The Dogfood BLACKLIST

i get these things in the mail every once in a while. it showed a bunch of dog food brands that were bad for your dog. here are a few examples of wat they had to say...

PRUINA'S BENEFUL doesn't come close to using all the sumptuos fresh vegetables and beef pictured on the bag...

KIBBLES AND BITS contains so much sugar we call it the "twinkies" of the canine world...

SCIENCE DIET'S NATURE'S BEST with real beef gets it's major sorce of protien from turkey meal...


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i had no idea about this! i'm glad i don't feed Beanie any of these foods.

I'm glad that we dont feed our dogs any of those foods!

Used to feed the girls Kibble n' Bits... until I noticed Roise had been gaining weight.. then I had a talk with Amy (wolf_q).. and we switched to Nutro. :) Much better!

Yep.. I believe it, especially with Kibble's N' Bits.

In Australia, we have Purina and Science Diet but not Kibbles 'n Bits...... I'm glad though. We feed our girls Supercoat Mature and Lite. They're only two-yrs-old, but anyone who's had a Cavalier knows that they are little piglets. :p

I am always suspicious of lists like that, wondering who originated it, with what ax to grind.

I think everyone needs to make the best iinforme choices they can based on their dog's requirements.

Cavaliers=piglets? No! Say it ain't so!

I agree with Karen. I do think that there are different quality of foods out there, but after seeing some of the dogs coming into the shelter, I am very happy to see dogs fed at all.

It is nice to be informed, but blanket statements about foods should be avoided. If you are interested in quality of food, your best bet is to read the ingredients or visit websites that break down all the ingredients. JMHO

Every vet I've spoken to had always said Kibbles-n-Bits is the "junk food" of dog food. My in-laws used to feed their RB GSD that and it drove me NUTS!! Her cost was corse, and always had a nasty film on it. Ugh.. just gross!

I feed mine Pro Plan and they have the softest, shiniest coats!!

I agree, Karen. When I first found out about some of these lists, I made sure my dogs were on a "Premium Food" made from human grade ingredients...and Sadie and Spot still are.

But this food was too rich for Cincy and her body could not digest it properly. This caused the pH of her urine to be off and resulted in crystals of minerals and that could have been the start of bladder stones in her urine. We switched her to Science Diet lite...one that has "lower" grade content and she is doing much better. The pH of her urine is better and she has lost a few pounds.


Oreo is 15, and for the first 12 years of her life ate whatever food was on sale. It is only recently she has had any health problems and those are age related, not diet. Many, many dogs have lived long healthly lives on grocery store dog food.

Bottom line is, you have to figure out what is the best food, in your price range, for your dog.

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Originally posted by Karen
I am always suspicious of lists like that, wondering who originated it, with what ax to grind.

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I think that list probably came from "The Whole Dog Journal". Which is a "magazine" that I like to read, but I often think they are too harsh on some of their reviews. I do however agree with the list that Lute posted. TWDJ always tells why the product is rated the way that it is.

Here are some of the foods on TWDJ's blacklist and why they are there. I personally don't agree with them all.

Beneful- "dried peas and carrots are 20th and 21st on the list of ingredients, while 2 types of sweeteners are 9th and 10th on the list. It also contains a lot of artificial colors"

Bil Jac- "chicken byproducts and chicken byproduct meal are the first and 4th ingredients."

Iams Maintenance Adult- "Food Fragments and animal fat"

Kibbles 'N Bits- 1st ingredient is corn, the protein in the food comes from beef and bone meal animal fat and animal digest.

Science Diet's Natures best- protein (meat products) are third on the list and the meat listed on the front of the bag is far down the list.

Pedigree- Fregments, byproducts, animal fat, and artificial preservatives

Purina O.N.E.- Fragments, animal digest, byproduct meal


I really think you should feed your dog what he does well on, however there are some foods (ie: Kibbles 'N bits, beneful) that I can't imagine any dog doing well on.

Omg I feel terrible. I was feeding my dogs Kibbels 'N Bits.:o
Diamond has gained so much weight and no wonder if it's that full of sugar. We switched them to the Nutro Max Large Breed Adult. Do you all think that's a good brand? I have read good things about it.

I was told by a trainer in Petsmart to feed Jillian Nutro, because it was (in her opinion) the healthiest out there. right now shes on Proplan or something. I think once this bag is done we'll switch to Nutro :)

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Originally posted by Jadapit
Omg I feel terrible. I was feeding my dogs Kibbels 'N Bits.:o
Diamond has gained so much weight and no wonder if it's that full of sugar. We switched them to the Nutro Max Large Breed Adult. Do you all think that's a good brand? I have read good things about it.

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Don't feel bad. Dog food companies use marketing schemes that appeal to the dog owner. They make the food on the bag look good and all the pretty colors and shapes draw our attention and some foods even smell good. But dogs don't care what color or shape the food is. We trust that a dog food co. knows what is good or bad for a dog and will make food that's good for them. In reality some of it is the equivalent of human junk food...tastes good, but bad for us. Nutro is good, all of my dogs are on it and do well. What kind of dogs do you have? If they aren't all truly large like GSDs, Labs, Great Danes, then they will continue to gain weight or not lose any. Large breed food has more protein and fat to accomodate to larger dogs which can make a medium sized dog like a Border collie, Pit Bull, etc, pack on the pounds.

Pitchick,
I have a pit bull and a heeler mix she may have some pit in her.
Oop's I may have bought the wrong brand of Nutro. Poor Diamond sure doesn't need to gain any more weight. Which brand of the Nutro do you think I should buy next time? Thanks so much in advance.:)

I jump between Nutro Natural Choice and Nutro Max depending on how much money I have. Nutro Max is cheeper and doesn't have as much variety, but still good. If you want them to lose weight there is weight managment in both, which I need to put a couple of my Pits on. There's the Lamb & Rice in both which is the main one I use. There's also Chicken and Rice with oatmeal for sensitive stomachs. Since there are so many different ones to choose from, you just want to avoid the large breed bags.

One more to add: (actually I can think of a bunch, but I'm strapped for time & this is the worst)

Dad's dog food, gets its protein from chicken feathers.

I think if a dog is healthy with what they're eating, then it's fine. Of course, it's not going to be fine for EVERY dog.

Kiara eats IAMS puppy and Simba & Nala eat Purina ONE. Both are foods that I know many dislike and would NEVER feed their dogs. But, it iwas what we can afford, and guess what? Last vet checks my vet said that they were in "perfect" condition. Everyone always comments on how nice their coats are, too.

While growing up we had a dog named Tinker who lived to be somewhere near 20. We always fed him "Special Cuts" from the grocery store, all sugar. It's basically like the bits in Kibbles & Bits & made by the same company. He did fine on that, and he also got a LOT of people food. All dogs, like people are different. My Dad ate more fat than some third world countries every day for his whole life, but still lived to be 81.

Now, I'm not going to feed my dogs that, just because I want to feed them something that *I* consider better. I wouldn't let my skinkids (if I had any) eat sugar all day, and neither will my dogs. I think there are 4 basic categories of food:

*Utter junk (all fillers, sugar, virtually no decent protein source etc.) A waste of $ IMO, cause it ALL gets pooped out since there are no nutrients to absorb.

*So-so food (some fillers, not as much sugar, some have good protein sources, some don't)

*Premuim (still some have fillers, most don't have sugar, some really good, moderately priced nutrition)

*Human grade (usually the "health" food of dog food)

Having said all that, like Clara said, I don't care as long as they're not being starved. No good protein source and ify nutrition is always better than starving to death. :(

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Originally posted by micki76
Having said all that, like Clara said, I don't care as long as they're not being starved. No good protein source and ify nutrition is always better than starving to death. :(

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Amen! I used to be really opinionated about this and then I got Kayleigh. Kayleigh had been starved by her first owner. She is currently at a perfect weight of about 120 pounds. When I first got her she weighed less than 75 pounds. Any food, not matter how cheap, full of fillers and corn, would have been better than what happened to Kayleigh. Almost four years later she still has food issues. I believe that abused dogs can overcome and forget almost anything. I don't believe they ever forget being hungry!

We've fed so many different foods to the dogs. It's hard to find one that your dog does good on, is affordable and that they like.
We've recently started on Diamond Large Breed. It is a Super Premium Food at an affordable price. They all do good on it, have wonderful coats and the like it too!

I also agree that while there are some foods I'd NEVER feed to my dog, some dogs do magnificent on them. However, I will never feed any food that is sold in supermarkets. Nor, will I feed food with corn or by-products as the first ingredient. Like another person said, there are some foods that I can't believe a dog can do well on. That said, I've done quite a bit of research and we are now doing a half kibble/half raw diet. By January, we shall be full raw or Raw/Innova EVO.

Currently, my dogs are fed Wellness and Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. Actually, I've been told that Wellness contains a high amount of grains. My Pekingese is showing signs of allergies to grains, and Wellness is truly aggravating him. He is developing the dreaded skin problems and diarrhea. We're about to switch to Innova EVO. Is it expensive? You bet! But my dogs are my life and I want to feed them the absolute best. I'm fine with eating Top Ramen for the majority of my life:p Generic Mac and Cheese? Count me in!

I'm in agreement that the most important thing is that a dog gets fed. I think there are definitely some foods that are more and less healthy than others but everyone needs to make their choice on what they feel is best and be comfortable with that. Mine do well on Royal Canin Natural Blend, and it has been an affordable high grade food with meat as the first ingredient. When I was younger and we had the collies, Mom got Diamond, which was what was affordable for us and the collies did well on it.

One thing my vet has always told me though is that "light" and "senior" foods are not so great. He said they degrade the quality of the food and add more filler to make it "light" and it isn't really healthy. He believes seniors or overweight dogs (not caused by medical conditions of course) should just have portions of regular food carefully monitored and reduced as needed, and of course exercise is always best too.

I've known people that feed their dogs the REALLY cheap stuff, like my Aunt is currently feeding her Mini Schnaucher (I know I didn't spell it right!) Ol' Roy, YUCKY YUCK! I am trying to find her a good quality dog food that isn't extremely expensive because they don't have a lot of money. She wants to change it too but she doesn't know what to get him. He needs it too because I think a better quality dog food would be helpful for his bad breath. The only reason she is feeding that to him is because the people she got him from (he's 5) feed him that, and they said that it is the only thing he will eat. :rolleyes:

I feed Heidi Pro Plan, and she has a really nice coat, clean teeth, and she doesn't get fat on it when I don't have a chance to exercise her or when its SO cold out like it is now!

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Originally posted by Miranda_Rae
The only reason she is feeding that to him is because the people she got him from (he's 5) feed him that, and they said that it is the only thing he will eat. :rolleyes:

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That's the only thing he'll eat because that's probably the only thing their cheep behinds would feed him. You can't get any crappier dog food than Ol' Roy. If your aunt is on a budget then Pro Plan would be a major upgrade from Ol' Roy. She can mix Ol' Roy and Pro Plan together until the bag of Ol' Roy is gone. I'm just assuming it's dry kibble? If not the same applies to canned.

Yep, I know that Ol' Roy is the cheapest dog food that you can get. PLUS they didn't neuter him either, and hes five. I think she is going to neuter him when they get some money. Pro Plan is rather expensive for her though because her husband lost his job, and they are sending him through treatment for alcoholism. :( I would love to know about some good quality dog foods that aren't extremely expensive. I made a thread asking about that just a little while ago. I think its called "Good dog food that isn't extremely expensive". :)

Does she have a Sam's Club in her area? They have a brand called Exceed that I've heard is actually pretty good and since everything there is sold in bulk they could get a nice sized bag for probably the same that a small bag of Pro Plan costs. Don't quote me on that, I don't shop at Sam's very often.

Nope, no Sam's Club. :(

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You can't get any crappier dog food than Ol' Roy.

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REALLY??? the dog we had when i was little ate ol'roy. she lived to be 12. i guess my parents didn't know about that kind of stuff back then. i figgerd ol'roy was pretty good since she lived so long.


also, i heard that Diamond large breed's main ingredient was corn. i tried it on my show husky for a while and her skin got really bad and she scratched all the time.

Ground corn is the first ingredient in Ol'Roy. This is the first few ingredients listed for it:

Ground yellow corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, animal fat... and so on. Lots of filler.

Here are the first few ingredients for one of Diamond's basic foods (Diamond Beef Meal and Rice):

Beef meal, brewers rice, wheat flour, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), chicken meal, beet pulp, egg product, etc.

And their Lamb Meal and Rice:

Lamb meal, brewers rice, brown rice, rice flour, fish meal, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), egg product, beet pulp.. etc.

Not top quality but definitely seems better than Ol'Roy to me. I know Diamond has a lower price tag than a lot of foods of its grade.

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Originally posted by lute
also, i heard that Diamond large breed's main ingredient was corn.

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Nope, not true.
Here are the ingredients in the LG BREED dog food:
Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, whole grain white rice, wheat flour, rice bran, beet pulp, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), egg product, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, brewers dried yeast, potassium chloride, salt, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, chondroitin sulfate, beta carotene, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, L-Carnitine, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganous sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (source of vitamin K activity), riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Not too bad I don't think:)
And if you want to check out what is in the rest here is the website to Diamond Pet Foods

Oh, I also should say, I think I've heard a horror story and success story for about every food out there including raw diets. I think that is why in the end it really comes down to researching yourself and doing what you feel best for your dog. I do honestly think your aunt could improve on Ol'Roy though in nutritional quality :)

In all honesty, I've never heard of a raw feeder going back to kibble. I know they're out there. However, the raw diet takes a lot of commitment in the beginning. Research and hygiene are of the utmost importance, and some people don't bother to do that.

I've heard that Costco carries a food made by Kirkland. It's supposed to be fairly good. I know they have a no corn formula:)

Giselle, I've heard mostly good about raw but was thinking of a lady in Tasha's obedience class when she was a pup who was saying their dog was having trouble digesting the bones and kept having digestive problems. Now they may not have been doing it right, but she claimed she had had other dogs on it and they did good, but that this particular dog did better on a bland kibble. That's the only specific "bad" story I can really think of right now other than the problems that arise if it isn't done correctly.

Ahh, see I haven't even met people who are dog-food-saavy. My neighbors feed SD and the like. True, I have heard of "horror" stories where the owner decided a dog's diet does not require research. *That's* another story though;)

We're about to switch the Peke to Innova EVO+raw. He is intolerant of grains and Wellness has been aggravating his skin and coat.

I feed kodie Pedigree kibble and canned food,he gets roughly about 3-4 cups every night with half-a-can.
He loves Pedigree and were not going to take him off it.Lots of people always comment on how soft his coat is.He's in perfect health,and he loves it so i dont see why i would take him off of it.I know i would never feed my dogs Beneful,or Kibbles n' Bits.
im sure lots of people here dislike Pedigree,i know that they have lots of fillers and all that stuff,but i dont see why i would take him off it if he's in perfect health and at a good healthy weight.:) and plus its a food that we can afford to buy often.

We've always given Star Science Diet, and the price has really come down in the last few years. While looking for another husky, both the husky rescue kennel and the breeder we bought from both said they feed Diamond because 1)they felt their coats looked really good on that food, and 2) it's about 1/2 the cost of many of the higher-quality foods at pet stores. When you'r efeeding 15 - 20 dogs, that adds up!
I did try a bag when Sherman came to love with us, but I felt it didn't look good coming out the other end - really grainy. So I'm back using Science diet. I think you can tell alot about a food by how it comes out after digestion.

My main thing is just feeding a food that lists meat as a first ingredient and has no bi-products or corn.

My parents fed cheap food to Reggie and Smokey...Smokey lived to be 18 years old. He was in good health until about the last year of his life. My mom is getting better food now for Reggie and Sydney and honestly I haven't noticed any change in Reggie's coat or anything.

When I first got Nebo I fed him Pedigree. I knew nothing of ingredients and it sounded like a good food. He had diahrea constantly, it didn't suit him well at all.

So some dogs can do fine on cheaper dog food while others do not. Nebo gets Natural Balance now and he has a gorgeous soft coat and is healthy. I would never feed him food that was any less quality unless I absolutely could not afford it.

I think as long as you at least try to educate yourself a bit about your dogs nutrition and feed them the best you can afford then you are fine.

I do have to add though that it bothers me that most vets (at least around here) promote Science Diet when the ingredients aren't that great in comparison to many other premium foods available. They should tell clients what ingredients are best, not just to buy Science Diet only (the vet I go to only sells SD and promotes it for everything)