GrizzlyGabe

I have been giving my dog Nutro Natural Ultra lately and it is a good food, but i think i am gonna go with something different. Now my question is what to go with. what would your opinion be, between Diamond Naturals, the chicken and rice formula, Science Diet normal small bites, or something else? Opinions? Thank you.

Phil from Maine

What kind of dog do you have? Some require more energy than others.

cahansen2004

I use diamond naturals I like it.

RIStrutStopper

I'd stay away from the Science Diet. Ifeed mylab puppy Canidae all life stages Lamb and Rice meal. Check out this site: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php/cat/1

GrizzlyGabe

I have 2 dogs, my dog is a lab and our other dog is just a small lap dog. The lap dog eats very little and mainly eats treats and if she eats it is maybe a cup a day so i give her the food we feed my lab. My lab is used hunting, i take her swimming, running, fetch, regular exercise things like that. If hunting i'd give her a power bar type treat with some extra energy and things so i don't need a high fat/protein food for normal routine feed. I was thinking about during season getting a 5lb bag of high energy/fat food. Why would you stay away from science diet? That canidae looks good. And thats good you are happy with diamond, i've heard good reviews about it and that it is a good food. I'm not sure what to go with. thanks for the help so far though.

RIStrutStopper

This information is from the link I provided above. This is why I would stay away from Science Diet-

(Science Diet Adult Lamb And Rice Small Bites)

Ingredients:
Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Rice Flour, Ground Whole Grain Wheat, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Corn Gluten Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein (min) 19.5%
Fat (min) 13%
Fiber (max) 2.5%
Calcium (min) 0.7%
Phosphorus (min) 0.5%


This is the review of the food (one star rating, if you can trust the reviews, this one isn't shining):

The first ingredient is a named meat product, in meal form. This is the sole meat product in the food.


The primary grain is brewers rice which is a low quality grain and by-product. Rice flour, the third ingredient, is a grain fragment and filler.


The fourth ingredient is wheat. The use of wheat is a significant negative: wheat is believed to be the number one cause of allergy problems in dog food. This is another ingredient we prefer not to see used at all in dog food.


Sorghum is a carbohydrate source low in digestibility. We consider it primarily filler. Corn gluten meal is another low quality ingredient. Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food. The AAFCO definition of corn gluten meal is "the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm". In plain English, that which remains after all the nutritious bits have been removed.


Barley is a decent quality grain, but with six grains following the meat product, this starts to look like a very grain heavy food.


Animal fat is a further low quality ingredient and is impossible to determine the source. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this as "obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".


Beet pulp is further filler and a controversial ingredient – it is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required.


Soy is a poor quality source of protein in dog food, and a common cause of allergy problems. Some believe that it is the number 1 cause of food allergies in dogs (outstripping even wheat).

Phil from Maine

I like eaglepack dog food, they make it for every kind of dog there is. www.eaglepack.com
check it out for yourself..

Mite

I would question the ratings the link for Dog Food Analysis gave. It neither gives the author's name nor any contact information nor his work. It doesn't give any information on why the author isconsidered anexpert in the field. The only information given is his contact with Boxer World. I've known people who done alot of research but that does not neccessarily make them an expert. So, I would take it with a grain of salt.

I feed Pro Plan. It may not be the best but its considered good. My vet says, "it's a well balanced food." If its good enough for my vet, its good enough for me. BTW, my dog stools are nice dark and hard and relieves herself once a day.

The Rifleman

My dog likes IAM'S dog food.

The rule of thumb is - the more it costs, the better it is.

Eukanuba dog food is also very good.

Cessna Flyer

I feed mine Royal Canine, I looked at a lot of labels, and the main reason is I used to feed him Purina one but the wheat as mentioned before made him scratch all the time. And the proten in the Royal canine is high. Basically this was the best out of every one I read. A close second was the Diamond. but I am staying with Royal Canine, as he is doing very well on it.