Is Pedigree bad for my dog?

Question

many people say that pedigree is bad for dogs, but I am a little confused because I have been giving our fifteen month old mini doxie who we have had for only a couple of weeks pedigree and she seems to love it and is healthy, happy has a shiny coat and the vet said is in spectacular condition. What should I do keep her on it or switch?

Answer 1

It honestly is not a good food. Check out this link...it has a food comparison tool that tells you which ingredients are in your food, what they actually are (which may surprise you), and what the benefits or downfalls of these ingredients are. Good luck!

Added:
This is just one ingredient detail for pedigree:
Meat Meal or Meat & Bone Meal is the rendered product from mammal tissues, with or without bone, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.

Most people associate this ingredient with beef. The truth is that it can come from any mammal: pigs, goats, horses, rabbits, rendered animals from shelters, and dead animals found on roads. Meat meal can contain condemned parts and animals that are rejected for human consumption, including '4D' animals: dead, diseased, dying, or disabled. It can include pus, cancerous tissue, and decomposed (spoiled) tissue. This inexpensive ingredient found in many commercial pet foods cannot be considered part of a safe, healthy diet for pets.

Answer 2

In my opinion, Pedigree is garbage, along with every other food you can get at Wal-Mart, local grocery stores, etc. If you learn to read the food ingredients on dog food, you can easily tell which is good and which isn't. Here are the first four ingredients for Pedigree's Dry Adult Lamb and Rice formula. Ground Whole Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Wheat, Meat and Bone Meal The first ingredient is corn. Corn is horrible, and a cheap filler. Dogs can't digest corn well, and it should be avoided. Being first on the list means there's most of it in the food. You do not want corn in the first 5 ingredients, and if you can help it, not at all. Chicken by-product is basically everything you DON'T want your dogs to eat. This can include, but is not limited to, beaks and feet. Meat and bone meal is next. Dogs don't need bone meal, but they do need meat in their diet. However, this does not specify which type of meat, so I would not trust this food...ever. Now, here are the first four ingredients of a high quality food, Canidae All Life Stages. Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Comparing the ingredients to Pedigree, you can clearly see this one is better. There are two meat sources, and two rice sources. These are human grade ingredients, and is something you do want to feed your dog. Vets do not take a course on dog nutrition, so they will only recommend the brands that they are paid to sell. Your vet probably recommended Pedigree because your vet is a vendor and paid to sell it. There are many better choices out there for your dogs. I, by no means, am trying to tell you that you MUST change foods. It's all a matter of opinion. I, personally, would feed a higher quality food such as Canidae, Wellness, Innova, EVO, Timberwolf Organics, Orijen, Merrick, Solid Gold, Flint River Ranch, etc. These all are made from human grade ingredients and you don't need to worry about their diet mainly consisting of corn. Again, it's all a matter of opinion. If your dogs are doing well on Pedigree, you could keep them on it, but there are many, many better choices out there.

Answer 3

i recommend Innova, Cannidae, and Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul. Pedigree is one of the food companies being sued by MF Legal who says,

“Premium” Pet Food Marketed and Sold as “Complete and Balanced” Has Historically Contained Such Items as Euthanized Dogs and Cats, Restaurant Grease, Hair, Hooves, and Diseased Animals, and Other Inedible Garbage.

Also, no dog food gives dogs everything they need, check the link below to add a few years to your dogs life and save yourself a ton on vet bills over the years.

Answer 4

I love Big Mac's too, but that doesn't mean they are good for me to eat.. BUT A Big Mac is far better nutrition for your dog than the Pedigree dog food is.. Look at the ingredient list.. CORN, and it's preserved with BHA/BHT and Ethoxyquin... The ingredient quality isn't there.. The grains and the parts of the animals they use to make the food, and everything else.. It's not a good food.. It's better than eating dirt.. but that's about it.

Just cause a dog looks decent today, doesn't mean they are healthy.. Just cause the vet thinks the dog looks ' Good ' doesn't mean there aren't problems brewing inside.. Takes times for toxins to take their toll.. Plus if you think your dog is feeling healthy and energenic? Imagine how well she would feel, if she was being fed quality ingredients and actually getting the nutrition she needs.

I won't suggest a food, cause there are people here who whine cause they feed crap and they object to people suggesting different foods.. I will tell you that grocery store foods are ALL garbage.. Pedigree, Purina, Iams/ Eukanuba, Science Diet, Beneful, Ol Roy, Kibble N Bites etc.. Nothing in Walmart is good.. You should talk to the lady at the pet food store and tell her you are looking for something without a bunch of fillers, no wheat, no corn, no BHA/BHT or Ethoxyquin, no colouring, no sugars.. Tell her you want a good quality kibble..
The better food you feed, the easier they get their nutrition from the food.. So if it seems like it's expensive, it's okay cause they eat far less quality food than they do the garbage foods..

Answer 5

I guess it all depends on each dog and each owner I have used the other brands and I find mine to best of pedigree it does not put them over weight or under weight they maintain the right weight for there breed my oldest is 13 years old and still acts like a puppy

Answer 6

I say if your dog likes it and your dog is healthy then keep using it. Don't worry about what other people think. They have there own opinions. You can't always believe what you read on the internet. Ask your vet what he thinks he will be more then willing to help you. Some people on here say that a lot of dog foods are bad, but you and your vet decide what you think is best not what other people say that don't even have a veterinarians degree. I love my dogs as if they are my children, but they eat what they like and what my VET says is good for them not what other people say.

Answer 7

Yes.

dogfoodanalysis.com

look at the 5's and search pedigree

Answer 8

Here's Pedigree's ingredients
Ingredients:
Ground Whole Corn, Meat and Bone Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT), Wheat Mill Run, Ground Wheat, Natural Poultry Flavor, Wheat Flour, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Carmel Color, Vegetable Oil (Source of Linoleic Acid), Rice, Wheat Gluten, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate [Source of Vitamin E], L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate [Source of Vitamin C*], Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Biotin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement [Vitamin B2], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), Added FD&C and Lake Colors (Yellow 6, Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5).
Here's Innova dog food which runs about $22 per 20 lb bag VS the $14 per 20 lbs of pedigree...
Ingredients:
Turkey, Chicken, Chicken Meal, Ground Barley, Ground Brown Rice, Potatoes, Natural Flavors, Ground White Rice, Chicken Fat, Herring, Apples, Carrots, Cottage Cheese, Sunflower Oil, Alfalfa Sprouts, Egg, Garlic, Taurine, Vitamins/Minerals, Viable Naturally Occurring Microorganisms

Here's a little bit about ingredients...
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

Notice the first ingredient is corn?
Right from there, it goes straight to "meat and bone meal." Do you notice that it doesn't specify what source the "meat" is from? That's because they use a mixture of leftover parts..
Here's the AAFCO definition of what meat and bone meal is:
"AAFCO: The rendered product from mammal tissues, with or without bone, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices."

"The animal parts used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters and so on. It can also include pus, cancerous tissue, and decomposed (spoiled) tissue."
Pedigree is also preserved with BHA and BHT which is banned from human usage in many countries and proven to cause cancer in animals.. But, it's cheap, so they use..

Answer 9

Its not bad for her per se. Its a cheap food with cheap ingredients that many dogs don't do well on in the long run. Many dogs develope skin, coat and allergy issues from the cheap ingredients.

Answer 10

Your dog might love it, but how do you know that your dog is healthy. Pedigree contains by-product,corn, and other fake meat. It is NOT healthy, and you may want to switch, nothing from a grocery store is healthy.