What is the best dry food for a 3 year old JRT?
bosawx17 asked:
I have a Jack Russell Terrier that I have on IAMS puppy food still. Now I know IAMS is not as good as it is advertised after doing some research. Just about monthly she goes through a 3-4 day span where she has diarrhea, then it just goes away. The insides of her ears get read and irritated every once in a while as well.
I have a Jack Russell Terrier that I have on IAMS puppy food still. Now I know IAMS is not as good as it is advertised after doing some research. Just about monthly she goes through a 3-4 day span where she has diarrhea, then it just goes away. The insides of her ears get read and irritated every once in a while as well.
I live in Arizona and I know the tap water here is not good to drink whatsoever so I am going to go buy a water purifier for her water.
Any advice on dry food is much welcomed! I read that Merrick’s is an extremely good brand but I really don’t want to pay $75 a bag for a 30 lb. bag of dog food. I can handle a $40-$50 bag.
Last question is how much should I be feeding her a day?
Thanks in advance!
Florencio
November 28, 2008 - 10:49 PM
Mossi M
November 29, 2008 | 1:52 PMYes, IAMS is crap along with Nutro products and any other dog food you can buy at the market. I’ve been using Canidae for years, with very good results. You should talk to your breeder about the amount to feed your dog.
James Clarke ere!
December 2, 2008 | 10:23 AMDry food? are you mad old chap! try lobster my friend! the lobster is perfect! smashing! even better with a cup of tea i say! with lime no? why not elevenses? topping indeed! have a jolly day my friend!
sage sadie oso (=^.^=)
December 5, 2008 | 4:59 AMwell i use Beneful.
i have three Australian cattle dogs and a fox hound and black lab.
they love the stuff and it is cheap. there is several kinds for different sizes and diets.
my dogs eat the original and it help one of my australian cattle dogs with her ear problem.
i feed them twice to three times a day but they are medium sized dogs.
with a small dog i would feed it once to twice a day
Jeff [stop it]
December 5, 2008 | 9:32 PMThis happened to my dog.
it got so bad she was pooing blood.
I switched her food to purina indoor formula for dogs and her poo started getting solid and she’s fine.
Chelsea O
December 8, 2008 | 8:58 PMAny food that has NO corn, by-products, wheat, soy, BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, generic “meat” is generally a good deal. I believe the best food is Wellness. you can buy it at Petco for about 50 dollars for a big bag. I like Wellness because they don’t use protein sources that have been treated with ethoxyquin- they state that right out. Also my dog that has allergies and diarrhea saw both clear up once she got on this food. A more economical choice yet is Natural Balance. It is about 30-45 dollars for a big bag. It is another very high quality food. Check out dogfoodanalysis.com for good brands, and check out dogfoodproject.com for ideas on what to avoid. Follow those two sites and you won’t go wrong.
Pomi Momiā”
December 9, 2008 | 9:06 PMDog food is a personal preference ~ there are many dog foods out there today that are high quality holistic brands ~ generally speaking, you want to stay away from grocery store foods; most of them are nothing more than fillers with no nutrients, and most contain by-products that over a period of time cause health problems/disease etc.
You want to feed your pet something nutritious, remember if you go cheap then you are only setting yourself up for problems later down the road.
If you have access to a Petsmart and or Petco they do sell several brands of high quality dog foods but here is a list of a few good brands;
Blue Buffalo
Chicken soup for pet lovers
Canidae
Eagle Pack
Innova-evo
Natural Balance
California Natural
Nature’s Variety
Timberwolf
The ones listed are a high quality dog food but I believe the only one found at Petsmart/Petco is Blue Buffalo Brand. You may have to check on line to see if there are any distributors nearby for the others. Just remember, when looking for a dog food always check the first 3-5 ingredients, and you don’t want anything w/by products periods.
You can also go to this site and rate the dog food you are interested in, the higher the rating the better the food;…
As for the amount to feed your dog daily ~ it is recommended for your dogs size and age to feed; 1 to 2c dry daily.
You can also give your dog some fresh fruits like banana’s, blueberries along w/veggies like green beans, peas, carrots. Here is a site of some foods that can be give to your dog that are healthy;
APBTmommy
December 12, 2008 | 1:08 PMYou are very right, Iams is not as good as they make it sound. Actually, it is pretty nasty. Foods like Iams, Beneful, Pedigree, Ol’Roy, Diamond, Nutro, All Purina and Pro Plan foods, Science Diet, etc, etc, etc, are very poor quality foods.
Any dog food that is sold at a grocery store is going to be a poor quality dog food. Also, any of the dog foods you commonly see commercials for, and the dog foods sold in vet offices, are very poor quality as well. Vets don’t know much, if anything, about nutrition. They take a class on nutrition that is taught by a dog food company. They learn what that company wants them to learn and then they will most likely sell that companies food in their office.
You’re not going to want to feed your dog any food that has a bunch of fillers in it, like, for example, corn. Dogs can’t digest corn, it’s just a cheep filler that most dog food companies use. It makes your dog feel full without providing any nutritional value. It makes them **** more and it can also give your dog gas. Other things you need to avoid would be by-products, animal digest (animal feces), artificial colors and/ or flavors, etc. And I would also suggest you avoid dog foods that contain beef. Something with chicken, lamb, fish, duck, etc would be better for most dogs. I have a dog food rating chart that helps you go through the list of ingredients in dog foods and give it an overall score, that way you can compare several different dog foods and figure out what you like best. It is pretty long, so I won’t post it on here, but if you would like to check it out just message me and I will be happy to send it to you. It was very helpful for my husband and I.
Now, as far as good quality dog foods go, there are tons out there to choose from, and most are surprisingly affordable. From what you mentioned about your dogs ears, it sounds like he might have some food allergies. My husband and I have owned dogs that had food allergies as well, and they did very well on Natural Balance Potato and Duck Formula (http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/PandD.html) and Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish Formula (http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/SPFish.html). We have also fed our dogs Natural Balance Ultra Premium dry dog food (http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/UltDog.html) and they did very well on that. We then decided to switch them to Canidae All Life Stages Formula (http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html) and fed them that for quite a while, and recently we switched them to the new Canidae Grain Free All Life Stages Formula (http://www.canidae.com/dogs/grain-free-als/dry.html). We have been very happy with both Natural Balance and Canidae, but we will definitely be sticking to the Canidae Grain Free ALS formula, and that is the food that I think I would recommend for your dog.
As you know, dogs are carnivores, they eat meat, it’s best for them to be on a food that has little or no grains in it. And, obviously, Canidae Grain Free ALS is grain free! lol! It’s an all life stages formula, so it is good for dogs/puppies of all ages, and it has a lot of protein for high energy breeds like working breeds and terriers. It is a very, very good quality dog food that is still affordable at the same time. So anyway, I hope this has helped you out some, good luck finding the right food for your dog! : )
Oh, and another thing we do for our dogs is mix some yogurt in with their food every now and then. That could help your dog with his diarrhea. We get Stonyfield Farm Organic Yogurt (http://www.stonyfield.com//ourproducts/OrganicYogurt.cfm) for our dogs. We get them the Vanilla, and they LOVE it! : )
Love dogs
December 14, 2008 | 5:01 AMI have a dog that has had problems with food over the years. Also, he’s had allergies. But it wasn’t enough that made me think it’s his food…you know… nothing that had jumped out at me. Also, my dog became a finicky eater as he got older.
Having told you this…in the past few months his allergies have picked up and he got a skin condition that my vet feels comes from his allergies. Dog food has become a whole lot better now…and I did my research and went through more bags of dry dog food then I’d like to admit (because he’s so finicky.) But…the food still was not what I hoped for.
What I have discovered talking with companies of dog food, that I narrowed down…and reading what customers of that brand had to say, I settled on two dog food companies. One is “Canidae” and the other is “Fromm.” Both you can purchase in AZ. On their website you will see “dealers” in you’re area…just put in your zip code and you’ll find one near your home. You can also if you wish, get it delivered.
The food I bought is Fromm “grain free.” Canidae also has grain free. I think once you switch to a high quality dog food without wheat, corn. beef. No by products or fillers or preservatives plus a whole lot more I know I’m leaving out, you’re Jack Russell will be fine. Plus it’s made in America and no worry about where is this food source coming form? The plant and food is from here.
I spoke with a customer service rep from Canidae and she is sending samples of the dry food she thinks my dog will like…now how nice is that? Go to and for any questions you may have.
I sure hope this helps you.