what do u think of beneful?

Question

i have been feeding my overweight golden beneful for a while now and hes really starting to lose weight..wut does anyone else think of this food and wut other brands could u suggest?

Answer 1

Wow...What Answers. I was going to give Beneful a thumbs up, because I feed my two Beneful and didn't realize it was as bad as everyone says (thanks everyone). I am definitely going to check out other brands and some of the sites listed by those answering this question.

Thanks guys for the education!

Answer 2

First of all, thanks for trying to help your overweight Golden get to a healthier size!

Having said that, you can do quite a bit better than Beneful. Beneful is NOT a good food. The first ingredient is corn (a common allergen), followed by chicken by-product meal (this means this is the feet, beaks, etc. of the chicken, not the good meat part), more corn, wheat flour (another common allergen), etc. etc... Here's an analysis of this food: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=69&cat=all

Other brands I WOULD suggest are Innova (if your dog has allergies, EVO is a good food), Wellness, Canidae, Orijen, Solid Gold, and Go! Natural. You won't be able to get these foods at Petsmart, so you'll need to get on the company websites and find out where they're available in your area. They're also a bit more expensive but they have a lot less filler so you don't have to feed as much (and as a bonus, your dog will produce less poo!). DO NOT FEED PURINA. It is a terrible food. DO NOT feed IAMS, Eukaneuba, or Science Diet. DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR VET if they tell you to feed any of these foods. Do the research yourself (I'll include some links below) and learn why certain ingredients are bad in dog foods... then pick a decent food that suits your budget and go from there!

Good luck! :)

EDIT: I want to add that although quality foods are a "bit" more expensive, they certainly aren't prohibitively so. For example, I was buying 40-lb bags of Canidae for $30-35 and now my EVO is $40-45. But that bag lasts me 6-7 weeks because I don't have to feed as much. I'd have to buy TWO $28 bags of Eukaneuba to last the same length of time because the serving size is much larger. So if you're considering the cost, be sure to figure how long that bag will last you!

Answer 3

BARF! as in barfing. I wouldn't feed this to my dogs if they were starving. People look at the bag and don't bother to read the labels. The first ingredient is corn - dogs shouldn't eat corn, it's not a natural diet, it has NO nutritional value because they cannot process it, it is a filler. Chicken by products are the parts left over after they are butchered for human consumption- heads, feet, inedible organs, and bones. They serve little nutritional value because the dogs need muscle meat. There is also a chance that these products took a LONG time getting into the dog food, so they're probably bad. Corn again... flour (again another filler, used to make them into the kibble shapes). Beef tallow is just the fat, again usually obtained by dubious methods.
Other nasty ingredients are animal digest-well that's pretty much just poop and intestines, and a LOT of chemical preservatives as well as food coloring.

There is nothing healthy in this food, even "chicken" is not the best source because they weigh it with the water content, theres not much in the food and even less with all the water, whereas chicken MEAL is ground up dried chicken with the water removed, meaning there is actually more chicken in the food.

I won't feed my dogs nasty foods because of the chemicals, disgusting animal ingredients and fillers.

Any food from Purina, Pedigree, Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba... anything you can get at the grocery store or big chain petstores is nasty food.

I feed Solid Gold, other good brands are Wellness, Innova, Canidae, Natures Variety, and several others.

Benefuls bag has green beens and carrots on it, if you look at the ingredients, neither of those are actually in there.... false advertising to make people think their dogs are getting a good food.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=69&cat=all

the foods on this site with a 4star are decent foods, 5star and 6 are good quality foods.

My dogs eat less, poop less (and smaller piles :D )and are healthier, no allergies, because of good food. The poop even disintegrates after a few days so I don't have to clean up my backyard. There is STILL poop a month later from a foster dog that was on Science Diet (ugh i'm going to have to clean up my backyard eventually).

I bet your dog eats over 5 cups a day. Probably more. My 70lb dogs eat about 3 cups a day, and only because they are EXTREMELY active and would be skin and bones if I didn't feed them that much.

If you aren't actively trying to help your dog loose weight, exercise, feeding less etc. He is probably loosing weight because he's not getting enough nutrition.

You asked for my opinion and I have to say, it's crap food.

Anne B- while i agree a dieting dog should stay away from high protein foods Im going to have to disagree about canidae. It is a wonderful food for a reasonable price, you don't feed NEAR as much on canidae so the price evens out when you buy it. If you pay 15 dollars for a 35lb bag of Purina, for a dog my dogs size you have to feed about 10 cups a day, more since my dogs are so active. If you buy a $35, 35lb bag of canidae, you feed about 3 possibly 4cups for the same size dog.
If this makes any sense....
$15: 10/35= 2/7:$15
$35: 5/35= 1/7:$35
$15/$35 = 3/7

2/7+3/7 = 5/7
1/7 + 3/7 = 4/7

I know it's squirrely, I'm making ratios fractions but if you can get the meaning that's what counts. and I'm using 5 cups, because it fits better, instead of 3 or 4 so it's even less.

So I feel that I am saving money by feeding a better food. I also don't pay as much in vet bills for food related issues such as allergies. I think overall a dog is in better health and cheaper at the vet when you feed quality food.
http://spear-barkennels.com/Feeding.php
The count the cost part explains it better than I do... lol

Answer 4

It is great that you are concerned for your dog's weight and have been actively trying to get it down. So many people don't recognize that their dogs are overweight until they develop serious issues. I really don't think that your dog is getting the proper nutrients with Beneful, however. This food is full of fillers, and things that do absolutely nothing for a dogs health. It is imperative that your dog be supplemented with some great nutrition while he is losing the weight, just like we take vitamins and watch our nutrition when we diet.
I would suggest you look into some of the better quality dog foods out there, and avoid anything with by products or corn in it-corn is useless to a dog. You don't have to go wild and buy something like Candidae or one of the other really expensive brands, but many pet stores now carry better quality products because that is what the customer is looking for. Nutro Natural Choice or Blue Buffalo are two that would give your dog what he needs.

There are some tricks my vet taught me as well about weight loss. You can feed substanially less, and supplement with unsalted green beans or baby carrots. That way your dog won't be starving all the time. My overweight girl really looked forward to her veggies at dinnertime. She lost twelve pounds over two years-a good steady weight loss, and she has kept it off since.
Stay away from high protein foods, as they can add weight to an adult dog who is less active. High fiber is better.
Good luck with the weight loss!

Answer 5

Beneful is one of the absolute worse foods out there.
Your dog should be getting a good quality food such as Canidae, Chicken Soup,Wellness, innova just to name a few.

Answer 6

Beneful is really bad food in my opinion!

I would rather feed wellness, innova, or canidae!

Make sure your dog is getting plenty of exercise!

Answer 7

Beneful is anything but good. It is full of dyes and things that a lot of dogs are allergic too.

Answer 8

Beneful is one of the worst foods out there. Look at all of the dyes that they put into that food - not OK for dogs.
But don't take my word for it:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=69&cat=all

Answer 9

I feed Nature's Balance.

Of course, every dog does better on different types of food.

Beneful is not on the good list, but it is not the worst(such as Hills brand).

Good luck!

Answer 10

I myself don't like Beneful
I feed my pups Purina One puppy and my adults Purina one
I have been breeding and owning dogs for over 30 years