Give dog food a grade...

[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.

[dab_20]

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

[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.