Comments on: If I Were to Buy Kibble, What Would I Buy?

By: Shauna

Shauna — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:03:12 +0000

We use Orijen with our pups- & we have a bag of Evo that we use as treats too. They seem to like it

By: Shauna

Shauna — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:03:12 +0000

We use Orijen with our pups- & we have a bag of Evo that we use as treats too. They seem to like it

By: robfdavis

robfdavis — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:13:02 +0000

You are very welcome! And I have really enjoyed your articles.

By: robfdavis

robfdavis — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:11:56 +0000

That would be a great article! Also, have you noticed how the more “natural” pet foods say “no by products” yet in the same stores there is now all parts of lamb that can be fed as treats? My dogs love the lamb trachea by the way! It is not just the natural pet stores, but even the bigger stores (pig ears, feet, etc…).

By: gopetfriendly

gopetfriendly — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:31:39 +0000

If someone is not convinced to try a “pure” raw food diet, I would recommend the dehydrated raw food diet from The Honest Kitchen as an excellent compromise. (In the interest of full disclosure, this food was recommended to GoPetFriendly by the author of this blog. However, this is an unsolicited and un-compensated comment.) It would seem to have the convenience of kibble (availability, packaging, etc.) with the nutritional benefits of raw food. Thoughts?

By: Jim (Doggybytes.ca)

Jim (Doggybytes.ca) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:56:32 +0000

Gotta love the marketing - "Natural source of glucosamine and chondroiton". Those are two substances that I didn't touch on in my What You Feeding Your Wolf : Raw Feeding series, but glucosamine and chondroiton are naturally occuring in the connective tissues of animals (Raw Meaty Bones & cartilage). Perhaps a post for next week?

Most of the ingredients you've listed in the products above sound more like cow feed than dog food, as per Doggie Stylish's comment below.

By: Jim (Doggybytes.ca)

Jim (Doggybytes.ca) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:39:19 +0000

Good to know that the carbs EVO lists are maximum values. Thanks for the info Rob.

By: robfdavis

robfdavis — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:22:52 +0000

These are kibbles I used to feed over the last year:

Kumpi Dog Food - no problems on this brand, does contain grains

Corn Meal, Chicken Meal, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols [a source of Vitamin E] and Citric Acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Lamb Meal

Purina Pro Plan Shredded Blends Beef and Rice Formula - got 1/2 way into the second bag and my GSD started getting scratching and licking his butt and my girl dogs anal glands got filled up - contains grains

Beef, brewers rice, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine)

Eukanuba Premium Performance 30/20 - only used one bag but the dogs did okay on it - this is the bag of food that got me to thinking about higher protein and fat as a better means for energy over carbs. This brand has less than 28% carbohydrates and does include grains.

Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal (natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), Corn Meal, Brewers Rice, Fish Meal

The thing I never liked about dog food labels is I NEVER knew exactly how much of any one ingredient was in the food. So even though labels can look similar they could be formulated quite differently. Makes things very confusing in the pet food aisles!

The more I learn about how a dog SHOULD be eating, the more I began to move to grain-free and RAW. And with RAW you certainly KNOW what is going into your dog and in WHAT QUANTITY!

By: robfdavis

robfdavis — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:10:00 +0000

4 paws on the Orijen. I haven't tried the EVO before but the ingredients read well. http://www.naturapet.com has a video of how they make their food (EVO being one of the brands). I did some digging on the EVO site and the Red Meats 15% MAX in the carbs. My dogs love the Regional Red. Although they are mostly RAW now. That book Raw Meaty Bones is very good! It explains so much and it is so much easier to feed RAW than folks would have you think!

I do like how the Orijen uses fresh, regional ingredients. And they have really good customer service.

By: Bloggie Stylish

Bloggie Stylish — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:36:47 +0000

well, i'm all out kibble, so i can't read you the ingredients on the bag. but in a earlier comment on one of your posts, i stated that i do feed the salmon formula of before grain. orijen is another excellent food that i will feed for snacks in the treat ball, if i can get it.

i could hazard a guess for what ingredients are on a bag of purina or iams;

corn
rice
corn
rice
meat

you think that this was horse feed, not dog food.