Updated list on dry dog foods ??? (bulldog, allergic, poop, vets)

[Sillypups]

I saw the last thread that had a list of the Best-Worst dog foods A-F grading scale to feed your dogs. Has anyone seen a more recent list ?
Dog food has become more expensive...everyone now-a-days has their hand in the GREED bucket, instead of the most important issue, the dogs health. We want to feed our dogs the best food, but when you have several BIG dogs the price just multiplies. Keeping all of them in heartworm, flea & tick preventative is a MUST. We just want to make sure their food & treats are as close to the best as possible.

Any suggestions ?????????????????????????????????????????????????
Thanks

[MAK802]

I use www.dogfoodanalysis.com. Click on reviews and aim for a 5 or 6 star food. Good luck!

[Sillypups]

MAK802........................

Thank you very much, that's what I needed.

[Hepcat]

I think you are talking about the "Grade your Kibble" piece....I have it in a Word document, I pasted it below... very useful, and can be used to grade ANY kibble. I think this is also helpful during tough economic times....I was surprised to see Kirkland brand from Costco graded out as high as some big name super premium foods, at a fraction of the cost. For folks that are struggling financially, they can still feed their dog/dogs a quality food, and that's important.

How to grade your dog's food:
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

[DreamChasers8]

Solid Gold and EVO are excellent foods. Solid Gold makes a grain free, high protein food called Barking at the Moon and it's awesome. Remember that when you switch to a high protein food or a superiour kibble you don't have to feed as much as you probably are of the cheaper lower quality stuff. So that helps in the savings as well. What kind of dogs do you have? We have 5 dogs 4 Giant Alaskan Malamutes and 1 hit and run mutt.
Best of Luck

[cool rob]

Did anyone ever grade the Eukanuba Large breed puppy?

[MAK802]

Originally Posted by cool rob

Did anyone ever grade the Eukanuba Large breed puppy?

It's one of the worst food on the markets, rates only a 1 star. Here is a review of the food:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_f...ct=113&cat=all

[Keeper]

There is a big difference between the do it yourself and the dog food analysis. Kirkland is an A on the do it yourself but a 3 on the DF website.

I like DF website because they tell you how they rated it. One thing I noticed is they lower the rating if the meat is listed with water weight which means it will actually be less once the water is taken out.

I feed my 70 lb wiem 2 3/4 - 3 cups a day on the 5 star food where on some of the 1 star food I would have to feed her 6-7 cups a day. If you are feeding double the amt the cost just went for that bag of food.

[Sillypups]

My question is...we have 1 dog that eats 3 cups twice a day...another dog eats 2-1/2 cups twice a day...and a 3rd dog that eats almost 2 cups twice a day .
How does this other dry food fill them up by feeding them so little ?
It's not like I can sit down with them & explain it. It would be like trying to explain to a 3 year old kid why it can't have candy. We have NO human kids...
Seriously...
We are planning on rescuing another Rott in the very near future.
Trying to buy the best for their health...at the least amount isn't an easy task.

Most importantly...I worry about too much protein with the new food.

Then what about the change over...s it like any other change over with food, a little at a time, combining them ?
We don't want them to get the bad poops.

We are going this weekend to our vet. I plan to ask him plenty of ?'s. Any advice from all of you would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot...all you dog lovers.

[MAK802]

The reason you are feeding so much is because the food you're most likely feeding is filled with tons of fillers. My 40 lb dog gets less than 2 cups a day and by the time he is fully grown, it will be under 3 cups a day on this food. Grainless foods are higher in calories and have no fillers (corn, wheat, etc.) so you feed a lot less. When there are no fillers, there is no need to feed 6 cups a day. It's quality, not quantity that matters. And I bet if you bring it up to your vet, he will recommend a food like Science Diet or Iams, which are terrible for your dog but most vets are not trained in nutrition.

If you're worried about too much protein, Taste of the Wild is a grainless food without too much protein. The Pacific Stream formula only has 24% protein, and the other two formulas have protein somewhere in the low 30% range, which is really low for grainless. Most grainless is over 40% protein. We were going to do a slow switch with our dog, but he liked his new food so much, that he picked it out of the bowl and left the old food behind. He had soft stools for about 2 days, but they firmed up quickly after that.