Flint River Ranch!

[Roxyluvsme13]

Got a sample of Flint River Ranch, today. ROXY absolutely loves it! I was wondering if there was any place you could buy it? I think it's alot better than Dog Chow, and any opinions on it would be nice, too. We have a Natural Pet Food store...maybe they would sell it? Please and Thanks!

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

That's awesome that she loves it! Unfortunatley, I am pretty sure you can only buy it online. :(

[BitsyNaceyDog]

It's a lot better than Dog Chow! Where'd you get the sample? Do they sell it there?

Here (http://www.flintriver.com/) is their site, they sell it on there with free shipping.

Edit- I just looked it up in the Whole Dog Journal and it says it's "sold through independent reps". So it looks like no large pet stores sell it, just independent ones.

[Glacier]

It's a very good food--vastly superior to Dog Chow!

This is their website:
http://www.flintriver.com/
I don't think they sell in stores. You can order from their website or they might have a distributor in your area. They have a distributor up here even so I bet there is one somewhere near you! They deliver right to your door!

[Roxyluvsme13]

It's a lot better than Dog Chow! Where'd you get the sample? Do they sell it there?

Here (http://www.flintriver.com/) is their site, they sell it on there with free shipping.
We got the sample from the Site..but we can't buy it online, because we don't have a credit card..:(

[Roxyluvsme13]

Bump? My mom said we would check out the Natural Pet food store tomorrow. She probably won't buy it, because we're on a major limited budget,but maybe in the future! I hope they have it, because Skye likes the cat version, too...Which type of the food is the best, since they have many different kinds?

[bckrazy]

For a budget, Canidae is the BEST kibble you can get, IMO. It costs about $.75/lb, which equates to about $30 for a 40# bag. That's a really good price for the quality! It has lots of meat protein and more calories, so you will be feeding Roxy much less Canidae than you feed Dog Chow. Your Mom might actually save money by feeding Canidae, because less of a higher quality kibble goes a long way compared to Dog Chow. Here's the nutritional analysis for Canidae and Dog Chow....

To sum this up, a 40# bag of Dog Chow from Petsmart costs $20. A 40# bag of Canidae costs $30! And just compare the ingredients! You will feed Roxy about half as much Canidae, and Canidae only costs 50% more than Dog Chow... so you will be SAVING $10, theoretically. :p And she will be much healthier for it. She may or may not need just 2 cups, she might need 3 cups to build up her weight, but she should gain weight quickly on a better diet and then she'll only need about 2 cups to maintain her weight. Most people don't realize that feeding cheap kibble is actually ripping you off, because it's nutritionally almost worthless and it takes SO much of the food to keep weight on an active dog.


CANIDAE ~ Feed 2-2 1/2 cups
Crude Protein (min.) 24.00%
Crude Fat (min.) 14.50%
Crude Fiber (max.) 4.00%
Moisture (min.) 10.00%
Lenoleic Acid (Omega 6) (min.) 3.70%
Vitamin E (min.) 200.00 IU/kg
Calcium (min.) 1.20%
Phosphorus (min.) .90%
Alpha Linolenic Acid (Omega 3) (min.) .60%
Ascorbic Acid (min.) 50.00 mg/kg
Cellulase (a) (min.) 100 CMCU/kg
Magnesium (min.) 0.14%
pH 6.0

Calculated Caloric Content
ME (kcal/kg) 4125
ME (kcal/g) 4.13
ME (kcal/lb) 1875
ME (kcal/cup) 468

All Natural Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory root), Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement



DOG CHOW ~ Feed 3-4 cups
Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (Min) 21.0%
Crude Fat (Min) 10.0%
Crude Fiber (Max) 4.5%
Moisture (Max) 12.0%
Linoleic Acid (Min) 1.5%
Calcium (Ca) (Min) 1.0%
Phosphorus (P) (Min) 0.8%
Vitamin A (Min) 10,000 IU/kg

Calorie Content:
Metabolizable Energy (ME)
3701 kcal/kg
1679 kcal/lb.
433 kcal/cup

Ingredients:
Ground yellow corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal digest, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2, Yellow 6), manganese sulfate, manganese proteinate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, copper proteinate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite. P-4101

[Roxyluvsme13]

For a budget, Canidae is the BEST kibble you can get, IMO. It costs about $.75/lb, which equates to about $30 for a 40# bag. That's a really good price for the quality! It has lots of meat protein and more calories, so you will be feeding Roxy much less Canidae than you feed Dog Chow. Your Mom might actually save money by feeding Canidae, because less of a higher quality kibble goes a long way compared to Dog Chow. Here's the nutritional analysis for Canidae and Dog Chow....

CANIDAE ~ Feed 2-2 1/2 cups
Crude Protein (min.) 24.00%
Crude Fat (min.) 14.50%
Crude Fiber (max.) 4.00%
Moisture (min.) 10.00%
Lenoleic Acid (Omega 6) (min.) 3.70%
Vitamin E (min.) 200.00 IU/kg
Calcium (min.) 1.20%
Phosphorus (min.) .90%
Alpha Linolenic Acid (Omega 3) (min.) .60%
Ascorbic Acid (min.) 50.00 mg/kg
Cellulase (a) (min.) 100 CMCU/kg
Magnesium (min.) 0.14%
pH 6.0

Calculated Caloric Content
ME (kcal/kg) 4125
ME (kcal/g) 4.13
ME (kcal/lb) 1875
ME (kcal/cup) 468

All Natural Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory root), Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement



DOG CHOW ~ Feed 3-4 cups
Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (Min) 21.0%
Crude Fat (Min) 10.0%
Crude Fiber (Max) 4.5%
Moisture (Max) 12.0%
Linoleic Acid (Min) 1.5%
Calcium (Ca) (Min) 1.0%
Phosphorus (P) (Min) 0.8%
Vitamin A (Min) 10,000 IU/kg

Calorie Content:
Metabolizable Energy (ME)
3701 kcal/kg
1679 kcal/lb.
433 kcal/cup

Ingredients:
Ground yellow corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn gluten meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, animal digest, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2, Yellow 6), manganese sulfate, manganese proteinate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, copper proteinate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite. P-4101
Like I said she'll probably be on Dog Chow, or something cheap, until May, because we're on a REALLY limited budget right now,and my mom will buy the cheaper food, because Roxy will eat it...Too bad I dont have a picky dog >.<

[bckrazy]

Please read the rest that I added :) honestly, Dog Chow is a rip-off IMHO. You should print that out for your Mom to see!

[Roxyluvsme13]

Please read the rest that I added :) honestly, Dog Chow is a rip-off IMHO. You should print that out for your Mom to see!
I don't have a printer :p, but at least she agreed to go see if they had the food...I tried convincing her it would save her money, but she kinda ignored me :(

[Kfamr]

There really isn't a "best" food IMO - but many people will beg to differ that the food THEY buy or prepare for their dog's IS best. I think if your dog is doing okay on it and that's all you can afford, then it is what's best.

FRR's first ingrediant is lamb meal which could me anything but more than likely it is tissues, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, stomach and other "by-products." It is a step from "Dog Chow", certainly. I'll be using the sample I requested for training.

You'll find that Roxy and Lily will probably like most different foods that are put in front of them.. my 3 are the same way. Sometimes when I was feeding them 100% Nutro, they'd skip a meal or two. Something you may like to try is to get several different samples, or maybe even a small bag of a higher-quality food and do 3/4th of Dog Chow, 1/4th of the other food. Even now with me feeding them 3/4th TimberWolf (www.timberwolforganics.com) and 1/4th Nutro NC, I get samples of Eagle Pack, Merrick, Solid Gold, etc.. and mix tiny bit in with each meal. I'm lucky because our natural pet food store is more than happy for us to take samples.. they have bins full just for that purpose!

[Roxyluvsme13]

There really isn't a "best" food IMO - but many people will beg to differ that the food THEY buy or prepare for their dog's IS best. I think if your dog is doing okay on it and that's all you can afford, then it is what's best.

FRR's first ingrediant is lamb meal which could me anything but more than likely it is tissues, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, stomach and other "by-products." It is a step from "Dog Chow", certainly. I'll be using the sample I requested for training.

You'll find that Roxy and Lily will probably like most different foods that are put in front of them.. my 3 are the same way. Sometimes when I was feeding them 100% Nutro, they'd skip a meal or two. Something you may like to try is to get several different samples, or maybe even a small bag of a higher-quality food and do 3/4th of Dog Chow, 1/4th of the other food. Even now with me feeding them 3/4th TimberWolf (www.timberwolforganics.com) and 1/4th Nutro NC, I get samples of Eagle Pack, Merrick, Solid Gold, etc.. and mix tiny bit in with each meal. I'm lucky because our natural pet food store is more than happy for us to take samples.. they have bins full just for that purpose!
Okay! Well, Roxy loved the FRR, but...there may be something better, and a bit more affordable at the store tomorrow. I hope they have samples, too :D. Thanks for all the info everybody!:)

[Logan]

My dogs loved Flint River Ranch food, but you do have to buy it online, or call their toll free number. I stopped it because it got very expensive with 4 big dogs and my girls were getting fat!

I would gladly buy it again, though, if there were some extra $$$ to spend.

Logan

[bckrazy]

Lamb Meal is actually better than whole Lamb, because "Meal" is whole Lamb minus the moisture... while just Lamb will contain a lot of moisture and less of the actual meat. I think "Lamb By-Product" would be much more sketchy.

[zoomer]

I've never heard of it nor have I seen it before. I'm glad she likes it though. Good luck and I hope you can find it somewhere.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

FRR's first ingrediant is lamb meal which could me anything but more than likely it is tissues, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, stomach and other "by-products." It is a step from "Dog Chow", certainly. I'll be using the sample I requested for training.

Actually, like bckrazy said, Lamb meal is good. Flint river ranch only uses human grade ingredients. Had it said either "lamb by-products" or "lamb by-product meal" then the ingredients are likely to be tissue, hair, hooves, etc.

[Kfamr]

That's weird that you two say that. A friend of mine who has a website for dog foods told me that lamb meal or any *meat* meal could mean that the company just wanted a nicer word for by-products. Like I said, it could mean anything. No one REALLY knows what's put into dog food unless we mad it ourselves... which goes for any type of food, really.

[Roxyluvsme13]

FRR is a little expensive for us I think. So, well just look at the Natural PetFood Store and see what they got.

[Cincy'sMom]

That's weird that you two say that. A friend of mine who has a website for dog foods told me that lamb meal or any *meat* meal could mean that the company just wanted a nicer word for by-products. Like I said, it could mean anything. No one REALLY knows what's put into dog food unless we mad it ourselves... which goes for any type of food, really.

I have heard different claims, so I thought I'd check out how the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) defines these terms:

Chicken:
Definition: Chicken is the clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken- exclusive of feathers, heads, feet, and entrails.

Chicken Meal: chicken (see defination above) which has been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size."


Chicken by-product:
Definition: Chicken by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.


What I have heard from food sales reps (take it for what it is worth), is that the difference between listing chicken and chicken meal, is that the moisture and fat are removed prior to cooking, which means the actual meat content is higher in chicken meal then if it is just listed as chicken. This is also supported by several food comparison sites, and the definitions of the AAFCO.

(I used chicken as an example, but would apply to any meat)

[Kfamr]

I'll have to show my friend this thread... :p

[AllAmericanPUP]

There are two types of meat used in all foods, fresh and meat meal. Meat meal is pre-digested meat protein that is dehydrated and then added to the food formula. It’s a pure form of meat and high in protein. Fresh meat is just that, fresh meat. The draw back to using fresh meat is it loses half its weight in the cooking process. A lot of companies also SAY they use fresh meat because the consumer assumes that it’s better to use fresh than meal and it makes their food “read” better. If it’s true and they use fresh meat, and listing it first on the ingredient label , it is in fact the 6th or 7th ingredient after cooking . It may have started out as the most by weight prior to cooking but……….with meat meal, you are getting a lot more meat-based protein.