would you say this is good dog food?

Question

NUTRIENCE:
Chicken meal, ground corn, brewers rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), dried beet pulp, dried whole egg, lecithin, hydrolysed chicken, yeast culture, chicken flavor, salt, potassium chloride, flaxseed meal,

Answer 1

Well, let's see how it stands up to my 3 simple rules.

Rule 1 meat is first ingredient well, that's a check. I don't have a problem with Chicken Meal as it is just dehydrated chicken. Quality of meal can vary depending on amount of bone in it.

Rule 2 says stay away from corn, wheat, and soy. Well, it has corn in it, corn is a common allergen, has little nutritional value, and certain parts of corn have been linked to human obesity cause our bodies don't always process corn appropriately (calories from high fructose corn syrup are automatically stored before your tummy can tell your brain you're not hungry) Canine obesity has increased over the last several years as corn has become a more prominent ingredient in the food. Let's also look at the other grains there. Brewer's rice is pretty much a filler. Easy to digest, but little nutritional value. The nutrition from the rice (which is in the bran) has been made into malted products like sake among other things. Beet pulp is used to add bulk to a dog or horse. While this is something I don't necessarily mind, it is something I would add myself if my dog needed it. There are other carbs that could keep weight on a dog and give more nutrional value.

Rule 3 - No artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. Well, I don't see anything in this little segment. So, I went to http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com and found it (I looked at the Nutrience Supreme Maintenance Plus Medium Breed food as the ingredients lined up okay). This website rates it as a 2 star food.

I actually saw some good things in there. Ginger, turmeric, and fenugreek are all herbs or spices with very beneficial properties. I am concerned with the amount of salt that appears to be in the food though.

I wouldn't be feeding it to my girls, but I can say I've seen MUCH worse. I'd want to do more looking into the company to see if they would disclose the quality of the chicken meal (how much meat protein is in the meal) and what grade of meat do they use. Other things to be aware of, especially with the herbs used, is how high of a temperature and how long is it baked. There is a debate about which preserves more nutritional value, baking vs. extruding.

For a point of reference, I feed Timberwolf Organics (rated 6 stars). The lowest food I've fed since learning about nutrition is Blue Buffalo.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

When did chicory, carrots, peas, apples and cranberry become dog food ingredients? There isn't much real difference between these foods. One uses chicken and turkey, the other only uses chicken. Neither uses corn or wheat. The biggest difference is the fruits and vegetables in the chicken soup brand. Both are made by the same company and its a good bet that the major ingredients come from the same sources. Unless there is an allergy problem your dog will be fine with either food. Feed whichever one is easier to get. The prices are close enough to the same, especially considering how little one pomeranian will eat. If you were feeding a working dog you might notice a difference between those foods but not with a normal family pet.

Answer 3

Chicken meal, EXCELLENT
ground corn, FILLER/BAD
brewers rice, FILLER/BAD
chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid),EXCELLENT
dried beet pulp,STOOL HARDENER/SHOULDNT BE NECESSARY
dried whole egg, NO VALUE
lecithin,IMPORTANT FOR DIGESTION
hydrolysed chicken, WATERY CHICKEN(very little nutrition once water is removed)
yeast culture, GOOD
chicken flavor, ARTIFICIAL
salt,NOT NECESSARY
potassium chloride,VITAMIN
flaxseed meal TOO FAR DOWN LIST TO BE USEFUL

I wouldn't pay Nutrience prices for their product. Too much hype - not worth product.

Answer 4

People have varied ideas on dog nutrition and many people passionately believe that these processed foods are worse than a balanced raw diet. Depends what YOU want to feed. I use a dry food together with some raw bones, chicken carcass etc.
Not a bad food, but in Australia it's expensive and you can do better for the price.

Answer 5

I prefer to see Chicken instead of Chicken Meal as the meat product, at least one other source of meat protein, no corn in any form, and brewers rice is less acceptable than whole brown corn. And the fact that they have to "add" chicken flavor" is suspect.
I suggest you look in to something different.

http://www.nutrience.com/english/dog/d-7227_transition_3kg.html


I suggest you look in to Merrick, Canidae, Innova, Nature's Variety, California Natural, etcetera...

www.merrickpetcare.com

http://petfooddirect.com/store/

Answer 6

NO.
Any dog food that lists corn in the first few ingredients isn't great. Not to be disgusting, but what happens to you when you eat corn? Well, the same thing is going to happen to your dog, and he/she will be eating it twice a day for a long time.
I would recommend Iams.

Answer 7

not too bad

it has corn, beet pulp, chicken fat which is not that great but it is made with chicken meal

Answer 8

about the same quality as Iams. average. although it has a good meat source(chicken meal) as the first ingridient, it is followed by corn meal, which can't be good.

Answer 9

I had a vet tell me that a good dog food is one where the first ingredient is meat. I havent considered chicken meal to be meat when I buy dog food. Is it okay to plug a dog food brand? That vet could afford to buy her dogs any food she chose. She fed her dogs Iams. Her dogs lived to be healthy and active into their teens.

Answer 10

it is a bad food...it's mostly fillers of garbage ingredients to keep the cost down of producing it...you'd be better off making your own dog food with a few of those ingredients and know that your dog is getting healthy ingredients...