I have an Australian Sheppard I adopted two years ago who is about 6 or 6.5 years old. I've always fed him Pedigree Complete Nutrition, yet now that he is approaching "senior" years, thought of switching to Purina One.

I've read the ingredients and they seem pretty much the same, yet have any of you gals that have used either product, or both, seen a difference in your dog?

Thanks!

I changed Diz to Natural Choice for Seniors and she really likes it.

Jack isn't 3 yet, so we're a ways from giving him senior food. However, we feed him Pedigree canned. He had some tummy trouble eating the dry, so I switched him to canned and he loved it.

MustangGirl doesn't Pedigree make a Senior or maybe diet product? I'm assuming you want to change because he has less energy or is gaining weight? Whatever product you decide to use and you may already know this but so as not to disrupt his GI tract...Mix the two for while, adding 1/4 new food to the old, the 1/2, then 3/4 and so on. This usually works great and they take well to the change...any sudden complete change of food can cause serious diahrea...

[ March 03, 2006, 09:19 PM: Message edited by: chatty lady ]

When our dogs reach 7 or 8 we start them on senior food. I'm not sure what brand we used for the last ones, I think maybe Purina, but it seems to me when I compared ingredients, the senior formulas included more elements for joint health.

Just be careful of the ingredients. I thought the
"name brands" Pedigree and Purina would be "good" for my pet -- then I read the ingredients of chicken-by-products and corn !!

I was very disappointed in them !

and a few of the expensive pet store brands my poms and german shepherd were allergic too and made them very sick

so I have found WalMart's Ol Roy Lamb Meal and Rich Skin and Coat formula is not only 1/2 the price -- but has all the good ingredients and the dogs tummy's have no problem with it

Well, I just want to jump in here!

Our Winston, an old lab, by any standards, was failing. He had arthritis, and was showing it. He had spent 2 years in the mountains with another family when I could not have him where I lived..... And was fed Purina. When we got him back, he had lost his bark!!!!!!!!!!! I had never heard of such a thing, and did some research. What I found, amazed me. I could readily see that my dog had lost much besides his bark - and he was already 15 years old. So I decided to take the risk.

I began to make his own food. I called it "doggy stew". I made a "stew" of 10 grain cereal, spinach, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, and whatever meat was on sale - mostly liver (of any kind) or chicken....What I saw was nothing short of amazing....His bark came back!!! He began to move around more like he used to and enjoy his life with us. Sadly, after another 2 years, he left us, but, still, I think, at his age, he would have left us sooner......My only thought was that even if you feed your animal the best of prepared foods (we did move him to Science Diet) , they don't have the very best ingredients to sustain long life!!! So now, I am a proponent of making-your-own!!!!

Searcher

Oh, but I should mention, we also fed him vitamins for senior dogs. Only $5 for a huge bottle......well worth the effort. You may buy these at Wal Mart.

Searcher, my dogs better not ever meet yours, they'll move to Idaho!

I have to agree here with Searcher and its not that difficult either. I make a huge pot of stew the only difference between hers and mine is I also add flax and brewers yeast to mine. Then let it cool and divide into in small containers and freeze. One container (about a cup) feeds my two Yorkies.....There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you gave him the additional years of life, without you he'd have been a goner.

[ March 03, 2006, 09:24 PM: Message edited by: chatty lady ]

Searcher - that is sooooo cool !!! Winston was a VERY lucky dog for sure

I wish I could give my shepherd homemade food but her tummy doesnt seem to tolerate anything good for her.

I can always tell when my sister-in-law or hubby "sneak" her goodies off their plate -- her tummy rumbles all night long and she gets the runs. The only thing she tolerates is bread -- so that is her "treat" -- she can't even have dog biscuits -- course -- she keeps her shape this way ;-)

We use Natural Choice or Natures Recipe...also Petsmarts brand...same as Iams!

Well, I thought it was fun to make his food! My son would come in, and say "MOM! you can smell that all the way down the block - I'm starving, you make stew for dinner?" (Sam loves stew!). He'd be so disappointed it was for Winston. LOL.

Flipperjo - you and your dogs are welcome any time - and I'm cookin'!!

Thanks, Chatty. Actually, there was flax in the 10 grain cereal, but I think it would have better if I had added the brewer's yeast.

One thing that was kinda funny - I learned his preferences for the kind of meat I was using. He preferred beef to chicken, and sometimes I would use pork which he really liked !!

Lionspaaw, I wonder if you could start out with just the grain - Chatty should know, ask her. Hey Chatty?

Searcher

By the way, I learned that onions aren't good for dogs, so don't use those, but garlic is excellent!

I am a newbie groomer and have been looking at old posts. I thought I would add something here. Purina isn't a very good food if you look at the ingredients. Ol Roy is one of the worst food you can feed according to a vet I used to work for. We feed Natures Recipe for easy digestion as my dogs are prone to digestive problems. I don't like Science Diet. If you look at the ingredients it uses corn which isn't good. Anything with corn as a filler is bad. I don't recommend it unless a vet says use it for a certain condition such as a diet or whatever. Corn has no nutritional value at all. Wheat isn't good either. I don't know what Iams has in it, just look at the label or compare foods online at Petsmart.com. I hope this helps. My dogs really like Nature's Recipe. You can also go to the more expensive Natural Balance which is good. I don not know if Nature's Recipe has a senior food. It probably would be good to do a search at Petsmart.com and see what is available, do some research, before you go buy.

I agree Scissorart. Any food that lists the first three ingredients as any type of grain is NOT good for your dog. I recently read an article in Vets Science about lamb and rice combination foods, and the article states that the only lamb and rice food that is nutritional and will avoid food allergies (the most common ailment for dogs) is Nutro Natural Lamb & Rice. Solid Gold is another excellent, healthy brand for dogs. I also believe there is a recall currently on Walmart's Ole Roy can foods.