petco has good food!?

Question

I was in petco and saw a food called Dick Van Patten's Natural balance dry. It said no corn, wheat, by products or fillers.
So is this almost or as good as canidae and innova?

Answer 1

Natural balance, while not good as innova or canidae, it is a better choice to feed. But I highly suggest you finding a Innova supplier in your area, and to feed that. I listed the Innova site in the sources, and they have a supplier locater. You will see such a positive difference in your dogs energy and coat.

Answer 2

I'd say it ranks right up there with Canidae and Innova. Personally I still prefer my canidae...it has two grains (brown rice and white rice) in the first six ingredients to Natural Balance's three (brown rice, oatmeal, barley). Plus NB's first ingredient is chicken. Dog food ingredients are listed by weight/volume before processing and since muscle meat is largely water volume, which is mostly removed during processing...meaning that by the time the food is processed, cooked, and extruded into kibble there is actually more of the second ingredient (brown rice) than chicken. But other than being a little heavier on the grains than Canidae the ingredients look great.

Answer 3

Go to the site below, it will give you objective and delayed analysis of commercial dog food products. Natural Balance isn't bad--the sweet potato and duck gets four stars. But you really should be shooting for something with five or six stars.

Here are tips on what to look for:

1. Protein of 40%, fat of 20%. Dogs process food differently than humans. A diet high in complex carbohydrates is great for humans--it helps us keep weight off. A diet high in complex carbos provides no energy for dogs and has them packing on the pounds. Dogs need protein and fat. Natural Balance isn't good in terms of this.

2. Look at the first 5-6 ingredients on the food. All or most of them should be real protein sources.

3. Your food should avoid wheat and corn and minimize other kinds of grains (rice, barley). Wheat and corn are a source of many allergies for dogs. N-B is good at this (avoid wheat and corn) but still has too many complex carbohydrates and not enough protein sources (especially as key ingredients).

4. In case you're interested, I feed my dog Innova Evo and Solid Gold "Barking at the Moon" (both 6 star rated foods) and sometimes Canidae (which is a 5 star rated food). But there are plenty of good options out there. Petco and Petsmart tend to not carry a lot of the five and six star rated dry foods but the last time I walked through one of each, they both had a few product lines so if those are pet stores closest to you (and you don't want to order online) than you still have reasonable options.

You could do a lot worse than Nature's Balance. But you could also do a lot better. It's ingredients are good and I believe they minimize use of rendered animals (grown up chicken beaks for instance). It's just not the right mix of protein and fat that a dog really needs.

Answer 4

Natural Balance is a decent food to use. Some Petco stores also sell Solid Gold brand, which is also good. And Petsmart sells Blue Buffalo. There are a few select higher quality foods at these stores, just not many.

Answer 5

I would say it is as good or even better than Canidae. It is about the same as Innova, but I am not sure.
For the price, and the convenience at Petco, it is a very good choice and better than most other choices at Petco/Petsmart.

Answer 6

Natural Balance is a decent premium food. It's all natural and contains no by-products. The chicken and rice sold like hot cakes when I worked at petco. I would fill the spot at least three times during my shift on the weekends.

My personal preference is Nutro Natural Choice!

Answer 7

Natural Balance is pretty good food, and one of the few brands I'd recommend, if access to a natural pet food store is not available.
Petco also sells Castor & Pollux "Natural Ultramix", which is what I purchase for my cat. It's good quality as well.
PetSmart carries Blue Buffalo......
I think they're starting to figure out that people are wanting better quality food, and are slowly providing access to that.

Answer 8

Helen take it from a dieticians Daughter with many animal nutrition college coursesherself, ASH is vital to maintain health. ALL the minerals (calcium iron ect) are in the ash portion of the dog food and your dog would not long survive without them. Besides it's impossible to produce a food with no ash (it comes in all the ingredients).

Answer 9

I use the sweet potato and salmon Natural Balance for my dog who is allergic to wheat and glutens. He's been doing well on it. His coat is very nice and he's full of energy!

Answer 10

I have not used the Dick Van Patten. I have read the label on it though. I was not impressed. I stuck with Royal Canine.