I am looking to switch dog food, I here a lot of good about Nutri-Source. Would you feed this food?

Question

http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/

Lamb meal, brewers rice, brown rice, barley, oatmeal, beet pulp, fish meal (a source of fish oil), flax seeds, natural flavors, sunflower oil, dried egg product, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols (a source of vitamin E) and citric acid), spray dried poultry liver, brewers yeast, potassium chloride, salt, proteinated minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, cobalt proteinate), yeast culture (saccharomyces cerevisiae, enterococcus faecium, lactobacillus acidophilus, aspergillus niger, trichoderma longibrachiatum, bacillus subtillis), choline chloride, vitamins (vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), taurine, glucosamine hydrochloride, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), Crude Protein (Min) 22.0% 220 g/kg
Crude Fat (Min) 13.0% 130 g/kg
Crude Fiber (Max) 6.0% 60 g/kg
Moisture (Max) 10.0% 100 g/kg
Selenium (Min) 0.5 mg/kg 0.5 mg/kg
Vitamin E (Min) 175 IU/kg 175 IU/kg
*Omega 6 Fatty Acids (Min) 2.0% 20 g/kg
*Omega 3 Fatty Acids (Min) 0.4% 4 g/kg
*Glucosamine (Min) 550 PPM 550 mg/kg
*Chondroitin (Min) 150 PPM 150 mg/kg
*Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C)(Min) 100 mg/kg 100 mg/kg

*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profile.




Lamb meal, brewers rice, brown rice, barley, oatmeal, beet pulp, fish meal (a source of fish oil), flax seeds, natural flavors, sunflower oil, dried egg product, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols (a source of vitamin E) and citric acid), spray dried poultry liver, brewers yeast, potassium chloride, salt, proteinated minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, cobalt proteinate), yeast culture (saccharomyces cerevisiae, enterococcus faecium, lactobacillus acidophilus, aspergillus niger, trichoderma longibrachiatum, bacillus subtillis), choline chloride, vitamins (vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), taurine, glucosamine hydrochloride, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), yucca schidigera extract, chondroitin sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, rosemary extract.

NutriSource Lamb Meal and Rice is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.



Feed 1/2 to 3/4 cups per 10 pounds of body weight; Feed 60 to 90 grams per 5 kg of body weight

Weight (lbs./kg) Amount to Feed (cups/grams)
10 lbs. / 4.5 kg 1 Cup / 90g
20 lbs. / 9 kg 1 1/2 Cups / 140g
30 lbs. / 13.5 kg 2 Cups / 190g
40 lbs. / 18.5 kg 2 1/2 Cups / 230g
50 lbs. / 22.5 kg 3 Cups / 280g
60 lbs. / 27 kg 3 1/4 Cups / 300g
70 lbs. / 32 kg 3 3/4 Cups / 350g
80 lbs. / 36 kg 4 Cups / 370g
90 lbs. / 40 kg 4 1/2 Cups / 420g
100 lbs. / 45 kg 4 3/4 Cups / 440g


These guideline amounts are a starting point for weight maintenance for moderately active adult dogs. Vary the amount fed to suit the age, activity level and temperament of your dog. Feed to maintain ideal body condition. Do not let your dog become overweight. These guideline amounts are for the total fed each day. Divide the amount fed by the number of feedings to get the amount per feeding. One 8 ounce measuring cup contains 3.3 ounces or 95 grams of NutriSource Lamb Meal and Rice dog food.
Provide clean, fresh drinking water daily.

Calorie content(calculated): 3,500 kcal per kg, 330 kcal per cup



COPYRIGHT ® 2006 NUTRISOURCE
PO Box 190, Perham, MN 56573, [phone]
All Rights Reserved

Answer 1

It's better than some of the foods out there, but I personally wouldn't feed it to my dog.

2 out of the top 6 ingredients are fillers (brewers rice and beet pulp). Brown rice, barley, and oatmeal are higher-quality grains, so those are fine. No corn or wheat, so that's good. Fish meal, however, is "mystery fish", I'd much rather it say something like "salmon meal". And poultry fat is another ingredient from mystery animals, this time, birds instead of fish. It does have lamb meal as the first ingredient, so that is good. Meal is the meat with the water content removed (if it was inclusive of water, the water would be approximately 70-80% of the weight). So lamb actually *is* the first ingredients since it is a meal. Although with only 1 meat source in the first 5 ingredients, it's questionable on how high the meat content actually is.

Overall, it's better than foods like Pedigree or Purina, but not as good as foods like Innova, Canidae, or Merrick.

Here is my "short list" of rules when I am looking at dog ingredients:
1) When I chose a dog food, I chose one high meat content. I want to see preferably at least 2-3 out of the top 5 ingredients be meat or meat meal (first ingredient must be!). Meal is simply the meat with the moisture removed.
2) I want to see higher quality grains, such as barley, brown rice, and oatmeal, instead of seeing wheat and corn. Or an alternative starch/carbohydrate such as potatoes or sweet potatoes.
3) I don't want to see any byproducts.
4) I don't want to see a lot of fillers.
5) I don't want to see preservatives that are believed to be carcinogens (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin).
6) I don't want to see artificial colorings such as the Red, Blue, and Yellow dyes.
7) I don't want to see added sugars (sugar, corn syrup).
8) I don't want to see mystery meats (meats identified only as "meat" or "poultry".)
.

Answer 2

1. I've provided the website below that I feel is the best, most objective comparison of commercial dry foods. Check out the options. I'd argue you should try for a five or six star rated food.

2. Nutrisource has too much grain for me. As a rule, you should skip foods with corn and wheat--those are common allergy sources for dogs and they're also empty calories.

3. Your protein and fat ratios are also weak with this food. You should shoot for a food with 40% protein and 20% fat--you can see that Nutrisource is way off those. Why such high numbers you may ask? Well, in the wild, canines eat all protein diets. I'm not arguing we should replicate that. But dogs process foods differently than we do. A good diet for humans is one rich in complex carbohydrates. But for dogs, a diet rich in complex carbos produces a fat dog with no energy. Feed your dog the right amounts (most people overfeed) of a good high protein, high fat food and you'll end up with a dog that has fewer allergies, more energy, less weight, a glistening coat, less shedding and less itching.

4. I feed my dog Innova Evo and Solid Gold "Barking at the Moon." (I usually feed one for several months than transition to the other--switching food not only gives variety but also minimizes the chances of an allergy developing). Both Evo and the version of Solid Gold I use are six star foods. There are a bunch of good options you can choose from. And with anything, what your dog likes will vary and may change over time (just like humans do with their tastes in food).

Answer 3

It's an okay food, but there's a lot of better foods out there. My biggest concern is the 2nd and 3rd ingredients are the same type of grain. That could mean there is more rice in the food than the lamb meal.

I'm also not a big fan of beet pulp. It's basically empty calories that for sled dogs, yes they need them, but for your typical house pet, no, they don't need the extra calories. I would also like to see 1 more meat in the top 5 ingredients.

It's not a bad food, (I consider Beneful, Puppy Chow, Kibbles and Bits, Pedigree etc bad foods because of artificial colors and preservatives and vague animal references for meat and fat). However, it's not a great food either. Look at Abbyful's response, she has a lot of good info in there.

Answer 4

Yes Nutri source is a very good dog food maker
I run a sled dog kennel and am feeding nutrisource super performance chicken & rice. It is 32% protien 21% fat first five ingredients are
1- chicken meal 2-chicken 3-brown rice 4- brewers rice
5-fish meal Thats 3/5 being meat based
The dogs look magnificent with beatiful shiny coats. If the lamb & rice is what fits your budget it would be fine but a chicken & rice formula may be better it will have more meat less grains.
Nutri source has a full product line with many options to fit your dog's needs and activity level you get what you pay for.

Answer 5

Nope would not feed it to my dog nor recommend anyone else to feed it either. It has way too much "grain" and not nearly enough meat in it. Also it is not a good idea to feed a dog a food where lamb is the main source of meat protein unless the dog has a specific medical reason for being on a lamb diet. Lamb based foods can cause copper toxicity in dogs.

Answer 6

I feed both my German Shepherd and my Chihuahua Acana Grasslands and I swear by it. The ingredients that go into it are fit for human consumption, there's no grains, no by products, no animal digest, no added sugar, and no artificial crap. It's one of the best brands out there in my opinion. Other good brands to look into are Orijen, Natures Variety Instinct, Canidae Grain Free Pure, Before Grain, and EVO. I Personally don't like Blue Buffalo because the grain content is extremely high which grains are not needed by dogs. More grains means high carbs percentage and carbs can contribute to itchy skin and bad teeth. I also don't trust the brand because when I tried it a while back both of my dogs and four of my friend's dogs and cats all got severe bloody diarrhea. Too weird. All switched slowly. After that I switched my dogs to Acana Grasslands in one day and the bloody diarrhea disappeared. Same goes for my friends pets when they changed to something else. Turns out Blue doesn't test their food for anything before selling it.

Answer 7

It's average I guess. Not the worst and not the best. I personally wouldn't feed it to my dog. Theres just to much grain. I only feed dog foods with 2 grains or less.


And I wouldn't feed my dog beneful junk even if you put a gun to my head! It's pure filler. Nothing but artiitial stuff. and barley any protein

Answer 8

At one time I might have, but I prefer to find more meat/meat meals as the first few ingredients rather than just the first.

CANIDAE All Life Stages contains Chicken Meal and Turkey Meal for the first two ingredients.

INNOVA Adult Dry Dog Food contains Turkey, Chicken, and Chicken Meal for the first three ingredients.

EVO Large Bites Dry Dog Food contains Turkey, Chicken, Turkey Meal, and Chicken Meal for the first four ingredients.

You may also like Solid Gold products.

Answer 9

It has too much garbage filler like beet pulp in it. Like another user mentioned, it was only given 3 out of 6 stars on dogfoodanalysis.com and is not recommended by them.

I give my dogs Innova Adult.

Innova Evo is a great food, but may have too much protein in it for a low energy couch potato dog. It's better suited for high energy working dogs.

Answer 10

You should try Flint River Ranch food.

My Golden Retriever LOVES it.

They bake it in cookie shapes and then break it up. He thinks he's eating cookies for breakfast and dinner!

Plus, he eats less of it than other foods because it is high in protein. He's lost a good amount of weight (he needed too) but his friend (a black lab puppy) hasn't lost any and is thriving nicely on it.

It's costly, but they don't charge for shipping and it takes about two days to get to WA from GA.

Good luck!