What puppy food would you recommend?

Question

When I got my puppy she was on diamond pet food which is apparently very hard to find so I will need to change her food once it runs out and I'm not sure what is the best puppy food to get her? I thought about beneful but I've heard it is actually very bad - what would you recommend and why?

Answer 1

The foods I highly recommend are...

Wellness, Core
Eagle pack holistic select
Innova, Evo
Azmira
Canidae
Merrick
All the foods listed above are all made with Human grade ingredients. None contain by-products, wheat, or corn

You are correct about Beneful being a bad food. Basically any foods you can purchase from a grocery store are all Horrible and serve NO nutritional value to your dog.

Other food you should stay clear of is
Science diet
Eukanuba
Nutro
Iams
These foods used to be very good foods back in the day but not anymore. They all contain By-products, Corn, and wheat. And are loaded with fillers which will make your dog poop more. Reson being that there is nothing good in the food that your dog can absorb into the body, vitamins etc., so all the bad stuff just goes right through the dogs system causing them to poop more often.

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 is not allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog is not 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

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 Beneful / 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

If financial concerns are important: Nature's Recipe Venison and Rice or Duck and Potato are good foods without BHA or BHT toxic preservatives, no added vitamin K, and no wheat, corn or soy. It also wasn't on the recent recall list with all the melamine, cyanuric acid, acetaminophen, etc. spiked food content.
Some brands that are costlier and supposed to be healthier are: The Honest Kitchen, Orijen, Canidae, Wellness, Newman's Own
Considering the lack of faith, for very good reasons, about what is or is not in the mix of any commercial dog food, you might want to consider home cooking or raw feeding.
http://www.rawdogranch.com
This way you know exactly what the grade and freshness of the food is and exactly what is in it. Also you know that it isn't cooked to death and smothered in additives and vitamins and toxic preservatives and doesn't contain the wrapping and packaging of reject "human grade" meats or slaughterhouse droppings or "digest" which is animal tissues from corpses that are turned to a powdered form and added in the food. Nature's Recipe does this as do most dog foods. But they do not add meat from euthanized cats and dogs or mystery meat tissue sources.

Answer 3

ANYTHING BUT RAW FOOD DIET, Let me ask you this question do you love your pet? If your dog was a wild dog and killed a chicken to eat it, would it let the chicken lay around for days growing e coli, or salmonella? Probably not. I had a Friend who bought a puppy from a breeder that swore by all raw chicken diet... guess what her puppy almost died. He had septic arthritis at 12 weeks old he had puss in his joints, when it was cultured it came back e coli... the only thing that puppy ever ate at the breeder was raw chicken. The vet said it was the diet since the infection was though out the whole body.

Answer 4

I feed Merrick, they have a great line!! Start switching before you run out, Mix a couple table spoons of new with the old and gradually build up to new over a week or two, this gives the pup time to adjust to the new food w/o upsetting its tummy.
Good luck and be sure to spay or neuter!!

Answer 5

Ay! So far, the only good recommendation you've had is Merrick. Please don't feed Science Diet, anything by Purina, or Pedigree. All of those contain cheap fillers like corn that your dog can't even digest. Try a high-quality food like Canidae or Innova Evo. http://www.dogfoodproject.com http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com

Answer 6

I would switch his food to something better quality. Try something like Innova Evo. Make sure there is no corn, or by-products in the ingredient list. Same goes with the treats you give him. Iams is one of the worst foods you can give your pets!!

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Answer 7

chicken soup for the dog lover's soul is pretty good. the first 3 ingredients are meat. look for that kind of stuff in pet food and avoid chemical preservatives. good foods use forms of vitamin E as preservatives.

Answer 8

I think Purina puppy chow is a good dog food. If you have a large breed dog make sure you buy puppy chow for large breeds. That way the puppy won't grow faster then it's body can develop. Enjoy you new puppy!!

Answer 9

I use puppy chow I use warm water and mash it up I have 9 puppies! Good luck!

Answer 10

I personally have always for many many years used puppy chow by purina,and kitten chow I have never seen a problem at all I really only purina products b/c they have been around forever if they not great some one would have said by now.