beneful dog food is it any good i have a great dane that is three years old the people i got her from feed her

Question

crap from a feed store so i want to chang her food but dont want to bust the bank to do so what food can you recommend if beneful is no good.

Answer 1

A food that doesn't have corn as one of the first ingredients..
I feed my dogs California Natural which costs about $15 for a 20 lb bag..
Pretty much any food you find in a Walmart or a grocery store has corn as one of the first ingredients.., Even Iams is an utter waste of money..
Great Danes are very sensitive dogs.. Back when I owned mine I was an idiot and bought Iams.. He only lived to the age of 7 and it was always one emergency after another.. After reading the Iams ingredients with a better understanding of ingredients, I know why he was so darn unhealthy..
It's funny cause around here, the feed stores have the best dog food..
Here are ingredients you really don't want to see in dog food..
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients
Now, here's Beneful's ingredients..
Ingredients:
Ground yellow corn, chicken-by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, Minerals (tricalcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), sugar, sorbitol, water, animal digest, phosphoric acid, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, Vitamins [Vitamin E, Vitamin A, niacin, Vitamin B-12, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Vitamin D-3], added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, glyceryl monostearate, garlic oil.

The first ingredient is corn which is a cheap bulk filler that your dog can't even use for nutrition.. The second ingredient is Chicken Byproduct meal which is "AAFCO: Consists of the dry, ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices."
Wow, I was going to keep picking it apart, but, there isn't a single meaningful decent ingredient there.. It's all corn, dried chicken feet and miscellaneous crap.. That's why there's all those vitamins listed, because there's no nutrition at ALL in the ingredients themselves.. Wow, that is the worst dog food label I have looked at in a long time...
AND, it's pricey for the crap.. $17 for a 17 lb bag where I'm looking at it online.. blegh..

Now, here's California Natural.. It costs about the same at $22 for a 20 lb bag.. Here's the ingredients list
Ingredients:
Chicken Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Ground White Rice, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, Taurine, Flaxseed, Vitamins/Minerals

Chicken meal is very different from chicken byproduct meal..
Chicken meal is just the meat, not byproducts, just dehydrated meat..
Here's their product locater page..
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/where-to-buy/
You are more likely to find their food in a grooming shop or small pet store..
Mostly, just learn how to read a dog food label.. That site I first gave you has a lot more to it.. You may have a good local brand or something else available in your area that would be decent.. Learn to read dog food labels and figure out what makes up a decent dog food..

Answer 2

Pom4life is right. Beneful is awful food! Find a pet store that carries premium food and then get it for your dogs. It will cost you less because you feed the dogs less because it doesn't have all the fillers, corn, soy, and other harmful by products in it.
I would recommend Canidae it cost just about the same as some of the other foods and your dog will be much better off for it too.

ADD: FYI Great Dane's are NOT a large breed dog. They are considered a GIANT breed dog!
A 40 pound page is about 38 dollars.

Answer 3

Beneful isn't a food I would recommend. Danes are usually sensitive and prone to digestive problems, so it is important that you feed a quality food (of course, all breeds should get it too!) I switched from a poor quality to Innova Evo. I thought I would be spending more, but it actually costs about the same, because the dogs eat less of the high quality food. I went from buying three 40lb. bags (at $30/bag) to buying two 28lb. bags (at $45) a month. So...evens out.

This site will help you look over all the food choices and make an informed decision on what might be best for your dog. Then start calling different stores in your area to get price quotes.
http://www.dogfoodanaylsis.com

Answer 4

Beneful is a crappy food and shouldn't be fed to any dog let alone a Great Dane.
Store brand foods are not of good quality..they contain way too many grains & by products.
You own a Dane, so feed her a quality food and feed her responsibly.
Some good choices are Canidae All Life Stages, Chicken Soup Adult Large Breed or Regular Adult, Wellness, Innova, Solid Gold just to name a few.
I have fed Canidae, Chicken Soup & Wellness to my Danes.
I am currently feeding my 3 Danes Wellness Super 5 Mix chicken wet & dry. I love the food and they are doing great on it. (I also very much liked Canidae & Chicken Soup)
Canidae is one very well liked food among responsible Dane breeders/owners.

Answer 5

Beneful is terrible food!! Too many dyes and fillers!!

Feed the dog a good quality food such as innova, canidae, wellness..

Answer 6

I think Beneful is garbage. Try to stay away from brands you can find at grocery stores/Wal-Mart/etc. This includes, but isn't limited to, Purina, Eukanuba, Iams, Kibbles n Bits, Ol' Roy, Pedigree, Science Diet, etc. These foods contain tons of cheap fillers and by-products. It's basically everything you wouldn't want your dog to eat. Many dogs have dry skin, itchiness, and allergies to these foods.

There are much better choices out there. I recommend brands such as Innova, EVO, Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold, Orijen, Artemis, Timberwolf Organics, Flint River Ranch, Life's Abundance, Nature's Variety, Fromm, Merrick, Nature's Recipe, etc. These foods contain human grade ingredients and no fillers and by-products. It's very good for your dog. Many people notice a drastic change in their dog once they switch them to a high quality food.

Some people think Beneful is just fine, so it's all a matter of opinion. Once you learn to read the dog food labels, you're able to see which foods are good and which aren't. Beneful isn't a good food.

Answer 7

Abbyful's answer is spot on. However, you know your budget and have to keep within that (I pay $55 ish for a 33 lb bag of food).

My short list for things to look for or avoid include this.

1 - A named meat must be the first ingredient. Meals are okay, avoid by-products high in the list of ingredients. The type of meat isn't so important, but you should be able to know for sure what species of animal the meat came from. (says chicken instead of poultry)

2 - Limit Corn Wheat and Soy to after the first 5 to 10 ingredients. I personally don't like them at all as they are common allergens and difficult to digest. Whole grains like brown rice, barley, and oats are a lot better for dogs. Also, I don't like seeing any grain listed more than twice (and even then I'm skeptical). Listing the same grain many times in different ways could mean there is more of that grain than meat. This is what I dislike about Nutro products.

3 - Absolutely no artifiical colors, flavors, or preservatives. They've been linked to hyperactivity, cancers, and other organ diseases (kidney and liver).

I'd look at Solid Gold if I were you. It's good food and pretty reasonable in price. Also, I think the lady who founded the company used to show Great Danes.

Answer 8

I personally will not feed my dog any of the "main stream" dog foods (Purina, IAMS, Nutrena, etc.) because they have too many dyes and crap fillers in them - it's like feeding your dog McDonald's every day, it's alright but it's just not quality nutrition.

I feed my dog Innova, which I highly recommend, but any high-quality natural dog food is good for your dog. Look at the first few ingredients on the list of ingredients - if you see "by-product" anywhere, don't buy it. If corn meal or another kind of grain is one of the first three ingredients on the list, don't get it. Ingredients are listed in the order of percentage contained in food - the higher on the list, the more of it there is in the food. You want the first 2 or 3 ingredients to be a quality meat, like chicken.

The food is more expensive per bag, but in the long-run it ends up costing the same amount per-cup as the crap food you get at Wal-mart, because it is so nutritionally superior that you don't have to feed as much of it. For a big dog with a big stomach like a Dane, you can add whole-grain rice to the food for bulk to fill his stomach so he doesn't feel hungry.

Answer 9

You get what you pay for. Cheap initial cost=poor nutrition=shorter lifespan and higher vet bills.

Answer 10

its junk.. but its hard to reccommend something without knowing where you live..China? Chile? Canada?

rule of thumb ALL foods from grocery and Wal Mart are crap...

all foods you see a lot of commercials for are crap (they are putting their money into commercials rather than into ingredients)


read the ingredient list for yourself always AVOID - BHT, BHA, SOY, By-Products (beaks feet feathers, cancerous tumours.. yummy)

be cautious about listening to advice on what food to buy - make sure its not somebody who makes a profit by selling a certain kind (eg some vets sell only 1 kind of food so of course that is what they reccommend but some foods like Science Diet are TOTAL CRAP!!!) and often in stores they have food reps pushing one kind of food so you MUST read the lables yourself
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veges are ok for dogs.. however when I look at the top ingredients in this food BENEFUL...here is what I see
Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat

ALL are highly questionable and NONE are a good meat source...
even "animal fat" makes me wonder.. what animal???did you know that technically this can even be cats and dogs???

you are paying for junk

also he needs food for LARGE BREEDS..

if you were in Canada I would reccommend NUTRAM LARGE BREED FORMULA

Answer 11

Because your dog is larger breed, you might want to check into a food that is specifically formulated for large dogs, such as Royal Canin, they have food specifically formulated for different breeds.