and will eat anything... and i mean anything! He would eat Darby's food if darby didn't eat it and soon enough he began to eat.

I have since switched vets (did this when darby came home limping from an overnight stay!) and our new vet has given us a bag of Royal canin giant breed junior (said if he wouldnt eat it to bring it back for a refund). Well he loves it, he will eat it all when its put down though he still doesn't overeat.

The vet also said our dog was weird as he would eat her dog 'treats' made for sick dogs which are completely bland but wouldn't eat any other food she had! until i got home with the new nuts.

I think the problem was the size of the nut, he still doesn't eat small kibble but loves the large crunchy ones like royal canin.

thanks for the help guys

Hi there
We also feed our Berner 'Royal Canin'. Although that's the food our breeder fed her dogs, we kept it up and absolutely love it!!! (it's local here in Guelph, ON)
...we actually have an issue of Heidi eating too quickly has anyone else had this issue?

Every morning we do put a tablespoon of flaxseed-oil on her food which does wonders for her coat and then give her some stuff at night as 'toppers' (yogurt, cottage cheese, apple, carrot, stew, etc.)

I found a great grading system in another forum for many (but not all) foods. Although not perfect, I think the system is an excellent reference and makes good common sense when analyzing foods.

Wileys great list of grading foods

Just scroll down to see a list of foods and further down, the grading system

Although I am a new owner I also did much reading and talking to breeders, trainers etc.
One opinion that made sense to me was to read the first three ingredients and ask if you would eat them yourself
With that, the Blue Buffalo was the best I have found. We buy it a Tractor Supply and have found our adopted BMD has thrived over the last 4 months.
From my reading I found that dog foods originated from food processing companies that wanted to use the "wasted" ingredients from the foods they were processing. Ingredients that mention "by-products" are really a euphemism for leftovers with little or no nutritional value. Many of the less expensive dog foods contain fillers such as oats, flour, wheat and corn and have no nutritional value. Meat should be the first ingredient followed by 50% carbs.
I am not an expert but have want my rescued BMD to live longer than the average life span.
tom
Tom

I find this interesting. I also feed Storm Royal Canin. when he was smaller, I had to slow his growth down by feeding him less. well this turned into, I feed him what ever I have for dinner and his cup and half of kibble is put down in the morning and he eats when he is hungry. some nights the bowl still has food in it.

I eat healthy, never processed food. Storm gets all the vegtables and just a little meat if I have some. His weight has been maintained this way, as well as daily exercise.

storm loves all vegtables. I am having a problem right now with the dry skin, so I have been supplementing with fish about 4x's a week. He lives outside where he loves to lay on the mountain of snow we have in north Ontario.

I do not give him a bone unless it is a knuckle bone, my fault, to scared of splinters.

Originally Posted by frisssel

I find this interesting. I also feed Storm Royal Canin. when he was smaller, I had to slow his growth down by feeding him less. well this turned into, I feed him what ever I have for dinner and his cup and half of kibble is put down in the morning and he eats when he is hungry. some nights the bowl still has food in it.

I eat healthy, never processed food. Storm gets all the vegtables and just a little meat if I have some. His weight has been maintained this way, as well as daily exercise.

storm loves all vegtables. I am having a problem right now with the dry skin, so I have been supplementing with fish about 4x's a week. He lives outside where he loves to lay on the mountain of snow we have in north Ontario.

I do not give him a bone unless it is a knuckle bone, my fault, to scared of splinters.

Hi, I feed a raw diet bones and all. My berner loves it. His coat looks great and best of all his diarrhea is gone. We battled with that from day 1 as a puppy. He loves the variety of meats and some veggies. His weight is great, not growing to fast for a big boy. It takes alittle getting use to, as far as knowing what to feed but I had a good friend who feeds raw help me learn about it. I switched my other dog as well and he is doing great. He suffered from ear infections all the time and his ears have cleared up and his teeth look great for a 10 year old. Wish I had done it sooner.

Try freezing small kibbles/treats....this worked with our dog who was sick and lost his appetite. For some reason he all of a sudden didn't like the "smells". By freezing, it alleviates most of the smells and he liked the crunchiness.

We are new Berner owners as well. After hours of researching and talking to the bredders and various owners and countless nights online we are feeding are berner Solid Gold wolf pack w/bravo raw diet mixed in and some chopped fruits and veggies he has been doing great looks great and loves the food and is content after eating. heard and read lots of good things about Solid Gold

We feed GO Chicken, fruit and vegetables. We did A LOT of research before choosing our food, it's about a 5 star food- we also like that it's made in Canada, we looked at orijen but didn't want a high protein food.
dogfoodanalysis.com is a good website to start at!

There are many great premium, dry, adult small dog kibble brands out there that are both healthy and nutritional- it really just depends on the buyer's price range, if the dog has an health problems/allergies, and what food you are currently feeding them.


Diamond Small Breed Adult is a great Premium dog food with small kibble bits, no corn/wheat/soy, no artificial colorings/flavors/preservatives, and wholesome, known sourced ingredients. Diamond Small Breed is one of the best basic, premium foods on the shelf. This brand would be a good choice for someone with a tighter budget.

Next up would be a couple different Holistic formulas including- Nature's Variety Prairie and/or Instinct, Wellness Small Breed, Halo Adult, and Natural Balance Small Breed/Bites. Holistic formulas not only contain meat protein sources, but fruits and veggies as well for a nice balanced diet.

Nature's Variety and Natural Balance Small Bites are both All-Life-Stage Diets, meaning it can be fed from puppies to seniors. Both have small kibbles, no unspecified byproducts, no corn/wheat/soy, single sourced proteins, and nothing artificial.

Nature's Variety has two separate lines known as Prairie and Instinct. Prairie is made with only wholesome grains and absolutely no corn/wheat/soy. Instinct is completely grain free for dogs with extra sensitive systems. Both of the kibbles are bio-coated with raw food for an added yummy taste and to create a unique option of switching from flavor-to-flavor with less concern/risk of an upset tummy. This is especially handy if you have a picky dog who doesn't like to settle with one flavor for very long.

Wellness Small Breed and Halo are both EXCELLENT small breed formulas withs super small kibble, Halo being the smallest kibble I have ever come across. Both of these formulas are corn/wheat/soy free, contain no artificial flavorings/colorings/preservatives, and contain only ingredients approved by company inspectors.

Finally come the raw and dehydrated diets. Raw diets are exactly what they sound like...raw meat processed and packaged with extreme care and precaution by amazing companies like Nature's Variety, Stella and Chewy's, and Primal. Some of the formulas, like Nature's variety, contain added fruits and vegetables to create a more holistic approach, while others contain just meat. This diet is a great option, especially for dental health, because this is how dogs would eat in the wild- this is their natural way of eating food. The active enzymes in the raw meat plus the breaking apart of "frozen" meat does wonders for keeping the dogs teeth clean.

Dehydrated diets are also great options, although they are on the higher priced end of dog foods- they are exceptional in their quality and only require measuring out and being mixed with water. Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy's, and Nature's Variety all offer dehydrated diets. Honest Kitchen is processed in USDA approved facilities and has nothing but nutrition in it.

In the end, there is not one dog food that is "the best." Different dogs require different needs and diets, and different dogs react different to different foods. Asking yourself the following question can help you narrow down your search and feel more confident in sharing/asking for information from someone at your local pet food store-

1) Does my pet have any health problems?
2) Does he/she have any allergies?
3) What food is he/she currently eating right now?
4) What breed/type of dog is he/she?
5) How old is my dog?
6) Do I have any other pets that I need to take into consideration while making a food choice?

Science Diet, Eukanuba, Iams, Beneful, Purina, Old Roy, and other grocery store brands usually contain excess amounts of corn, wheat, soy, artificial colorings/flavors/preservatives, and other unhealthy, non-nutritional fillers. Be sure to take the time to read the ingredient panels.