merrick pet food - any of you feeding it to your furry buddies?

[opie's twisted balls]

The pet store I where I buy my dogs kibble has recently started to carry Merrick and wondering if any of you have fed it to your pets and if so your thoughts.

Looks good and they say all the right things about human grade ingredients but first had experience is always good.

woof and gracias

[Serpico1103]

I fed my dogs for a cpl years on it. Ingedients made me jealous, all real food, not complex chemical names. Then my dog became a picky eater. I gave up and give him pedigree (sugar and crap), but he eats regularly, which I felt was better then his sporadic eating. He is 13, have him 5 years from a pound, is 6lbs, if he wants junk food, I'll let him. If you dog eats merrick, I would think it is worth the money for higher quality food.

[Contra]

Haven't tried this, but we recently started feeding our pups Halo. All natural holistic. About a month in now I've noticed a difference in some things. Better coat, more energy, things like that.

[angrymissy]

Merrick is good shit. The canned food looks human grade.

[StanUpshaw]

Haven't tried this, but we recently started feeding our pups Halo. All natural holistic. About a month in now I've noticed a difference in some things. Better coat, more energy, things like that.

"Holistic" dog food.

Christ, if there's a more meaningless word in the English language, I'll literally eat my own balls.

[Contra]

"Holistic" dog food.

Christ, if there's a more meaningless word in the English language, I'll literally eat my own balls.

I don't give a shit what they call it, results are results

[smiler grogan]

Never tried Merrick. I switched to Blue a few years ago because my dog who is a bug mutt and 14+ yrs. old. developed joint issues strictly because of age. I used to feed him a decent grade of food but now that he's older he needs a higher nutritional content and Blue provides what he needs. He is healthy and active just older I def. credit the higher quality food with improving his mobility and reducing his joint pain.

[StanUpshaw]

I don't give a shit what they call it, results are results

I'm trying to phrase this in the least confrontational way possible, so please don't take offense:

Do you have any evidence? Are there any objective criteria you're basing that conclusion on? It's been my experience that people who feel they ought to spend extra on premium brands (whatever product it may be), are often willing to deceive themselves in order to justify their belief.

[Contra]

Yeah, let me go down to my laboratory and get you those objective results. Don't worry, you didn't seem confrontational as much as just a dick.

[Hottub]

http://www.dinovite.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/D/C/DC-FO-LOC_1gal_262.png

[StanUpshaw]

Yeah, let me go down to my laboratory and get you those objective results. Don't worry, you didn't seem confrontational as much as just a dick.

You should have read my first draft! Even I thought it came off as assholish.

[opie's twisted balls]

Thanks for the comments. Picked up a few different types for the little beast to sample and so far we're both impressed. Served him the French Country Cafe for dinner and he dove right in.

I tried a bit and frankly, not that bad. Its bland (which is what you want in a dog food) but tastes better then some MRE and freeze dried crap I've had camping.

[angrymissy]

I'm trying to phrase this in the least confrontational way possible, so please don't take offense:

Do you have any evidence? Are there any objective criteria you're basing that conclusion on? It's been my experience that people who feel they ought to spend extra on premium brands (whatever product it may be), are often willing to deceive themselves in order to justify their belief.

All you have to do is look at the ingredient list.
For example:
Kibbles and Bits
Corn, soybean meal, ground wheat, beef & bone meal, animal fat (BHA6 and citric acid used as preservatives), corn syrup, wheat middlings, water sufficient for processing

Merrick
# Organic Chicken
# Oatmeal
# Barley
# Chicken Meal
# Whole Brown Rice

Which one would you rather eat?

[Chigworthy]

I'm trying to phrase this in the least confrontational way possible, so please don't take offense:

Do you have any evidence? Are there any objective criteria you're basing that conclusion on? It's been my experience that people who feel they ought to spend extra on premium brands (whatever product it may be), are often willing to deceive themselves in order to justify their belief.

Do you have any evidence? If you'd like some, speak to reputable breeders and kennel owners, and then some vets (people who's business involves feeding dogs). You will find that most if not all use a premium brand for many reasons. The most practical reason is that with a premium brand, you feed the animal far less. Just compare the serving size on some shit food and a premium brand. Another huge reason why kennels and breeders use better food is that the dogs shit less, and produce less nasty shit. Who the fuck wants to clean up 30-50 kennels after dogs have been in there with the purina runs? There are other, more nebulous reasons to use premium dog foods, such as better quality of life, medical considerations, and an overall longer life.

Now as far as this specific brand, I have no personal experience. And I do realize that there is a huge market for pet products based on our false emotions towards our pets rather than science. One thing that makes me laugh is when they label pet food with some comparison to a human food. I saw one called "Pulled Pork Dinner", which is idiotic. But the garbage food that they sell is hideous, and to attribute the majority of the market for premium dog food to some sort of second-hand placebo effect is ignorant.

[CaptainBlowhole]

I never saw the food, but have been getting my dog the dehydrated cow noses and pig ears, which he loves. I will look the next time I am in the store. I only found their stuff in Pet Supplies Plus, Ive never seen it in Petco or Petsmart.

Oh, I went to a Halloween party when I was in college with my girlfriend, but ended up making out with another girl because she got drunk, and the girl I made out with was from Merrick!

[Contra]

Do you have any evidence? If you'd like some, speak to reputable breeders and kennel owners, and then some vets (people who's business involves feeding dogs). You will find that most if not all use a premium brand for many reasons. The most practical reason is that with a premium brand, you feed the animal far less. Just compare the serving size on some shit food and a premium brand. Another huge reason why kennels and breeders use better food is that the dogs shit less, and produce less nasty shit. Who the fuck wants to clean up 30-50 kennels after dogs have been in there with the purina runs? There are other, more nebulous reasons to use premium dog foods, such as better quality of life, medical considerations, and an overall longer life.

Now as far as this specific brand, I have no personal experience. And I do realize that there is a huge market for pet products based on our false emotions towards our pets rather than science. One thing that makes me laugh is when they label pet food with some comparison to a human food. I saw one called "Pulled Pork Dinner", which is idiotic. But the garbage food that they sell is hideous, and to attribute the majority of the market for premium dog food to some sort of second-hand placebo effect is ignorant.

Yes to enforce one of your points: we thought we'd be spending a lot more with the halo being a premium food, but with the serving sizes being more reasonable it last a pretty good amount of time, and we have three dogs .

[brettmojo]

http://www.dinovite.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/D/C/DC-FO-LOC_1gal_262.png
The serving size for that shit is ridiculous.

[Hottub]

The serving size for that shit is ridiculous.

SHHHH!!!!!

It's a sponsor.

[StanUpshaw]

All you have to do is look at the ingredient list.
For example:
Kibbles and Bits
Corn, soybean meal, ground wheat, beef & bone meal, animal fat (BHA6 and citric acid used as preservatives), corn syrup, wheat middlings, water sufficient for processing

Merrick
# Organic Chicken
# Oatmeal
# Barley
# Chicken Meal
# Whole Brown Rice

Which one would you rather eat?

Given the choice, I'd probably just eat the dog.



I'm not saying you should feed your dog any old shit, rather that there's a certain quality threshold and after you reach it, you're probably flushing your money down the toilet. There's a huge variety of food available between the extremes of Ol Roy and Organic Peach Tree Snakeoil Lamb & Rice.

When I was working in the retriever training biz, dealing with some $20,000+ investments, not a single one of them was fed some overpriced "human grade" horseshit blend. It was all stuff like Purina Pro Plan, Eukanuba Premium Performance and a Midwest brand called Black Gold.

[Hottub]

June 10th KC will be 15.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/productimages/2016712_lg.jpg

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1503/pets001fy5.jpg

[Chigworthy]

I never saw the food, but have been getting my dog the dehydrated cow noses and pig ears, which he loves. I will look the next time I am in the store. I only found their stuff in Pet Supplies Plus, Ive never seen it in Petco or Petsmart.

Oh, I went to a Halloween party when I was in college with my girlfriend, but ended up making out with another girl because she got drunk, and the girl I made out with was from Merrick!

Did she look like a dehydrated cow nose?

[Contra]

June 10th KC will be 15.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/productimages/2016712_lg.jpg

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1503/pets001fy5.jpg


Aww

[brettmojo]

SHHHH!!!!!

It's a sponsor.
Just sayin'...

A scoop for every 10 lbs. of weight!?

Fucking crazy shit.

[CaptainBlowhole]

How big is this scoop?

[angrymissy]

Given the choice, I'd probably just eat the dog.

I'm not saying you should feed your dog any old shit, rather that there's a certain quality threshold and after you reach it, you're probably flushing your money down the toilet. There's a huge variety of food available between the extremes of Ol Roy and Organic Peach Tree Snakeoil Lamb & Rice.

When I was working in the retriever training biz, dealing with some $20,000+ investments, not a single one of them was fed some overpriced "human grade" horseshit blend. It was all stuff like Purina Pro Plan, Eukanuba Premium Performance and a Midwest brand called Black Gold.

I will feed it simply for the shit factor. Nothing worse than picking up a runny shit. I have two, white furry assed dogs, a runny shit is a crime scene in my house. God forbid they get inside and sit on something before I manage to get them into the bathtub. My dogs don't like Merrick anymore, but you gets less shit and firmer shit on the better brands, plus I'd rather eat chicken than chicken by product (gross).

My cats are old. They like IAMS in the orange bag. It's not the best food for them, but they're old so I just give them what they like.

Who am I kidding, the fucking dog is constantly eating the cat food anyway. Is cat food tastier than dog food or something? The cats would NEVER eat the dog food. Even the stray cats outside don't want dog food. WTF.

[opie's twisted balls]

Who am I kidding, the fucking dog is constantly eating the cat food anyway. Is cat food tastier than dog food or something? The cats would NEVER eat the dog food. Even the stray cats outside don't want dog food. WTF.
Dogs love the cat food because it's higher protein and caloric (i.e. fat) content. Also dogs are by nature scavenger animals so pretty much everything is fair game to put in their mouth.