best dog food?

Question

What brand is best for my one year old dog. What is nutritionally the best for my dog. Purina, Pedigree, ScienceDiet are all advertised like they are the best but I've been told that they are really made out of ingredients that are not that nutritionous for your pet. So what is the best brand and where can I get it.

Answer 1

these web sites will tell you eveything you need to know and then some! please check them out.
k9educate.com
caninehealthcare.com
healthypetjournal.com
abundantlifeessentials.com/truthindogfoods
thepetcenter.com/imtop/nutrition
good luck and enjoy your 'best' friend

Answer 2

This is a very interesting way to check out the quality of the dog food that you are feeding. It's interesting, because sometimes paying more, does not get you more and vice versa.
The scores are rather interesting.
How to grade your dog's food: (Some brand reviews already calculated here)
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 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 69 = 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.
Brand Dog Food scores:
• Authority Harvest Baked: 116 A+
• Bil-Jac Select: 68 F
• Canidae: 112 A+
• Chicken Soup Senior: 115 A+
• Diamond Maintenance: 64 F
• Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice: 92 B
• Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula: 99 A
• Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium: 122 A+
• Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato: 106 A+
• Foundations: 106 A+
• Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold: 93 D
• Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium: 73 D
• Innova Dog: 114 A+
• Innova Evo: 114 A+
• Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables: 110 A+
• Nutrisource Lamb and Rice: 87 B
• Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy: 87 B
• Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice: 23 F
• ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley: 103 A+
• Purina Beneful: 17 F
• Purina Dog: 62 F
• Purina Come-n-Get It: 16 F
• Royal Canin Bulldog: 100 A+
• Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult: 106 A+
• Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice: 97 A
• Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+: 63 F
• Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies: 69 F
• Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken: 110 A+
• Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold: 97 A

Answer 3

Well in my opinion the best dog food is Purina Beneful is made out of vegetables and real ingredients i dont know where u heard that . I give it to my 8month doberman. She seems to love it. Sometimes I mix it with chicken from canned pedigree chicken or shredded beef. She seems to really enjoy it and shes big healthy and her hair is beautiful. U should also try giving ur dog vitamins, they really help. U can get Purina anywhere but I buy it at Sam's Club its a very good deal 40lbs bag for like 20 bucks. I heard about that dog food scandal but Purina and Pedigree were not mentioned that I know of.

Answer 4

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 5

Some (of many) good brands that were not on the recall:

Nature's Recipe
Royal Canin
California Naturals
Newman's Own (Paul Newman brand organic dog food)
Pet Botanics Lamb and Beef Logs

If you wanted to consider a raw diet where you know exactly what your dog is eating and know it is not from downer animals because it is sold for human consumption, you can check out this site:
http://www.rawdogranch.com
If you don't like the idea of feeding raw, it has some good suggestions about foods besides meat that are essential for dogs and you could cook the meat.
But read the site and see what you think.
There is really no "one" best brand because some dogs may not tolerate some meats in certain foods. I have three dogs that eat Nature's Recipe and Pet Botanics. They have occasional raw treats, Dan Active yogurt for digestive system and immune system and they get skin and coat supplements because they are prone to allergies in the climate where I live.
They eat NR Venison and Rice, or the Duck, Rabbit or Fish blends of that brand because one of the dogs does not tolerate lamb or chicken in dog food of any brand.
My Vet suggested the supplements for their skin and coat.
Avoid Rawhide treats because they are often preserved with things like formaldehyde and filled with bacteria. They can make dogs real sick.
GL with choosing your brand.
When you change a dogs diet, it helps to add some pumpkin pie filling to their diet because it is excellent in helping when a dog has digestive upset, diarrhea etc.

Answer 6

None of the foods you mentioned are good quality, they are all high in poor quality grains and lack in meat

I recommend Canidae, as it is suitable for all ages and sizes of dogs, it has plenty of meat and all ingredients used are top and near organic quality even we would have a hard time buying lamb that is hormone, and antibiotic or grain that are grown with pesticides in a grocery store. because it contain more meat than the foods you listed you will feed less per feeding so even thiough it is expensive to buy the per cup feeding amount makes it only a tad more expensive because a bag of food will lost much longer.

http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html

There are foods that are more expensive than Canidae which still do not come close to the same level quality

The person above suggested Nutro, Canidae though more expensive is actually cheaper to feed
For a 50 to 75 lb dog with Canidae you feed 2 to 3 cups a day
with Nutro for the same size of dog you need to feed 3 2/3 to 4 1/2 cup so roughly a cup a day more,
So with Canidae you are getting a 1/5 more feedings with a much higher meat content

Answer 7

A Raw Diet such as the B.A.R.F diet (Bones and Raw Foods) is best in my opinion, if you prepare it right. There are also companies like Nature's Variety that make a Raw Frozen Food you can buy pre-made. That is what I feed my pets. But those tend to be a bit more expensive then normal kibble. If you have to get a dry food then I would recommend the Innova Brand.

Answer 8

here's the gist of it in a nutshell:

if you can buy the brand of food at a grocery store or at a target, walmart, etc, it's 99% garbage.

brands like iams, purina, eukanuba, science diet - all garbage, they contain crap like by products, and try to trick unknowing consumers by listing things like "rice gluten" and "brewer's rice" that sound good, but is basically shavings and leftover fragments of rice after all the nutritious, human grade parts are taken out.

(if you're wondering why Vet offices recommend Science Diet and Euakanuba if it's so bad...it's because Vet clinics are businesses too, and they accept bids - the lowest bidder wins a place on the shelves of vet clinics, and endorsement by the Vets.)

I am a big fan of brands such as Nutro (stick with the dry...) where it is nutritionally sound, made of good ingredients, but not incredibly expensive.

Then there are brands of WONDERFUL food, such as Blue Buffalo, O&M, Innova, California Natural, Cannidae, Royal Canin, etc that are pricier - but well worth the money if you can afford it.

here's a website that explains how to read the labels of petfood bags, and explains what the ingredients ACTUALLY are...

It also has a comparison chart, so you can see what's actually in the popular brands.

http://www.iei.net/~ebreeden/kibble.html

Answer 9

Right now, I think the most important thing is safety. I have always fed my dogs Nutro (dry), it is more expensive than most, but now I am seriously considering switching to another brand.
Nutro canned food is included in this recall and I don't want to take any chances. These pet food companies should have included better safety measures in the processing of their food.

Purina has been around for more than 50 years. I am leaning towards Pedigree or Purina now. I have never heard of any recalls with these two companies.

Answer 10

You've been given some good advice here and some good resources. One web site I didn't see mentioned is:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com

It grades pet foods -- wet and dry -- on a scale from 1 to 6, the higher the number, the better the food.

Also, one brand of food I didn't see mentioned is Merrick. I originally tried Merrick because I noted that their products were all rated either 4s or 5s on the above website (most of 6-rated brands are ones I've never seen in my local pet supply store), but also because I am a sucker for clever marketing and Merrick is good at it -- their varieties are named things like "Cowboy Cookout," "Grammy's Pot Pie," and "Brauts N Tots."

Their wet foods are more like "stews" with real hunks of meat and vegetables in gravy. They have about 12 different varieties and you can get them in lamb, beef, chicken, buffalo, venison, duck, trout, turkey and some mixed proteins as well. My dog goes wild for them!

Their dry foods are basted so that you can add a bit of warm water and mix, so it turns into a gravy. They have about four or five different versions, including one each especially for seniors and puppies. Along with the kibble, the dry food also contains real dried pieces of meat and vegetables. My dog, who has been a picky eater for his entire life and refuses to eat dry food without wet mixed in, absolutely loves this stuff dry and without any wet food or water. It's a miracle!

The best part is that the quality is very good. The dry we are currently feeding him shows meat sources (identified) as four of the first six listed ingredients, for example, and there is no corn or wheat in it. I'm pretty happy with it, and so is my dog!

You do have to go to a pet product store to get it, though, but you will find this is the case for all high-quality foods.

My advice is to do your research, and buy the best brand you can afford that is accessible to you.

Answer 11

If you really love your pet, feed him or her only high quality super premium or organic dog food. It's worth it in the long run since most diseases are caused by poor nutrition & diet. Go to a pet specialty shop in your area. or a health food store. Never buy dog food from a Petco, PetSmart, grocery store, or department store (Target, Wal-mart, etc.) since those foods are mostly manufactured by a big company like Menu (pet food recall) and are sold under many brand names. Iams & Science Diet used to be good until those companies were sold. They now use much lower quality fillers and food. Don't jeopardize your pet's health. Do a google search of organic pet food and you'll get a good listing. The companies often list where their foods are sold. Flint River Ranch is a pretty reasonable super premium food. They deliver to your door....There are many distributors of that food on the net. Good luck & be fussy about what you put in your dog's body. Good for you in asking the question!