What Is The Most Nutritious Dog Food out there?

Question

A couple days ago I was shocked to learn all the junk that goes into some Brands and Ive been trying to do a little research but I dont really understand The Ingredient labels, what is supposed to be there and not? I have 2 Mini Pins and I want to feed them the best. Help....If you know.

Answer 1

I was shocked too! I would go holistic. I found Orijen to be great, but many others swear by Canidea. Other good brands are Innova, Nutro,Natural Balance,NU vet Plus, & Holistic Select. Stay away from corn meal, which in crap food is the main ingredient. Go for a food with fresh meat or meal as the 1st ingredient, has plenty of veggies and botanicals and no fillers like beet pulp. Watch out for a grain listed as the 2nd & 3rd ingredient. Alot of companies will split the grains to make it look like there is more meat than there actually is. For example there will be 2 different kinds of corn- corn and corn meal. They just broke it up on the list, but there is more corn than meat in the food. You'll have to do some research on your particular breed to see what they need. I have a large breed puppy so, her needs are quite different from your min pins. I found a holistic pet store in my area, they were very helpful. Good Luck.

Edit- Iams is crap, it contians meat by products (which is the junk you read about) corn meal, beet pulp,brewers dried yeast and a bunch of other things I don't want to know about. Science Diet, Purina and everything else sold at grocery stores, walmart and even petsmart are crap. Believe me, I went and read the labels. You might have to order the good stuff online if you don't have a holistic pet store around. I don't care how many thumbs down I get, you should really look this stuff up. You'll be glad you did. My pup was on Iams before I learned about all the junk.

Answer 2

The most nutritious diet for dogs is the "prey model" style of raw feeding. This method involves feeding dogs raw meat bones and organs....which is what dogs ate thousands and thousands of years before kibble began being fed in the 1950's. A prey model fed dog gets about 80% meat, 10% edible bone, and 10% organs. If being fed something like a whole rabbit, a dog may get the meat bone and organs in one meal--but often the components are spread out over a few days time, i.e., a chicken hindquarter and a bit of kidney for meal one and beef heart for the next meal. You may notice there are no grain or veggies in the prey model diet. DOGS DO NOT PROPERLY DIGEST GRAIN OR VEGETABLES. The Merck Veterinary Manual states that dogs have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates. Some people erroneously believe that wolves (and feral dogs) prefer to eat the stomach contents of their prey. While they may eat the stomach contents of small prey where it would be two or three crunches to eat the animal, larger prey animals have the stomach contents shook out before the lining is consumed. Feeding dogs the diet they have evolved to eat is much more beneficial than feeding even the best ultra-premium commercial food on the market.

Answer 3

This a loaded question!! As you see everyone has their opinions and so do I.

I don't like Iam's or Science Diet but if it works for you then go for it. The very first ingredient should be a meat of either chicken or beef or lamb. Some have Fish or duck but these are usually for dogs with skin or intestinal or allergy issues.

My personal preference is NUTRO brand. I have fed NUTRO to all of my dogs and pups from day one and they have been in exceptional health and their coats are shinny and skin is in great condition. I have raised Golden's for many years and once was a breeder and I have found nothing better than NUTRO for my dogs.
There are designer dog food out there but they are expensive and quite frankly I don't think they are of any higher quality than any other high quality food out there.

The best person to ask is your breeder what they have been feeding their dogs and then your vet. Then make up your own mind as to what you feel is better for your dogs and what you can afford.

Answer 4

At Petsmart, probably Blue Buffalo would be the best. Either that, Nature's Recipe or Nutro Ultra. Not much of a choice for optimal nutrition, but much better than Pedigree or Purina. If you can find a privately owned pet food store, try Canidae. edit to Alyssa : Hey! You're right- it's on Petco's website. That's a big improvement at Petco to sell Solid Gold, & I see they have other premium brands now, including Eagle Pack.

Answer 5

Natural Balance
Wellness
Merrick
Solid Gold
Innova
California Natural
Natures Recipe

Answer 6

Foods that contain corn, wheat, soy, beet pulp and by products are to be avoided. Corn, wheat & soy are high allergens,. They aren't easily digested by dogs, they don't give much by way of nutrition to dogs either. Corn & soy are also implicated in recent studies as a cause for unexplained seizures in dogs. Beet pulp adds no nutrition and only adds unnecassary sugars to a diet. By products can be good, however in most cases they are of questionable origion.Corn and wheat also add nothing more then useless carbohydrates to the dogs diet.
It takes up to 3 times more of a grain based food for a dog to get proper nutrition as it does a good quality meat based food. It is wise to remember that dogs are carnivores,meat eaters..they are NOT grain eaters.

Foods such as Pedigree, IAMS/Eukanuba, Science Diet, Purina and other grocery store brands are to be avoided.They are poor in quality and high in worthless fillers.

Some good quality meat based foods to consider are Wellness, Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Solid Gold, Innova, Blue Buffalo, Timeberwolf, California Natural to name a few.

Answer 7

Homemade. I serve my dog mostly meat and fresh vegetables, brown rice and a small amount of California Natural and Missing Link Vitamin Supplements with omega 3 & 6.

Would you feed your kids nothing but dried kibble and expect them to be healthy?

My dog is healthy living on my cooking. I know what she is eating because I cooked it. He coat is shinny and she has more energy than she did just on kibble. Her vet is impressed with her great health too.

Good luck in finding the right diet for your Mini Pins.

Answer 8

I have done some research on this for we recently lost our 8 yr.wheaten to heart cancer.The best I have found are Azmira Holistic , Flint River Ranch ,Halo , Life's Abundance , Natura , Newman,s Own , Nutro Ultra Holistic , Pet Guard , Wellness .Some of these are hard to find but to get more info go to their websites.I hope this is of some help.

Answer 9

I am not really sure. But I know out of my two dogs they love Max, go figure that's the pups name. They do get kind of sick from other kinds, we try to buy ones with Gulcouisme for the older dog. But if there is too much he may vomit. Be carefully and read labels and articles.

Answer 10

There are a lot of different choices out there. The "best" brand really is the brand that works best for your dogs. Here are some sites to help:
http://www.4pawsu.com/dogfood.htm
and
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/