Prices,+homecooked+food,+commercial+dog+food.

Question
A+few+weeks+ago,+I+decided+to+put+my+dogs+on+the+Maxximum+nutrition+dog+food.+While+they+were+on+it,+I+witnessed+no+ill+effects+from+any+7+of+my+dogs+so+I+don't+know+why+I've+read+so+many+bad+things+about+it.+(I+read+through+the+ingredients+before+I+even+bought+it+-+and+the+nutrition.)+It+seemed+pretty+damned+good+to+me.+About+Maxximum+nutrition,+I+just+want+to+know+why+so+many+people+talk+bad+about+it.+%2F%2F+Over+the+past+few+days,+I+had+been+mixing+homecooked+food+and+Maxximum+together+in+preparation+to+put+them+completely+on+homecooked+food.+Tomorrow+will+be+the+first+day+that+it+will+be+all+homecooked+food.+Even+though+I+love+my+babies+I+can't+afford+to+do+too+much+for+them.+What+I+want+to+know+is+if+it's+worth+the+trouble+to+try+to+put+them+on+homecooked+food+vs.+Commercial+dog+food.++I've+heard+that+given+time,+they+should+eat+less+since+they+will+be+getting+more+and+or+better+nutrition.+Financially,+what+would+be+more+plausible%3F+Homecooking+their+food+or+buying+commercial+dog+food%3F

Answer
I can't say for sure why so many people talk bad about Maxximum Nutrition Dog Food or for that matter, many other dog diets.  I do know many people's standard of proof is very low.  What I think is really behind much of it is, people that are selling something else are knocking the competition.  Then others that the story fits their biases pick it up and repeat it.  So if you want to make the best decision for your dogs, and one your wallet can live with, where do you find facts to make a rational decision on?  The truth is, for all my distrust of home made diets and raw diets, there aren't good, controlled tests comparing them and commercial diets.  Everybody has stories of how well their dogs are doing since they switched to the diet they are promoting.  But then there are stories of dogs that did fine on such a diet for 5-10 years, and then got sick and died within a month of pancreatits.  You want unproved opinions go to http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/images/nutrition-off.jpg and pick what you want.  Me, I am feeding my 2 Labs Pro Plan adult chicken and rice.  It is the standard chow for the dog guide school I am raising Xanthe for.  She is one of 300-400 puppies the school bred in 2007.  After they are a year old, they will go back to the school and have a complete physical, the whole 9 yards, hip X-Rays, blood work, etc.  The school isn't going to spend the price of a fine automobile training a dog with a detectable physical problem.  Skimp on chow?  They would have to be nuts.  

14 years ago, I was raising Aster for them.  She worked until she was 10, and then retired and returned to us.  She continues to do well on the Pro Plan.


My close association with one school has brought me in contact with other schools including a different one I have raised 2 puppies for.  They are all feeding one of the common brands of commercial dog chow.
 
If you trust the Maxximum Nutrition Dog Food, and can afford it, I would go with it. While the nutritional requirement of dogs are well known, they are complex and difficult for the average dog owner to meet.  Commercial dog chows are easy to get right, reasonably economical, and well proven in the large service dog programs.  

Please don'tconnect you words with plus signs.  It makes your question hard to read.   to+put+my+do