What is the best dog food, why?

Answer 1

There is no food that is the *best*, different individual dog may thrive on different foods. What is best for one may not be the best for the next. And just because a food is good quality, it doesn't mean it will jive the best for your dog.

What you want to find is the high-quality food that *your dog* does best on.

I use primarily Merrick foods because that's what my dog does best on. But your dog's "best" food may be something else.

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Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food.

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".)

Here is an article about byproducts:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=ingrd

And an article on what ingredients to avoid:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

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Here are some examples of high quality foods:
* Artemis - http://www.artemiscompany.com/
* California Natural - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp
* Canidae - http://www.canidae.com/
* Chicken Soup - http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
* EVO - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp
* Fromm - http://www.frommfamily.com/
* Innova - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp
* Merrick - http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
* Nature's Variety - http://www.naturesvariety.com/
* Orijen - http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/
* Solid Gold - http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
* Taste of the Wild - http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/
* Timberwolf Organics - http://timberwolforganics.com/
* Wellness - http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/

Or check this website for good foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
(I recommend only feeding foods rated 4, 5, or 6 stars. Anything 3 stars or less, I would stay away from.)

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Higher quality food may seem more expensive at first, but it evens out. The higher quality the food, the less fillers eaten (and therefore the less poop comes out the other end). Your dog eats more of a low-quality food to try to get the nutrition it needs, and most of the food just passes right on through. Also, higher-quality food will make your animals healthier, so you save money on vet bills in the long run.

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Stay away from grocery stores brands. They are low-quality foods chalk full of fillers, preservatives, dyes, etc.. (Grocery store foods are those like Beneful, Old Roy, Alpo, Pedigree, etc.)

Beware "premium" foods. "Premium" does not always mean good nutritionally, and is not a nutritionally high quality food. Most of these foods have the same types of ingredients as grocery store foods, just a bit better quality of those not-so-good ingredients. (Premium foods are those like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc..)

Another thing to be wary of: A lot of vets will recommend what they sell in their office. They get profit from the brands they keep on their shelves, that's why they push it. Truth is, vet schools don't focus a lot on nutrition. It's not saying that a vet is a bad vet because he recommends those foods, a lot of vets just are told "this is good food", so they pass the message along without proper nutrition knowledge. Also, some dog food brands (like Hills) support vet schools, so vets have heard of it from the time they start college, which makes them think it's good as well.

Hills company, the makers of Science Diet, are heavily involved in vet schools. "Hill's scientists author more than 50 research papers and textbook chapters each year and teach at leading schools of veterinary medicine" (Source of quoted section: http://www.hillsvet.com/zSkin_2/company_info/company_info_general.jsp?JSESSIONID=HMz2B3Jn3hv0rnSoxCobfbBhOec35ODG7yh5t3P0vcvhOtzRlQ9M!598359213!167846923!7005!8005&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026072&bmUID=1196192566575 )

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"Big box" petstores like Petco and Petsmart rarely have quality foods. (I do believe that PetCo sells "Solid Gold" and "Natural Balance" brands and Petsmart sells "Blue Buffallo", which are all higher quality foods, but most of the foods aren't.)

Also, grocery stores and Walmart aren't good places to buy food either.

Your best bets for getting quality dog food are:
- small, locally owned petstores
- dog boutiques
- farm supply stores

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When switching foods, do it gradually. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A

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ADD:

Meat meals are a perfectly acceptable ingredient as long as it specified what the meat is (for example, it should say 'chicken meal', because chicken is a specific bird; not 'poultry meal', because then you have no idea what the meat source actually is other than random birds).

"Meal" is just the meat with the water content removed. So if the first ingredient in a food is "chicken", that is inclusive of about 70-80% water, and therefore not the *real* first ingredient. However, if the first ingredient is "chicken meal", that is exclusive of water, and therefore actually *is* the real first ingredient.

Meal = good
Byproducts = bad

(All of these foods contain "meals": Artemis, Blue Buffalo, California Natural, Canidae, Chicken Soup, EVO, Fromm, Innova, Merrick, Nature's Variety, Orijen, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild, Timberwolf Organics, Wellness)
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Answer 2

Like Stina said, there's probably no "best" dog food out there.

I feed my dogs Natural Choice, and my cats Nutro Max. When I switched them onto NC and Nutro, I noticed an improvement in their coat quality right away, and that the dogs were making less piles outside. The "Feed Less, Shed Less, Clean up Less" promise they have is the truth!

Answer 3

I use Nutro Natures Choice, try to stay away from chicken meal, it's not healthy for the dogs and so many dog foods use it. A less expensive one i've found that doesn't have chicken meal is Kirkland.

Answer 4

Any food with out red or green coloring in it. Also it depends on your dog. What kind how big. I wouldnt buy food from a grocery store they charge and arm and a leg where as a feed store has quality dog food at cheap prices. Go to a feed store and they will assist you with what is the best for your dog!

Answer 5

I'd have to say any food without:

-Animal digest
-By-products
-Corn
-Wheat
-Soy
-Large amounts of animal fat
-Meal

Is good in my book. Foods like:

-Innova and Innova EVO
-Solid Gold
-Wellness
-California Natural
-Natural Balance
-Canidae
-Blue Buffalo (The ONLY decent food sold at PetSmart)

These foods have healthy ingredients, digestable proteins and nutrients, and no nasty parts of random animals.

They meet the AAFCO standard, and have been proven to provide what dogs need in a diet.

Specifically, Innova EVO has NO grains, lots of protein and meats. A complete, balanced diet.

Answer 6

EUKANUBA IS THE BEST BECAUSE IT HELPS THEM NOT SHED IT IS FOR ANY TYPE OF DOG. THEY LOVE IT IT IS GOOD FOR THEIR HEALTH.AND IT HELPS YOU OUT BECAUSE NOT AS MUCH HAIR IN YOUR HOME.

ALL VETS WHO ARE EXPERTS TELL OWNERS TO GET IT.I KNOW CUZ MY VET HAS A LOT OF DEGREES AND KNOWS WHAT AFFECTS IT HAS ON DOGS AND THAT ONE WAS THE BEST.SHE IS ALSO AN EXPERT.

Answer 7

The first 4 answers here are the best ones.

I've always fed my dogs Innova which has no fillers or cereals.

My Labs love it, look great, aren't fat, and there is minimal waste to pick up.

Answer 8

Well the best dog food is a kind that your dog will eat and restrics his age like if you have a older dog like I do you will need healthy digeasten and for puppy you need food that helps them grow you might want food that helps your dog if they are allergic to anything.

Answer 9

All of my friends and family and us all use Canidae and we love it because off the nutrients.

Answer 10

A well-planned and balanced raw or home cooked is the best way to go. Then its high quality canned foods like Solid Gold, Natural Balance, and many others. If you decide on dry (don't feel bad, I'm too lazy to homecook and too cheap to do only canned) here are a few tips in choosing a food.

1) Make sure the first ingredient is a named meat. There should be no vague references to meat in either protein or fat sources. In other words, it shouldn't say animal, poultry, or meat and bone. Also, avoid by-products and if you can't, don't allow by-products to be the first meat source in your food. The more meat in the first 5 ingredients, the better.

2) Avoid foods high in corn, wheat, and soy. They are common allergens, hard to digest, and have less nutritional value than grains like rice, oatmeal, and barley. Many people say no to grain all together, but some dogs do better with some grain in their diet. No grain should be listed more than twice. This is called splitting and could indicate there is more of that grain in the food than meat. This is the reason I do not like many Nutro products.

3) Absolutely NO artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. They've been linked to cancer, organ diseases, and hyperactivity.

The best food at PetsMart is Blue Buffalo.
At Petco you have Solid Gold, Natural Balance, and some stores are now carrying Blue there as well. Other good brands include Canidae, Eagle Pack, Merrick, Timberwolf, Innova, Evo, Orijen, and the list goes on and on.

Hope that helps.

Answer 11

I have read all the answers and they are all very good. Sometimes it boils down to dog's preference between quality foods. Some dogs just prefer the tast of one over the other. My dogs (I have 4 - 2 Border Collies, a Black Lab and a Beagle) were raised on a high quality food (I am in Canada and you probably won't see the brand in the USA) and they did really well on it.
Then I discovered Nature's Variety Raw dog food. Now they are REALLY thriving. Their coats are beautiful, muscles strong, etc, etc and they LOVE the taste of it. It comes in many different varieties. My dogs seem to prefer the lamb to the chicken but their favorite is venison....Hmmm...they eat better than I do sometimes. Due to the fact the I have 4 dogs, it is expensive to feed it to them but overall, worth it.
Good luck in your search.