[amanda06claire]

I have a two year old siberian husky. What is the best kind of food to give him? I know that it should be meat based and not corn/grain. Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

[Todd]

Here's something that I've posted in the past with food recommendations. Hopefully this will help;

Have you considered feeding a raw diet? How bout a home cooked diet? In my opinion, these are your best options. If this is too inconvenient, I'd suggest choosing a high quality kibble. Most of the foods you see on television commercials and sold at the grocery stores aren't the best choices. Look for a high quality, natural food without artificial preservatives, colors, additives, fillers, corn, wheat, or soy as a initial rule of thumb. Grain free is the best way to go, which generally has high amounts of meat protein. If price is an issue, don't sweat it. There are plenty of good foods out there that are priced the same as poor quality foods. Here is a great site to learn more about what foods are the best and the worst, and their pros and cons. The 6 star foods are the best and the 1 star foods are the worse. I'd at least try to feed 4 star foods, but of course 6 star foods would be ideal. Here are some brands I'd recommend off the top of my head;

Best (Don't use these foods until your dog is an adult/done growing. At least until one year or more, maybe even less, depending on breed. These foods have too high amounts of overall nutrition and cause larger breed dogs to grow too fast and develop bone problems. Wait until adult)

EVO
Taste Of The Wild
Origin
Timberwolf Organics
Canidae Grain-Free Formula
Wellness CORE

Very Good

Innova
Wellness
Canidae
California Natural (Great For Dogs With Food Allergies)
Solid Gold

Good For Best Quality On A Budget

Fromm
Premium Edge
Natural Balance
Diamond Naturals

*Don't forget to consider home cooked or especially raw (which is EXTREMELY cost effective). Let me know if these interest you and I can give you more info. Good Luck!

Great resource for kibble reviews: www.dogfoodanalysis.com

[OrangeDog]

Blue Buffalo is another excellent food that is easy to find and not overly priced.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by OrangeDog

Blue Buffalo is another excellent food that is easy to find and not overly priced.

Yes I agree. Here's a link to a thread where we discussed this food;

Blue Buffalo Dog food

[Tucker]

Canidae (not the grain free version) is also relatively inexpensive compared to most of the other premium brands.

[CorkyMax]

Can't tell you what is the best commercial dog food to feed as I feed raw and some home-cooking. But want to comment from my breeds book: Huskies are thrifty feeders and need less food than you might expect.----That being said, it comes to my mind that it would be important to get the best as it doesn't eat maybe enough to get enough nourishment from cheaper brands! Of course cheap crap isn't fit for any breed to eat! But think a thrifty eater would be even worse off.

[hog.matt84]

Just feed a little amount of meat stock everyday. That will be great.

[GSDS4Life]

My brother feeds his 3 Sibes Wellness/Innova.


[quote (Don't use these foods until your dog is an adult/done growing. At least until one year or more, maybe even less, depending on breed. These foods have too high amounts of overall nutrition and cause larger breed dogs to grow too fast and develop bone problems. Wait until adult)
][/quote]

Actually it's the opposite. Having them on adult will slow it down. My 2 older ones were switched to adult at 6 months. My 2 younger ones were weaned on adult.

Many joint problems in large/giant breeds are cause by over exercising. This shouldn't be done till the dog is 14-16 months. The joints are stronger at that age.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by GSDS4Life

My brother feeds his 3 Sibes Wellness/Innova.


[quote (Don't use these foods until your dog is an adult/done growing. At least until one year or more, maybe even less, depending on breed. These foods have too high amounts of overall nutrition and cause larger breed dogs to grow too fast and develop bone problems. Wait until adult)
]

Actually it's the opposite. Having them on adult will slow it down. My 2 older ones were switched to adult at 6 months. My 2 younger ones were weaned on adult.

Many joint problems in large/giant breeds are cause by over exercising. This shouldn't be done till the dog is 14-16 months. The joints are stronger at that age.[/QUOTE]

I think this quote may be from myself. Could I ask where you found it? I can't seem to find it in this post...

[GSDS4Life]

Originally Posted by Todd

I think this quote may be from myself. Could I ask where you found it? I can't seem to find it in this post...

Yes Todd, it did come from your post.

It's just before you listed the foods.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by GSDS4Life

Yes Todd, it did come from your post.

It's just before you listed the foods.

I was referring to grain free food. I have talked with several vets from another forum and have done my own research that finds that feeding grain free food can cause your puppy to grow at a fast rate which can cause joint issues and deformaties. I know a vet student from another forum who fed her grat dane puppy a grain free food and he ended up with deformed feet. Grain free should only be for adult dogs not puppys when it comes to large and giant breed dogs. That's why it says "may not be suitable for puppies" if you check out dog food analysis.

[GSDS4Life]

Originally Posted by Todd

I was referring to grain free food. I have talked with several vets from another forum and have done my own research that finds that feeding grain free food can cause your puppy to grow at a fast rate which can cause joint issues and deformaties. I know a vet student from another forum who fed her grat dane puppy a grain free food and he ended up with deformed feet. Grain free should only be for adult dogs not puppys when it comes to large and giant breed dogs. That's why it says "may not be suitable for puppies" if you check out dog food analysis.

Oh ok. I was thinking it was the regular one you were talking about.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by GSDS4Life

Oh ok. I was thinking it was the regular one you were talking about.

Oh ok. No problem.