Different Brands Of Dog Food?

Question

Between the brands listed below, in your opinion what is the best brand of dog food for a Newfoundland?

Beneful Science Diet
Eukanuba Purina
Iam's Life's Abundance
Nature's Recipe

Answer 1

How to grade your dog's food:
Start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points

2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points

3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points

4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points

5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer’s rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points

6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points

7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points

8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points

9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points

10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points

11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points

12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points

13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points

14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef), subtract 1 point

15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points

2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points

3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points

4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points

5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points

6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points

7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points

8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points

9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points

10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point

11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point

12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point

13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point

14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
<70 = F

Here are some foods that have already been scored. If you don't see your dog's food here, ask and someone will score it for you.
Dog Food scores:

Alpo Prime Cuts / Score 81 C

Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy / Score 114 A+

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+

Authority Harvest Baked Less Active / Score 93 B

Beowulf Back to Basics / Score 101 A+

Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F

Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice / Score 83 C

Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice / Score 106 A+

Burns Chicken and Brown Rice / Score 107 A+

Canidae / Score 112 A+

Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+

Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F

Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B

Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A

Diamond Performance / Score 85 C

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+

Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice / Score 106 A+

Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+

EaglePack Holistic / Score 102 A+

Eukanuba Adult / Score 81 C

Eukanuba Puppy / Score 79 C

Flint River Senior / Score 101 A+

Foundations / Score 106 A+

Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B

Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D

Innova Dog / Score 114 A+

Innova Evo / Score 114 A+

Innova Large Breed Puppy / Score 122 A+

Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+

Member’s Mark Chicken and Rice / Score 84 C

Merrick Wilderness Blend / Score 127 A+

Nature’s Recipe / Score 100 A

Nature’s Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice / Score 116 A+

Nature’s Variety Raw Instinct / Score 122 A+

Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice / Score 81 C

Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy / Score 101 A+

Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B

Nutro Max Adult / Score 93 B

Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice / Score 98 A

Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B

Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free / Score 86 B

Nutro Natural Choice Senior / Score 95 A

Nutro Ultra Adult / Score 104 A+

Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F

Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry / Score 109 A+

Pro Nature Puppy / Score 80 C

Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach / Score 94 A

Purina Benful / Score 17 F

Purina Dog / Score 62 F

Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F

Purina One Large Breed Puppy / Score 62 F

Royal Canin Boxer / Score 103 A+

Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+

Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+

Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F

Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F

Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A

Solid Gold / Score 99 A

Summit / Score 99 A

Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry / Score 120 A+

Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+

Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

Answer 2

I have Newfies, and they NEED to be fed a Large or Giant breed food. You need to have little or no corn. Beneful and Purina are crap. Avoid colors.
I feed a mixture of Eukanuba...my handler feeds it and the one male has always done best on it.....and Innova. The stright Innova causes a bit of diarrhea and QUICK weight gain!!!!!!!!!!!
So I feed 3/4 Eukanuba Large Breed and 1/4 Innova .
The best dog food for a certain dog is whatever they do well on. That may not always be the "best" food on the market!!!! Also, the needs of Giant breeds need to be taken into account. If you feed a food made for the average dog, the fat,protein,calcium, amd phosphorus levels may not be the best for a Giant breed and then you are asking for bone and joint problems.

Be aware of the RAW diets!!!! ANd some of the super high quality diets!!! They are often NOT designed for giant breeds. The calcium level in most raw diets is WAY too high!!!!!!!!!!!!
Consult a vet before feeding a raw diet. Some conditions are not compatiable with a raw diet.

Answer 3

Well, out of the ones you've listed I think that the Life's Abundance and the Nature's Recipe are the better of the bunch - the others are basically just junk food filled with fillers.

Some other brands I like are:

Solid Gold, Timberwolf, Innova EVO, California Natural, Canidae, Fromm, Wellness - to name a few.

Answer 4

Well, none of them are really good foods, but if I had to pick one, Nature's Recipe is probably the best. The other three are very bad ... Iams is a horrible food, and Eukanuba isn't too much better (they both contain tons of fillers, and ingredients so disgusting you're better off not knowing what they are). If you want a really good food, some great ones are Chicken soup for the dog lover's soul, innova, wellness, timberwolf organics, nature's variety, and canidae.

Answer 5

those r bad brands some i would recomend would be premium edge or natural balance or chicken soup for the dog lovers soul but if u had to pick 1 of those it would be beneful probably

Answer 6

None of them, buy "Chicken Soup" brand dog foods. But dry food is still a quick fix, if you really want to start a healthy diet for your dog learn about the BARF diet (Bones and Raw food). visit www.rawdogranch.com

Answer 7

try one of the brands and let the dog tell you how it likes it...it sounds weird but it works...most dogs love food so they will eat anything...but dont change the food constantly...you will make the dog sick...good luck

Answer 8

Ask your vet.