nutrition for health

by Patricia Schaefer
(Dunkirk, MD)

What is in your opinion the very best dog food I can feed to my 2yr and a half year old chesapeake bay retriever. She is a big girl and weight in at 105 pounds.



Hi Patricia,

I'll give you my opinion as to what I believe is best. I’m sure you’ll find many other versions on the internet. You need to research all you can and see what makes sense to you and will fit within your lifestyle and budget.

With that being said, the best food for your dog or any dog is the species appropriate diet. For a dog, this is the prey model diet or in common terms, a raw food diet.

Nature made all animals to eat certain foods for their species. This is how they thrive the best and live the longest without common disease.

A raw food or even a partial raw food diet is sometimes not practical in every household. In these cases we strongly advise that you either feed a dry food with an enzyme and probiotics bio coating or supplement with an enzyme and probiotics powder.

Two of these dry foods that have the bio coating on it that we carry are The Great Life and Instinct. These are premium foods that are both grain free and free of any of the allergy causing ingredients like wheat, corn, soy, by-products, animal fat, animal digest and any chemical preservatives.

Other super premium foods are ones like Orijen, Blue Buffalo, Wellness, Canadae, Accana, Taste Of The Wild, Natural Balance just to name a few. Of course with these brands, we highly suggest supplementing with the enzymes and probiotics.

In my opinion, no dog should ever be on a dry food only diet. This is completely opposite of the way nature intended them to eat. They need a high moisture type diet. At least half of their daily food should contain premium canned, homemade or other cooked meat if you don’t feed a raw diet.

Dogs need this moisture from their food to nourish them at a cellular level.

Variety is highly suggested as well. You should vary their foods all the time. Switch to a different protein like from chicken to beef or bison or lamb in their dry and wet type foods. Add some ground vegetables. Once a week give them a can of sardines in spring water. Add an egg now and then. Give him a raw meaty bone once a week to help clean his teeth. The more variety you give him, the stronger his digestive system will be and the easier it is to switch foods back and forth.

Supplementing foods is also a good practice. A good multivitamin provides essential nutrients that may be missing from their daily diet. Salmon or cod liver oil is great for eyes, brain development and skin and coat. The canned sardines are great for this as well. Canned tuna or salmon are a wonderful treat now and then.

So it boils down to how much work you can or want to put into your dogs daily diet. From a complicated homemade diet with all the nutrients your dog needs, to just a premium dry and canned food placed in their bowl.

I have customers that do it both ways and everything in between. If you want to get by with the simplest feeding program, then at least get the premium foods that contain the enzymes and probiotics. I can’t stress how important these nutrients are.

They both support the digestive system. Enzymes help breakdown the foods. Without added enzymes from raw foods or supplementation the body has to produce its own enzymes to digest the food. These are taken from various organs and is called enzyme robbing. Prolonged enzyme robbing can lead to pancreatitis, diabetes and other degenerative type diseases.

Probiotics need to flourish in the digestive system to help the body absorb the nutrients from the food sources.

A strong digestive system is the heart of the immune system. A strong immune system is essential for great health inside and out.

I hope this information has helped and gets you started on the right road. Feeding your dog the way nature intended them to eat as best as you can will lead to a long and happy life together.

If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know.

Roger