The Shar-Pei Forums-Health Behavior Diet & Rescue Info and Discussion Group

Their is so many post on here about what food to use ect. I am looking for something I can get at Wal-Mart while I'm picking up the rest of my household needs. What should the food not consist of ? I don't have time to hand cook and my husband would never stand for that. Please Advise getting pup Sunday:)

Thanks in advance

If you can get it at Walmart...it will likely be crap food and your pei will and wallet will be in for a world of hurt (e.g., sick pei = high vet bills). Do yourself a favor, find a feed store and look for a grain free food where meat or meat meal (e.g., lamb, lamb meal) is the first ingredient; no corn, no soy, no rice, etc. I feed raw food...but perhaps others can chime in with cost effects grain free options that they like now.

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Walmart doesn't carry the food necessary for good health of your Pei. You can also order food online and have it delivered to your home from Petfood Direct. Natural Balance limited ingredient adult food is one choice. These dogs are not cheap to own. They need a lot of care, supplements and a very good diet to maintain optimal health. Health issues can pop up from time to time that will make vet visits and medication necessary. Some need eye tacking or surgery at a year old for entropian. Many have bad skin issues. Please be aware that anything can happen at any time and you need to be prudent to get issues resolved. Many people get a Pei and can't afford the vet care. They end up placing the dog in a new home. Sorry to sound so negative but you need to be prepared. Good luck with your new Pei. I've owned 4 of them in the past 17.5 years and know what it takes to be a good Pei owner.

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Leia 12/29/02 to 11/01/11 Will be forever missed.
MeiLi Birthdate 02/28/06

If you can buy your food at Wal-Mart or ANY grocery store the rule is or should be don't feed it~!
Wal-Mart follows a formula and selling lesser quality food in huge bags is what they do. You simply
can't buy a decent food where you buy your milk, laundry soap etc.

As part of my job I haul loads of up to 47,000LBS of dog food. I am in a lot of these plants and talk
to a lot of the workers, Purina is one of my big ones......Even they will tell you "yes we make Alpo but
that's because it's what Wal-Mart shoppers can afford....."

Please try and find a place close enough to home and buy it there......

So you know all dogs are not the same and just because I feed one brand and it works does not
in anyway mean "my" brand will work for your dogs. Also the best best best most expensive food
doesn't mean anything if "your" dog has issues with it. You simply need to find a brand that "works"
for your dog. (Old Roy doesn't work for any dog, not really anyway)

I feed natural Balance Limited Ingredients Grain free because it works for "my" dogs.....

Cheap dog food is dog food that races thru the system and ends up in more waste. Better
food is better digested and absorbed thus they will eat less and poop less as a rule. You can
feed 3 cups of Old Roy and have 5 poops. OR you can feed 1.5 cups quality food and have
1 or 2 poops a day....In the long run cheap food because you feed more can be just as costy
as expensive food.....

RD

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http://www.bearposhsharpei.com

I have been buying my dog food at www.Mrchewy.com its cheaper then any other outlet..It always free shipping..I save $10-15 each time I buy..I set up shipping once a month.The food starts out $10 cheaper then my vets.Plus a wide selection of good foods.

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yes, you can have the food delivered right to your door, so it's not an inconvenience, i order from petcare RX or petfooddirect.com. when i have time to go shopping i pick up Natural balance or Canidae at my local pet shop. Canidae is a good value, plan on spending about 40-50 for a large bag of dogfood, some are more expensive. the better quality foods will pay off in the long run and you actually can feed less then the cheaper foods, 2 cups daily for a 40-50 pound dog if you feed Canidae.

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homecooking is as easy as a crock pot-when done you can have a week or more worth,and can be bought at walmart.

Tai Shan gets raw food.
Have to drive about 15 minutes for it, bought an extra freezer.
But he is worth it.

But what RD said, every dog is different en doesn't do as well as an other on a brand.

But make sure you buy a good quality food.

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Greetz Debbie, Yen-ay & Tai Shan

http://www.millstream-photos.nl/

Guys this is all helpful! I have own three Shar-Pei dogs in the past and always fed them lamb and rice ect. but I don't have nothing by me now but a Kroger and a Wal-Mart. Thanks for letting me know about the On-Line dog food ordering that will help alot! Now the question is if I feed Natural Balance how much would I need to order for a month?

You were lucky (lol) I would order several of the 4 lb bag to start just to try and then you can gauge how much you need. Pups should eat 3 times a day at least.Then when you order the next time you 'll have a better idea.

You want the Natural Balance Limited Ingredients there are several different ones and only adult .

some of the online merchants will give you a better deal if you buy in bulk, some offer free shipping if you spend at least $50. well i can break it down for you, a 28 lb bag of NB you can buy on sale for around $45-48 there are 122 cups in that size bag, so it depends how many pei you have, their ages, weight, activity levels, a 35 lb bag of Canidae has 159 cups in it and runs about $42 on sale. so if you feed Canidae to just 1 dog who weighs 50 lbs 2 cups per day, then you have about 2.5 months of food for an average of about 17 bucks a month, very economical. i use dry food sparingly and feed my dogs home cooked food mostly. it's not much extra work to cook for them, and it's a whole lot healthier

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yeah you should find a pet food store like pet smart or pet co. where you can find a grain free food, natural balance works well for pei with skin issue, or wild buffalo, there is a good variety to choose from. its worth the extra couple bucks in food compared to the vet bills. good luck.

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Lola and Jenuine

Please don't ever buy your dog food at Wal-Mart.
The best advice I can give is that you don't buy dog food from Wal-Mart or the grocery store. Feeding a good dog food is the most important thing you can do for your dog.

MrChewy.com is always free shipping and the price of a thirty lb bag is ten to fifteen dollars cheaper then any place I researched..The smaller the bag the more money it cost any place..
Its important to get food that has NO corn.wheat,soy flaxseed..Some pei will be allergic to other things as well....Plus by adult food for a puppy not puppy food.

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I get Authority large breed puppy food (chicken flavor) for Chyna, which you can only get at Petsmart. It's $29 at the moment for a 34lb bag. It's the best I could find for me that was cost-effective but didn't have corn or soy labeled in the first 3-5 ingredients listed. It might be a viable option for you if you're looking for a decent but cost-effective brand.

Also, since switching her to Authority from Purina One I've noticed she has less stool (which means she's utilizing the nutrients and not just passing them through), and her coat has improved as well (although that could also be the fish oil pill she gets everyday too). But like some others have said, just because it works for one dog, doesn't necessarily mean it will work great for your new addition...

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I went and looked at authority dog food most pei would have horrid skin problems from it
Beet pulp [carbs.}Corn,wheat oats, rice lots of grains.
There is flaxseed, plus before any meat there is meal which can be any part of an animal ground up.,This is not a food for pei,,
http://authoritypetnutrition.com/about- ... alysis.php

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Food is one of the most important aspect of any creature's health, and simply buying it because it is convenient will only lead to problems down the road. No commercial food is optimal, but some are better than others, and nothing that Walmart carries is worth feeding. Period.

It is certainly worth a stop at Petco or Petsmart to purchase a brand like Natural Balance or Solid Gold, which use high quality ingredients and avoid cheap, toxic fillers like corn (which, besides being competely unnecessary in the dog diet and only used as cheap calories, can be contaminated with aflatoxin, which has poisoned literally hundreds of dogs in the past), wheat and soy.

Buy a better dog food. Your pocketbook and your dog will thank you in the long run.

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