Nutrition
I have been studying dog food for some time now, and I have some strong opinions on the subject. Keep in mind that these are my opinions, and not necessarily shared by everyone who is concerned about canine nutrition.
1. You can buy any kind of food, for any price that is approved by AAFCO and your dog will probably be OK, at least for the short term. I think feeding poor quality dog food has a long term effect. The AAFCO standards are, in my opinion, very low. So..... having the AAFCO approval is pretty meaningless. Are you interested in just how low those standards are? Just so you can form your own opinion, here are the AAFCO requirements for their feeding trials, passing which is often used as a major point of advertising especially for low quality foods: Here are the AAFCO feeding trial requirements. (this is taken from "The Dog Food Project")
1. You can buy any kind of food, for any price that is approved by AAFCO and your dog will probably be OK, at least for the short term. I think feeding poor quality dog food has a long term effect. The AAFCO standards are, in my opinion, very low. So..... having the AAFCO approval is pretty meaningless. Are you interested in just how low those standards are? Just so you can form your own opinion, here are the AAFCO requirements for their feeding trials, passing which is often used as a major point of advertising especially for low quality foods: Here are the AAFCO feeding trial requirements. (this is taken from "The Dog Food Project")
* Only a minimum of 8 dogs is required as a valid "test group".
* There are no restrictions regarding breed or sex.
* Of these 8 animals, only 6 are actually required to complete the 26-week trial. The reasons for which an animal might drop out are losing too much weight or other negative side effects.
* During the trial, the only food available to the test animals is the food being tested. Water is freely available at all times.
* At the beginning and end of the trial the test dogs must pass a physical examination by a veterinarian. The veterinarians evaluate general health, body and hair coat condition.
* At the end (but not at the beginning) of the trial, hemoglobin, packed cell volume, serum alkaline phosphatase, and serum albumin are measured and recorded.
* The diet being tested fails if any animal shows clinical or pathological signs of nutritional deficiency or excess.
* The maximum permissible weight loss during ther trial is 15% of the starting body weight. Specific minimum values for the blood tests are given, and applied to the average result of all participating animals that finished the trial.
* There are no restrictions regarding breed or sex.
* Of these 8 animals, only 6 are actually required to complete the 26-week trial. The reasons for which an animal might drop out are losing too much weight or other negative side effects.
* During the trial, the only food available to the test animals is the food being tested. Water is freely available at all times.
* At the beginning and end of the trial the test dogs must pass a physical examination by a veterinarian. The veterinarians evaluate general health, body and hair coat condition.
* At the end (but not at the beginning) of the trial, hemoglobin, packed cell volume, serum alkaline phosphatase, and serum albumin are measured and recorded.
* The diet being tested fails if any animal shows clinical or pathological signs of nutritional deficiency or excess.
* The maximum permissible weight loss during ther trial is 15% of the starting body weight. Specific minimum values for the blood tests are given, and applied to the average result of all participating animals that finished the trial.
There you have it - wouldn't you have expected much more stringent rules, like larger sample groups, a time frame that is longer than just 6 months (for a food your dog might well be eating his or her entire life?), less permissible weight loss for a food that is supposed to be a maintenance diet? 15% is a loss of 7.5 pounds in a 50 lb dog, and unless more than 25% of the test subjects drop out from malnutrition, in the eyes of the AAFCO there is no problem with the product. Feeding trials are also not conducted under conditions that even remotely emulate the environment of a family pet, as they are mostly conducted in kennels of research facilities. A dog who sits in a kennel run all day surely has different nutritional requirements than one who is included in much of it's owners activities and gets a moderate to high amount of exercise every day.
2. Some dog foods have better ingredients in them than others. Even though the results of feeding foods with better ingredients will not usually be seen right away, I think you will have a healthier dog in years to come when you feed better food.
3. Better ingredients cost more. You can buy a 20 pound bag of dog food for $10 and you can buy a 20 pound bag of dog food that costs $40 They are both AAFCO approved, but if you read the labels, you will probably find that the cheap one is mostly corn, and the expensive one has more meat, and probably NO corn.
2. Some dog foods have better ingredients in them than others. Even though the results of feeding foods with better ingredients will not usually be seen right away, I think you will have a healthier dog in years to come when you feed better food.
3. Better ingredients cost more. You can buy a 20 pound bag of dog food for $10 and you can buy a 20 pound bag of dog food that costs $40 They are both AAFCO approved, but if you read the labels, you will probably find that the cheap one is mostly corn, and the expensive one has more meat, and probably NO corn.
4. Dog food makers (and human food makers) are getting very sneaky when they make the list of ingredients. Most people now know that the ingredient listed first, is the ingredient that there is the most of in the product. This is now manipulated in various ways, so you don't get the true picture.
For instance, if a label says the ingredients are.....Chicken, brown rice, and various vitamins, you could tell that there is more chicken in the food than brown rice. In other words, a higher percentage of meat than grain.
What if the label says the ingredients are.....Chicken, brown rice, white rice, corn meal, barley flour and various vitamins? All we now know is that there is more chicken than brown rice, more chicken than white rice, more chicken than corn meal, and more chicken than barley flour. The percentage of meat to grain is not at all clear. This is also complicated by the fact that chicken is heavy because it is mostly water. A food that proudly lists chicken as their first ingredient, may have much less chicken in it than it appears. Chicken meal is more comparable to grains because the water has been removed.
For instance, if a label says the ingredients are.....Chicken, brown rice, and various vitamins, you could tell that there is more chicken in the food than brown rice. In other words, a higher percentage of meat than grain.
What if the label says the ingredients are.....Chicken, brown rice, white rice, corn meal, barley flour and various vitamins? All we now know is that there is more chicken than brown rice, more chicken than white rice, more chicken than corn meal, and more chicken than barley flour. The percentage of meat to grain is not at all clear. This is also complicated by the fact that chicken is heavy because it is mostly water. A food that proudly lists chicken as their first ingredient, may have much less chicken in it than it appears. Chicken meal is more comparable to grains because the water has been removed.
5. The most expensive dog foods aren't necessarily the best, but price is a pretty good indicator of quality. There are a couple of brands that are quite expensive, and yet are fairly low quality, so beware. The opposite is never true. You will never find a good quality food with a very low price. Quality ingredients cost more than by-products. You can't rely totally on how much a dog likes a kind of food either. Some of the lowest quality foods can taste the best to dogs. Dog food makers can spray a coating on the outside of the dry food. This coating is there to make the dogs like it. The food you buy may be coated with used restaurant grease. Without it, they would probably not eat the food at all. That is the reason why people sometimes buy expensive dog food, and then get upset when their dog doesn't appear to like it as well as a cheap brand. It isn't the food itself, just the coating that they like. A dog would eat sawdust with chicken fat sprayed on it.
6. Feeding better quality food doesn't necessarily cost a lot more. Dogs will eat less of a quality food, and not constantly act like they are starving. If feeding quality food keeps the dog healthier, and prevents a vet visit down the road....... well, I'll put it this way, you can buy a lot of pretty expensive dog food for the price of a vet visit!
7. Read the labels! Don't be fooled by pretty pictures of vegetables on the bag. There is probably just a minuscule amount of them actually in the food. Just the other day I was looking at a label for Purina Puppy Chow Healthy Morsels Formula. Here it is:
6. Feeding better quality food doesn't necessarily cost a lot more. Dogs will eat less of a quality food, and not constantly act like they are starving. If feeding quality food keeps the dog healthier, and prevents a vet visit down the road....... well, I'll put it this way, you can buy a lot of pretty expensive dog food for the price of a vet visit!
7. Read the labels! Don't be fooled by pretty pictures of vegetables on the bag. There is probably just a minuscule amount of them actually in the food. Just the other day I was looking at a label for Purina Puppy Chow Healthy Morsels Formula. Here it is:
Ground yellow corn,corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour,chicken by-product meal, soybean meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E) brewers rice, beef and bone meal, beef, sugar, Pearled barley, animal digest, dicalcium phosphate, sorbitol, salt, tricalcium phosphate, phosphoric acid, sorbic acid (a preservative), potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried carrots, dried peas, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, DL-Methionine, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 2), glyceryl monostearate, zinc sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), ferrous sulfate, niacin, manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, biotin, brewers dried yeast, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite
There are lots of things that are not good here, but what I really want you to notice is (well, notice the sugar first, which has absolutely no place in a dog food) but farther down the line you will see salt. That is OK, but 5 ingredients later (by weight) you will see dried carrots and dried peas. How much of those yummy, healthy, ingredients are really in there? Obviously there is more salt in it than there are vegetables. Oh, and I just noticed it contains sorbitol, a sugar substitute. Unbelievable..........
But surely Beneful with all those pretty pictures of peas and carrots on the bag would be better. Think so? Here are the Beneful Puppy Food ingredients:
Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), chicken, milk, rice flour, soy flour, sugar, propylene glycol, animal digest, tricalcium phosphate, salt, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, sorbic acid (a preservative), water, calcium carbonate, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried carrots, dried peas, calcium propionate (a preservative), dicalcium phosphate, choline chloride, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 6), Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.
Notice that before we get to those yummy peas and carrots that are on the bag, we have 20 ingredients, by weight. There is more......sugar than peas, more salt than peas, more sorbic acid (a preservative) than peas, more water than peas, and more propylene glycol than peas.
8. If a dog food has things in it you wouldn't want to feed your dog, don't buy it. I was looking at raw hide chews in a store. (I try to only buy only American made chews) I actually saw it written as a warning on a chew bone from China that if you touch the chew with your hand, you should immediately go and wash with soap and water. Is this really something you want to feed your dog? Lately I have been also using South American chews, just because there is little choice, but I don't trust products made in China with my dogs at all.
Notice that before we get to those yummy peas and carrots that are on the bag, we have 20 ingredients, by weight. There is more......sugar than peas, more salt than peas, more sorbic acid (a preservative) than peas, more water than peas, and more propylene glycol than peas.
8. If a dog food has things in it you wouldn't want to feed your dog, don't buy it. I was looking at raw hide chews in a store. (I try to only buy only American made chews) I actually saw it written as a warning on a chew bone from China that if you touch the chew with your hand, you should immediately go and wash with soap and water. Is this really something you want to feed your dog? Lately I have been also using South American chews, just because there is little choice, but I don't trust products made in China with my dogs at all.
8. If you are getting a puppy from us, we would like to talk to you about food before you come and pick up the puppy. A puppy's food shouldn't be changed abruptly. We feed our puppies at least two different kinds of what we feel are quality foods, but if you have a specific brand of a quality food that you know you will be feeding your puppy, and it isn't what we use, we will purchase some and add it to the puppies' food so that your puppy will already be used to eating that food before you take her home. The puppy will already be making lots of changes, and she doesn't need a digestive problem (nor do you) when she is first coming to her new home.
Which kinds do puppies actually like? What they like best is home-made food. The trouble is that most people don't want to take the time and effort to figure out how to prepare a balanced dog diet. It is also time consuming, more complicated, and generally more work than cooking for people. (note- I have never tried the raw or b.a.r.f. diets, and I have formed no opinion on whether they are bad or good) Second best is canned dog food. If you can afford to feed a good quality canned food to your dog, that is the best choice for most people. One can of good quality food costs between $1.25 and $3 and a puppy may eat 3/4 to a whole can a day. Don't listen to people who say that dry dog food "cleans their teeth". That makes about as much sense as eating crackers instead of brushing your teeth.
Which kinds do puppies actually like? What they like best is home-made food. The trouble is that most people don't want to take the time and effort to figure out how to prepare a balanced dog diet. It is also time consuming, more complicated, and generally more work than cooking for people. (note- I have never tried the raw or b.a.r.f. diets, and I have formed no opinion on whether they are bad or good) Second best is canned dog food. If you can afford to feed a good quality canned food to your dog, that is the best choice for most people. One can of good quality food costs between $1.25 and $3 and a puppy may eat 3/4 to a whole can a day. Don't listen to people who say that dry dog food "cleans their teeth". That makes about as much sense as eating crackers instead of brushing your teeth.
Why is canned dog food better than dry? Think about the processing. Dry dog food often contains chicken meal. OK, that is a good ingredient, but what happens? First chicken is dried into meal. Then it is re-moistened with the other ingredients in the food. Then it is dried again. Talk about processed food. Is that chicken still as good as it was at first? I doubt it.
Is there a compromise? Sure. Mix some quality dry food into the canned, and it will go a lot farther. Your puppy will still like it almost as much, and you will save some money.
So is it bad to feed just dry food? No not really.......IF you feed a good quality dry food.
Is there a compromise? Sure. Mix some quality dry food into the canned, and it will go a lot farther. Your puppy will still like it almost as much, and you will save some money.
So is it bad to feed just dry food? No not really.......IF you feed a good quality dry food.
There is a Dog Food Analysis website that lists almost all the dog foods out there, and rates them. When you look at it, I think you need to keep in mind a few things.
1.The dog foods that rate 6 stars seem a little extreme to me. I don't recommend them for puppies. That goes for the dry food, and the cans.
2. We are feeding miniature dachshunds, not great danes. They don't eat THAT much. Your dog is worth the cost of at least a 3 star food.
3. There are lots of 3 star foods that I think are good. I would not hesitate to feed my dogs a 3 star food.
4. Study the comments made about a food you are thinking about using. They give hints about how good the ingredients listed are, and also which ingredients shouldn't be in a dog food at all.
5. As near as I can tell, there is no perfect food. You will have to make at least some compromises on what you want in a dog food.
Here is the link to the Dog Food Analysis site. There are a few flaws in the logic used in rating the foods, but all in all, the site if very good.
1.The dog foods that rate 6 stars seem a little extreme to me. I don't recommend them for puppies. That goes for the dry food, and the cans.
2. We are feeding miniature dachshunds, not great danes. They don't eat THAT much. Your dog is worth the cost of at least a 3 star food.
3. There are lots of 3 star foods that I think are good. I would not hesitate to feed my dogs a 3 star food.
4. Study the comments made about a food you are thinking about using. They give hints about how good the ingredients listed are, and also which ingredients shouldn't be in a dog food at all.
5. As near as I can tell, there is no perfect food. You will have to make at least some compromises on what you want in a dog food.
Here is the link to the Dog Food Analysis site. There are a few flaws in the logic used in rating the foods, but all in all, the site if very good.
Other Thoughts:
1. Many people seem to think Hills Science Diet is one of the best foods. I wonder why? (hint----if you are looking for it on the dog food analysis website, look under 1 star.)
2.The only grocery store I know of that sells anything besides 1 star foods in this area is Woodman's. They sell several good quality foods. Although Walmart might be improving a little. They now have the Rachael Ray dog food that isn't too bad.
3. PET SUPPLIES PLUS (on Northland Ave. in Appleton, and other locations) has, in my opinion, the best selection of premium dog foods in the Fox Valley.
4. I buy most of the food our dogs eat at The Dog House in Appleton. In addition to other good foods, they carry different varieties of American Natural Premium which I think is a good food at a reasonable price. They are located just off Northland Ave. at 2230 W Nordale Dr
Appleton
4. You can order food quite reasonably if you live in Wisconsin or neighboring states. Dog Food Direct has very reasonable shipping charges, and they ship quickly. I have ordered from them, and would do so again. Here is a link to their web site.
1. Many people seem to think Hills Science Diet is one of the best foods. I wonder why? (hint----if you are looking for it on the dog food analysis website, look under 1 star.)
2.The only grocery store I know of that sells anything besides 1 star foods in this area is Woodman's. They sell several good quality foods. Although Walmart might be improving a little. They now have the Rachael Ray dog food that isn't too bad.
3. PET SUPPLIES PLUS (on Northland Ave. in Appleton, and other locations) has, in my opinion, the best selection of premium dog foods in the Fox Valley.
4. I buy most of the food our dogs eat at The Dog House in Appleton. In addition to other good foods, they carry different varieties of American Natural Premium which I think is a good food at a reasonable price. They are located just off Northland Ave. at 2230 W Nordale Dr
Appleton
4. You can order food quite reasonably if you live in Wisconsin or neighboring states. Dog Food Direct has very reasonable shipping charges, and they ship quickly. I have ordered from them, and would do so again. Here is a link to their web site.
Here are some really good puppy foods. There are many more good ones out there too. Many of the same companies also make canned food that is excellent. They are listed in no particular order. With some I just list the brand because they are for "all life stages" or they have more than one kind. These are not the only good foods out there, by any means, just some that I have had experience with.
Nutri Source Small and Medium Breed Puppy
Wellness Super5Mix Puppy Food
Innova Puppy Food Dry
American Natural Premium (I like the Endurance Formula for puppies)
Canidae
Nutri Source Small and Medium Breed Puppy
Wellness Super5Mix Puppy Food
Innova Puppy Food Dry
American Natural Premium (I like the Endurance Formula for puppies)
Canidae
Blue Buffalo
Natural Balance
Fromm
Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lover's Soul
Don't be discouraged if you---- study the foods, find one that you think is really great, spend more money on a bag of dog food that you ever believed you would, take it home expecting your dog to think it is the greatest thing that he/she has ever eaten, and your dog takes one sniff and looks at you like "Why would I eat that?" Your dog just might really like the new food, but you can't count on it. The best way to introduce a new food (do as I say here, not as I do) is to mix a small portion with your dogs current food, and gradually increase it until he/she is getting all new food. I find that I can switch between good quality foods with no transition period, but if you are switching from a corn based food to a meat based food, doing it gradually might be prudent.
Natural Balance
Fromm
Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lover's Soul
Don't be discouraged if you---- study the foods, find one that you think is really great, spend more money on a bag of dog food that you ever believed you would, take it home expecting your dog to think it is the greatest thing that he/she has ever eaten, and your dog takes one sniff and looks at you like "Why would I eat that?" Your dog just might really like the new food, but you can't count on it. The best way to introduce a new food (do as I say here, not as I do) is to mix a small portion with your dogs current food, and gradually increase it until he/she is getting all new food. I find that I can switch between good quality foods with no transition period, but if you are switching from a corn based food to a meat based food, doing it gradually might be prudent.
If you are interested in learning more, here are some links that will give you much more information on dog food. The Dog Food Project in particular, is worth further study. It also points out some flaws in the Dog Food Analysis site.
In addition to quality food, our pregnant and lactating girls usually get a hard boiled egg every day. We grew lots of squash this year (ask me about "Red Warty Things" if you are interested) and strangely enough, the dogs just love the stuff----- even without the butter that we humans seem to think it requires. I have now added a spoonful of squash to the daily egg.
Another web site that you might find informative and interesting is The Dog Food Chat http://www.dogfoodchat.com