Another Method To Rate Your Dog's Food

[suki]

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. If you don't
see your dog's food here, ask and someone will score it for you.
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 D

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

[DoggyMom]

Purina Benful / Score 17 F

And I don't care. This is the only food that I have found that my dog will eat, she is very picky and has some sensitive stomach issues. My vet tells me that it is a good food, so the scales are kind of in the middle now for me. All this just begs the question: Is this really right for my dog or am I depriving her of something better?
I've always been a believer that whatever my dog kibble my dog will eat is what I will provide. To each their own I guess.

[nesta21har]

All vets that i have seen have recommended science diet and purina foods, so i give my dogs science diet and they are happy with that and very healthy.

[DoggyMom]

With Lily, I've tried Iams, Eukaneba, Innova, Pedigree, Science Diet and now Purina. Purina is the only one I have found that she isn't finicky about eating. She just gobbles it down So now that's what I am going to stick with. I've thought about the BARF diet, since I've read alot about it and talked to other dog owners who feed it to their dogs, but I am not sure about it just yet.

[ClarkFarm]

I have read alot about the raw diet and though there are those who strongly advocate it, I personally would be so grossed out feeding it that I know I couldn't.

One thing that I have read repeatedly is that the "better" brands of food cause the dog to have firmer, smaller stool than the "junk" feed. It would be interesting to see if all of you agreed with this or not.

[DiggityDogs]

I too have been through a lot of different dog foods with my boxer. He was a picky eater and had chronic stomach problems w/soft stools. I put him on solid gold and he eats it like there is no tomorrow, AND has had regular stools since. I was shocked at how much he like it- in 6 years I had never seen him eat like that. For about a year of his life I actually had to sit and watch him eat, IF he would eat, and probably once or twice a month I ended up having to force feed him for a couple of days because he would go a week without eating if I let him. If you can get a sample of solid gold, try it out, it's good stuff. IMO, purina is like feeding your dog McDonalds every day. Of course he can live on it, but at what cost? They use a lot of sprayed on flavorings to make it more palatable to dogs- ANY dog will eat that stuff. Same with alpo, kibbles n bits, etc. Also, I learned after working for several vets offices that they always recommend science diet or euk because that's what they usually sell. They honestly don't put that much time into researching diet- You know how our dr.s learned about dog nutrition? They took a course, side by side with me and all of the other technicians, from the hills science diet sales rep. We were then all certified in canine nutrition by hills. Sad to think that all of those years of school and they learned what they know from a sales rep in a one hour course and by taking 1 test. I won't say that feeding your dog purina, or iams, or euk, or any other food is going to kill them. I think that these days, most packaged foods will readily and safely sustain your dog. It's a matter of how you feel about what quality of a diet they're getting. Would you rather live on McDonalds or home cooked food? I personally like the plus of a little convenience along with good nutrition, so I go for the higher quality packaged food.

[suki]

Originally Posted by DiggityDogs

I too have been through a lot of different dog foods with my boxer. He was a picky eater and had chronic stomach problems w/soft stools. I put him on solid gold and he eats it like there is no tomorrow, AND has had regular stools since. I was shocked at how much he like it- in 6 years I had never seen him eat like that. For about a year of his life I actually had to sit and watch him eat, IF he would eat, and probably once or twice a month I ended up having to force feed him for a couple of days because he would go a week without eating if I let him. If you can get a sample of solid gold, try it out, it's good stuff. IMO, purina is like feeding your dog McDonalds every day. Of course he can live on it, but at what cost? They use a lot of sprayed on flavorings to make it more palatable to dogs- ANY dog will eat that stuff. Same with alpo, kibbles n bits, etc. Also, I learned after working for several vets offices that they always recommend science diet or euk because that's what they usually sell. They honestly don't put that much time into researching diet- You know how our dr.s learned about dog nutrition? They took a course, side by side with me and all of the other technicians, from the hills science diet sales rep. We were then all certified in canine nutrition by hills. Sad to think that all of those years of school and they learned what they know from a sales rep in a one hour course and by taking 1 test. I won't say that feeding your dog purina, or iams, or euk, or any other food is going to kill them. I think that these days, most packaged foods will readily and safely sustain your dog. It's a matter of how you feel about what quality of a diet they're getting. Would you rather live on McDonalds or home cooked food? I personally like the plus of a little convenience along with good nutrition, so I go for the higher quality packaged food.

Nice post! Couldn't agree more!!! One word- QUALITY-
And after working for a few vets, yup, you guessed it, they've allendorsed the Hills. (I'll zip my personal opinions here).

[suki]

Originally Posted by ClarkFarm

I have read alot about the raw diet and though there are those who strongly advocate it, I personally would be so grossed out feeding it that I know I couldn't.

One thing that I have read repeatedly is that the "better" brands of food cause the dog to have firmer, smaller stool than the "junk" feed. It would be interesting to see if all of you agreed with this or not.

I would agree. Less fillers/additives, less waste.
Here is an article on what goes into your pet's food. Towards the end, it lists who makes what.
http://www.game-dog.com/forums/article.php?a=232

[DoggyMom]

My husband and I read the article together, and it was a complete toss up..do we just continue feeding Lily the only dog food we can get her to eat or do we try something else? After a bit of discussion, we sat down and looked at the BARF diet and a few other diets. And after reading all the posts on the forums here, we also decided to make an appointment with our vet to see if there is something else we can do for our picky eater
I never did pay much attention to what exactly was in the food I was feeding Lily (hangs head in shame).

[poketmouse]

What is really sad is that a lot of vets recommend food based not on what is best for the dogs, but what they get a kickback for. Not saying that they don't care about our dogs, I just don't think they are completely objective. My parent's dog has a slightly elevated kidney function and the vet recommended a specific Science Diet saying that the dog requires lower protien levels. However, the kibble they recommended had 27% protien in it! I don't think they are ignorant or mean, I just think that this was one of the products they sell at the clinic. You just can't trust people not to be swayed if they get a certain amount for every bag of science diet they sell. . .