# Assessing Dog Food ?



## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

I've visited the sites that rate dog food. However, I'm trying to better understand how to assess dog food and better understand what goes into selecting food...not just X amount of protein and X amount of fat.

Anyone know of any good info out there. I did a Google search and came upon this, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for and it's dated in 1991.

Thanks in advance...

Mike

By Nan Weitzman and Ross Becker
From The Dog Food Book

The sources and availability of nutrients are the keys to determining the quality of a dog food. Much has been written lately in the general press about all dog foods being alike. Anyone who believes this just doesn't know the facts.

With dog food, the truth is not that you get what you pay for. You can get less than what you pay for, or more. It depends on the quality of the ingredients, the formula, and the nutritional punch of the food.

We like to delve a little deeper into the mysteries of dog food. We look at various scientific analyses to determine how much energy a dog food will provide. And we analyze cost per feeding.

When we began to look at cost per feeding last year, we discovered an interesting fact: It costs less to feed a Super-Premium dog food than an Economy dog food. The secret is in the nutritional power of the food. A Super-Premium dog food contains much more energy and protein in every kibble than an economy brand. In one test we ran, we had to feed five times as much of the Economy brand dog food to get the same nutritional benefits of the Super-Premium. Despite the lower cost per bag of the Econo brand, it costs you more to feed than a Super-Premium, because you use more bags. How does cost fit in to the dog food picture? We measured the cost of 40 pound bags of various maintenance/adult dog foods and took the manufacturers' suggested feeding instructions. We then calculated the cost of feeding a 40 lb house dog for a day.

The Premium foods studied had an average of 22% crude protein and 10% crude fat. The Super-Premium dog foods examined had an average of 27% crude protein and 15% crude fat. The Economy brands averaged 20% crude protein and 8% crude fat.

The Super-Premium foods suggested feeding an average of 1-3/4 cups of food per day for our 40 lb dog. Premium brands recommended 3-1/4 cups, while the Econo brands instructed feeding 6 cups a day.

It costs an average of 24 cents a day to feed a dog a Super-Premium brand, compared to 26 cents a day for a Premium brand, and 31 cents a day for an Econo brand. That's right - the Econo-brand actually costs you 7 cents more a day to feed your dog than a Super-Premium does. In order to give your dog the nutrition he needs, he has to eat 3-1/2 times more of the Econo brand than the Super-Premium food.

Thus, the big difference is in the poop! The seven cents more that you spend on an Economy brand buys you piles more in the yard cleanup department.

Something else interesting turned up in our study. If you have a giant breed, such as an Irish Wolfhound, you would have to feed your dog at least 12 cups of an Econo brand for a cost of 64 cents a day. On a Super-Premium, he'd eat only 4-3/4 cups of food for a cost of 62 cents a day. That means the top quality food costs two cents less than the low quality food to get the same nutrition.

The bigger the dog, the narrower the margin of savings the Super-Premiums give. However, for my money, I'll take the Super-Premiums any day - can you imagine having to clean up the result of 12 cups of food a day per Wolfhound?? (Feeding a bigger dog on a Premium dog food costs 1/3 of a cent less than the Super-Premium, although you will still be feeding more and would have greater stool volume.)

Working with a kennel of 70 active hunting dogs over the last three years, we tested 10 different brands of dog food ranging from Econo brands to Super-Premiums. We found that it doesn't pay to feed a cheap-quality dog food. The better the quality of the food, the less it took to feed our dogs. Even at a higher price per bag, we saved several cents per feeding per dog. The better quality the food, the better the value.

Here's an example in our Foxhound kennel. The typical dog weighs about 70 pounds. It costs an average of 86 cents per dog per day to feed a Super-Premium brand, compared to S1.01 per dog per day for a Premium brand. When we fed a Regular brand, it cost us $1.12 per dog per day. When we fed an Econo brand, our cost soared to $1.35 per dog per day.

Super-Premium dog foods are more digestible so more of the nutrients are utilized. This means less poop is produced. Super-Premiums are more nutrient dense and less expensive to feed than Economy, Regular and some Premium brands.

Calculations based on prices in Doylestown, PA, 1991.

http://www.gooddogmagazine.com/dogfoodcosts.htm


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## Watchm! (Jul 9, 2005)

I have been feeding mine a manufactured raw meat diet from Animal Food Service and could not be happier. The eight ounce pet patties are awesome. They look like you could put them on the grill for yourself.

animalfood.com


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## Jungda99 (Nov 17, 2006)

I was feeding my 50lb lab a 3 cups/day of a cheap pet-smart brand food for the first 2.5 yrs of her life. I started to notice on a hard day of pheasant hunting she would get tired pretty quickly. I did some research on here and began feeding her Eukanuba(sp?) Sporting(that was the best food I could find at pet smart). I have been very impressed with it. I wouuld still feed her 3 cups a day while on a hunting trip but drop her back to 1 cup/day in the off season and her weight is sustaining just fine.

The bag of cheap stuff was $25 and the Eukanuba is roughy $40. So as you can see I cost me less money per month to feed her the good stuff and the stools are significantly smaller and less of them. I couldn't be happier. During the season it does cost me a bit more to feed her the good stuff but she is able to hunt hard all day so I think it is worth it.

With the cheap food I was unable to drop her back in the off season because she would start dropping weight pretty quickly.


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Taddy talk to your vet first off. I currently do not have a working dog, but we do have small house dogs. I was surprised to learn how different fillers in dog food can affect them and their ability to properly absorb the nutrition and also how the fillers convert in the body of the dog.

The info I got was very good and both dogs being of different ages are eating basically the same food with us controlling the portions. Joint issues and weight control have improved.

The big thing we found is that there are good quality foods out there that are priced well below the name brands and are of better quality. One word of caution on this is to make sure your vet really knows nutrition and is not simply touting a Mfg propoganda!


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## brianb (Dec 27, 2005)

Their are a ton of good foods out there. Not all will be right for your dog. For example, Exclusive makes what I feel is an excellent food but it gave my dog gas, bad. So I don't use it.

Basically, you want at least 26% protein, 16% fat, or up to 30/20 if you really hunt or train hard.

This site has a couple of good articles on food and a number of others on various dog topics. http://www.gundogdoc.com/library/index.html It is by Joe Spoo, DVM. He is a friend of a friend and a SD native.

I would say any of the following are good foods:

Pro Plan 
Eukanuba
Arkat
NutriSource 
Eagle Pak
Innova 
Exclusive
Diamond
Black Gold
Nutro 
Solid Gold
Even Maxximum Nutrition from Walmart has a pretty good ingredient list.

Do a google search and you will find a web site for all of these. Price does vary though. Some in the list are less than $0.50 a lb while a couple are over a $1.

Brian


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## stonebroke (Dec 16, 2004)

Any of the premium dog foods are excellent, but some dogs do better on one formula while others do better on another. My one Chessie will blow her coat every time when I try to put her on a lamb/rice formula, but the lamb/rice formula is the only thing I've found that won't give one of my Springers terrible gas.....she'll drive you out of the house if you try a chicken based dog food!!

To judge whether a particular dog food is a quality product or not look at the stools, the coat, stamina, and overall health of your dog. A cheap food (usually corn based) will give big, mushy stools. A good dog food will give smaller much more compact stools. A dog's coat should be the mirror of the dog's health... If they have a dull coat, flaky skin, etc. a change in dog food is in order.

I feed Diamond Premium in the fall and winter and to any dog that is PG or nursing pups. In the summer I feed the Diamond Maintenance formula.... they need the calories in the winter, but not so much in the summer. As stated earlier there are several good brands.....I use Diamond because they give me a big discount because I buy it in bulk (I have 8 dogs). Like the others, it's good stuff. I can't remember the last time I had a dog to my vet because of a health problem, and my pups are born very strong and healthy. Premiun dog food doesn't cost you money....it saves you money in the long run.

Look for dog foods with meat listed as the first ingredient on the label... If it lists corn first, don't buy it. All of the premium dog foods list meat first(chicken, lamb, beef, etc.) . Beware of "Meat by-products"... That could be anything from feathers to who knows what else.


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## brianb (Dec 27, 2005)

> Beware of "Meat by-products"... That could be anything from feathers to who knows what else.


Have you looked at the ingredients on the food you are feeding? Chicken by product meal is the first ingredient in Diamond.

Not that it is necessarily bad. Here is my analogy:

Chicken or chicken meal = the stuff in a McNugget
Chicken by product = the stuff my grandparents said was the best part of the bird.

By product includes - bones, feet, digest, organs, necks. The only feathers that are allowed are those that are unavoidable in the processing operation.

If you do some searching you can get the actual definition of each term but that is basically it.

Brian


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## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

Thanks guys...I've been away...in Kansas pheasant hunting.

I currently feed Nutro Adult Large Breed. The stool and coat seem to be inline with desires. However, stamina in the field is my concern. I'm going to try Exclusive (red bag). Hopefully, the gas won't be too bad Brian! :wink:

This seemed to be a good site...

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

I will consult with a vet as well. Thanks again to everyone!

Mike


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## H2OFOWLN (Jul 28, 2007)

I have been using Eagle Pack for the the last couple of years, and the results have been outstanding. I have an 8 year old BLF who was suffering form food allergies and I tried everything, the only food that took care of the problem was the hollistic duck formula made by Eagle pack, since then there has been no problems. I have even had great results with my CLF on the maintence plan.


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## Maggs (Nov 7, 2006)

Some food for thought:

Check out

www.dogfoodanalysis.com


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## jwdinius1 (Dec 14, 2006)

During hunting season (sept-dec) i feed my lab nutro high energy a 30/20 blend, but for the long cold winter months in ND i switch to purina one healthy weight forumula which is a 25/8 blend, i am very happy with both his coat is always shiny and has great energy, one thing i did notice is he does poop a little more often with the purina than the nutro. I also give him one raw egg a week to help with his coat, ive heard positives and negatives abotu the raw egg thing but my lab loves them and he has one of the nicest coats ive seen so whatever works!!


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## cancan (Feb 28, 2008)

cant beat eagle pac for quality ingriedients but its kinda pricey.....power formula is outstanding....i can hardly wear him out working on this feed.

I have switched to black gold signature 31-21 and I just cut back the ration in the off season. My 3 dogs love it and look great. Its almost half the price of eagle pac.


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## BROWNDOG (Nov 2, 2004)

Here is link for a complete ingredence list of many many different dog foods. I made it a sticky at the top of the foruns page as well.

http://forums.dogfoodproject.com/postli ... rd=dogfood


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## choc24/7 (Mar 22, 2008)

mine got sick of just about everything. i switched to Innova and it is amazing. her coat is thickening and the dry skin is alot better also. it doesn't have any of those grain fillers.


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## cancan (Feb 28, 2008)

for allergic dogs eagle pac makes a holistic line, duck and potato seems to be good for dogs prone to grain allergies.

Corn isnt a bad ingriedent its how the corn is processed that makes the big
difference. If the clear hulls of the kernels is left on that can cause dogs some issues....the clear husk on the kernel also tends to pull water out of the dogs system to help break down the clear husk.

That said Corn is a great source of carbs(carbs=energy) they arent just a filler.....eagle pac's processes for making dog food are some of the best out there. basicly human quality ingriedents.


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