Give dog food a grade...

[k9krazee]

I saw this on another forum and I thought it was very interesting and worth sharing :)

Start with a grade of 100:


1)For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points

2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or
fat) reference, subtract 10 points

3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points

4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source,subtract 5 points

5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five
ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewerâ?Ts rice", "rice flour" are
all the same grain), subtract 5 points

6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats
in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points

7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points

8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3points

9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 morepoints

10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil,subtract 2
points

11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic
to other protein sources), subtract 2 points

12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points

13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isnâ?Tt allergic to
wheat), subtract 2 points

14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isnâ?Tt allergic to
beef), subtract 1 point

15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points

2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or
nutritionist, add 5 points

3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points

4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points

5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points

6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points

7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points

8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points

9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points

10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point

11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point

12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than
the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein
source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point

13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point

14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are
pesticide-free, add 1 point

94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D

69 = F

---------------------------------------------------------
Here are some foods that have already been scored.
Dog Food scores:

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+

Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F

Canidae / Score 112 A+

Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+

Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F

Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B

Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+

Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+

Foundations / Score 106 A+

Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B

Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D

Innova Dog / Score 114 A+

Innova Evo / Score 114 A+

Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+

Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B

Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B

Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F

ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+

Purina Benful / Score 17 F

Purina Dog / Score 62 F

Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F

Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+

Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+

Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A

Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F

Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+

Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

[sammy101]

Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B

We feed that,except its not puppy,or large breed.
Interesting thread. :)

[BCollie_Kelly]

Canidae / Score 112 A+


We feed Canidae, and the dogs love it.
I also saw this on another forum I visit frequently, it's quite interesting. :)

[BC_MoM]

I feed Purina One Lamb & Rice Formula and my dogs do great on it. :) I don't care how it scores! lol

[Jessika]

I feed Purina One Lamb & Rice Formula and my dogs do great on it. :) I don't care how it scores! lol
That is really all that should matter, period.

I did my formula of Nutro Natural Choice (Chicken Meal, Oatmeal & Rice) and it got in the low to mid 90's if I did it correctly (if anyone cares to do it again please feel free lol)

[dragondawg]

Propet Large Puppy Breed Formula 15% Fat, 27% Protein.

Attributes:

1. Both dogs gobble it down without hesitation - night after night (with a smaller morning feeding).

2. No digestive problems. No vomiting, no gas, no diarrhea, no pancreatitis,... nothing but normal.

3. No food allergies.

4. No skin problems, coats are healthy. My male's black coat shines-literally.

5. High energy levels (3 yr, and 2.5 yrs old).

Ingredients start with: Lamb, Brewers Rice, Corn, Chicken, ...

Frankly I don't care If:

1.The dog receives the amino acid Lysine from the Lamb, or the Corn, and neither does the dog's biochemistry.

2. The dog food contains NaCl or salt which is essential for metabolic ion membrane transport.

3. The substrates were contaminated with hormones or antibiotics as the heat and drying used during processing would break them down, not to mention the acidity of the dog's stomach.

4. That it might lack Flax oil. Flax oil which is next to worthless. When they approach the "age of cancer" I'll supplement with fish oil.

5. That it doesn't contain fruit. Fructose is just another sugar and is not essential for dogs. Given the food ingredients lists a multitude of vitamin supplementation, neither would fruit help there. And finally fiber is fiber be it from fruit or corn.

6. That it lacks sunflower seeds (e.g. saturated fat + protein). Although I must admit giving them a nibble of any leftovers I eat at lunch commonly. My agreement with my dogs is that they get the last bite of whatever I eat.

There are some dog foods I would avoid as a matter of course (e.g. "Old Roy"- from Walmart, and most of the Purina line). But there are many brands that will yield a healthy dog over the course of its life. The brand I feed now was good enough for my previous dog which lived to 11 yrs of age (i.e. Lymphoma at 10 courtesy of genetics). Unless either one of my dogs suddenly develops an allergic or metabolic food problem the Propet line will be continued for them.

[Misty_Pearl]

Pearl gets the "raw" diet. My adult dogs that won't touch raw gets a kibble/quality can food/egg/oil supplement that I mix up daily. As long as my dogs like it and will eat it and not have an allergic reaction to it, I am perfectly happy. I have tried many a kibble and my poms normally get really tired of it after the first couple of weeks even with the weekly/daily spice up. They really love the Barking at the moon solid gold diet and I plan to stick with it. I like can food because of the moisture content and use the kind that has chickin, lamb, organs etc. in the first 4-6 ingredients. I also like the food rolls that petsmart and petmart carry and they get that as treats or a supplement as I see fit. :D

[dab_20]

Wow that's really interesting. My vets always telling me to feed them science diet. :rolleyes:

[IRescue452]

Well, like human like dog, if you feel the need to stuff your body full of processed unhealthy foods then of course you won't care about the dogs health. I'm going to show my grandma that Iams gets a D. I always tell her to get the dogs off this food because there is too much protein for her dogs anyway. This list could be more specific. You want a good balance. You don't want a food that rates 150 points because it is nothing but protein.

[dab_20]

Well, like human like dog, if you feel the need to stuff your body full of processed unhealthy foods then of course you won't care about the dogs health. I'm going to show my grandma that Iams gets a D. I always tell her to get the dogs off this food because there is too much protein for her dogs anyway. This list could be more specific. You want a good balance. You don't want a food that rates 150 points because it is nothing but protein.

I also feed Iams. I know it isn't the best, but the only place that sells dog food around here is Wal Mart... and they don't have much. :(

[K9soul]

That's interesting, although I wonder why it gives extra points for having barley (a grain) in the food. As far as I know barley is no more or less healthy a grain than rice? Anyway that would explain why Evo lost a couple points, as it is meant to be a completely grain-free food :).

[IRescue452]

Here's some of the nutrients found in the barley plant (they don't just use the seeds). You actually need to know your ingredients before you start knocking them. Its like the stupid fad diet people that decide to cut out a food completely without information just because it is a fad.

Vitamins: Biotin, Choline, Folic acid, folate, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Vitamin A (beta carotene), Vitamin B1(Thiamin), Vitamin B2(Riboflavin), Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Vitamin F, Vitamin K,
Vitamin E.



Minerals: Boron, Calcium, Chloride, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Sodium, Sulfur, Zinc, Trace amounts of more than 50 other minerals



Enzymes: ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), Alpha Mannosidase, Aspartate aminotransferase, Beta Glucosidase, Catalase, Cytochrome oxidase, DNase, Fatty acid oxidase, Hexokinase, Malic dehydrogenase, Nitrate reductase, Nitrogen oxyreductase, P4D1, Peroxidase, Peroxidase catalase, Phosphatase, Phospholipase, Polyphenol oxidase, RNase, Superoxide dismutase, Transhydrogenase.

[K9soul]

You actually need to know your ingredients before you start knocking them.

I wasn't knocking anything. I was simply wondering why it gave that particular grain "extra credit." I didn't state anything as fact or criticize it, I merely stated curiousity, and stated that "as far as I knew" meaning there may be things about it that I did not know.

I went with Evo because I wanted to try a grain-free diet (for various reasons that I'm not going to go into here, but including my vet's recommendation), and a kibble that was very close to raw, not because I think any food with any grain in it must be a horrible food.

[Alysser]

Sassy is allergic to ALOT of foods. Basically, all of them so she can only be fed Purina one Lamb and Rice formula. Also, kibble that's all. So in my case, we cannot switch foods.