# Is kibbles in bits bad?



## Claf (Aug 8, 2007)

I think its probably like the Surgery cereal of dog food, but my parents insist on buying it because its cheaper then purina and say im over reacting, I swear no one loves the dog as much as me


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## Dakota Spirit (Jul 31, 2007)

Well given that Purina gets an F on the food calculator and this is a cheaper food, I'd have to say it’s pretty bad. Most super market brands in fact, aren’t very good at all.

Here is the food calculator if you want to try rating Kibbles 'N Bits or any other food you try:

http://www.dogforums.com/5-dog-food-forum/5388-dog-food-calculator.html


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## Claf (Aug 8, 2007)

whoa, I thought puriana and Iams where good food...


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## Dakota Spirit (Jul 31, 2007)

Nope, not at all.


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## Wimble Woof (Jan 16, 2007)

OMG
I dont even think it should be legal to sell that food. 
Not one named meat ( except in meal form ) first ingredient corn... soybean meal is second....wheat flour is fourth....
My goodness, talk about recipe for potential allergies.
Honestly I would recommend Purina any day to someone feeding this food.

It is indeed a VERY low quality food, with no real nutrional value in it. All it is, is a bag of fillers.

The old saying stands firm for this food "you get what you pay for".
If your parents are all for paying potential big bucks for vet bills for yeast infections, skin disorders ect... and ready to feed the rediculous amounts of food to your dog inorder to give your dog the look of being full... well thats whats going to end up happening here. Its unbelievable that this food can actually be sold!

I would definately be shopping around for something else.

ETA... check this site out...
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
Kibbles and bits are 1 star rating... as with pedigree and purina and many other brands that can be obtained at a grocery store.
First rule of thumb... if you can buy it at a grocery store, its less than adequate for optimal nutrional value.


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## skelaki (Nov 9, 2006)

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php/product/161/sort/2/cat/all/page/1

Here's a review of Kibbles N Bits.


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## Claf (Aug 8, 2007)

Wow this is a trip, NONE of the dog foods I an get at stores (I.E. Iams, purina) are any good?


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## Dakota Spirit (Jul 31, 2007)

Typically, any food sold at a super market or general grocery store isn't going to be very good. Many of the best brands can only be found online or in feed stores/pet shops.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

We have Petco and Petsmart here and neither sells Canidae.

I get it at Pet Supplies Plus. They have a better selection of premium brands than either one.


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## onyxdaily (Apr 3, 2007)

I get my Canidae from either a local animal feed store, which carries the more high quality foods, or from the boarding place I use for my dogs. The only pet store near me where I can get Canidae is Complete Petmart, and I've noticed that they also carry a good selection of quality brands.


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## ronsetoe (Jul 21, 2007)

Target sells Dr Fosters and Smith and that food ranks pretty high, 4 star dry, and you can get it shipped to your door for cheap from the Dr Fosters and Smith website. They ship by dollar, purchase value not weight. You can get 4 30lb bags shipped to your door for $15 shipping . That makes a 30lb bag cost a total of about $30 which is not too much more that the cruddy foods you can get at a grocery store


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## sillylilykitty (Mar 11, 2007)

Kibbles and Bits is pretty much -the- worst food you could buy your dog, It has no nutritional value at all. I was told this by a veterinarian. In fact K&B actually rots your dogs teeth ! Its full of chemicals and preservatives. If you cant feed the really good stuff, I would use Purina (personally I dont like Eukanuba or Iams, they treat their "test" animals like crap) or maybe even Science Diet.


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## dinki2 (Nov 16, 2008)

I thought the SAME thing at first dont feel to bad, all the places near me I thought didnt sell anything better than Maxximum, but I decided ot do some research for the betterment of my dog and I found a local feed store about 15 miles away that carries AT LEAST 5 brands of dog food in the 5 and 6 star catagories at DFA. I am now feeding m beloved GSD Taste Of The Wild, and she loves it.

Just do a little research on the manufactures website and look for a local store that sells them, then get your parents to buy it.


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## myminpins (Dec 20, 2008)

By the way, look up some food calculators and realize you feed twice or sometimes three times as much of the "junk" food as you do "good" food so even though it SEEMS more expensive, it really isn't because you feed so much less of it


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## tirluc (Aug 29, 2006)

myminpins said:


> By the way, look up some food calculators and realize you feed twice or sometimes three times as much of the "junk" food as you do "good" food so even though it SEEMS more expensive, it really isn't because you feed so much less of it


that's not necessarily true....i feed Purina One, have for a long time and probably won't change unless i see a drastic change in my dogs..... did, however, try Canidae for almost 5 mo w/ mine and i had to feed 2x the amount of Canidae to keep their weight on....so, my dogs went from (ruffly) 2 c a day of P.O. per dog to 4 c a day of Canidae.....so, for mine it was definitely not going to cost me the same or less, it would be considerably more.....not to mention the fact that they were pooping more on the Canidae, their coats went to Hades and their energy level dropped....i'll stay w/ P.O.

but, on that note, i would never feed my dogs Kibbles and Bits, Pedigree, Dog Chow.....the 1st ingredient has to be meat and there can be no wheat in there....


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## dansamy (May 15, 2007)

If you can move up even to the 3-star range, that would be much better and your dog will be healthier. Explain it to your parents like this: KnB is like eating McDonald's and ice cream for every meal. It's bad for your health in the long term, even if it fills your belly in the short term. Ask them if they would let you eat junk food for every meal of your growing life. If they won't let you eat junk food, they shouldn't want to have the dog eating junk food. Alternatively, do you get an allowance? You _could_ offer to share the increased cost of the more expensive food. If the bag of KnB is $20 and the bag of better food is $30, offer to kick in $10 of your allowance in order to feed the dog a better food. Do some math. Calculate how much you should feed of the cheap food. Calculate how much you should feed of the more expensive food. If you can bring to the table a chart showing your parents that they'll have to buy a bag of KnB once a week vs a bag of better food every 10 days or something like that, they may listen to you. (I know Ginger doesn't eat a lot of Wellness Core and she's putting on weight on the little bit she does eat. So, I have to cut down from what I am presently giving her, since I am apparently overfeeding.) Also, I am on Wellness's mailing list and they send out printable coupons every so often. I imagine other brands probably do too. What stores do you have near you? If you have a Costco, their Kirkland's brand is a decent food, and it's not too expensive. Pet Supplies Plus carries a lot of better brands of dog foods. Shoot, even my Petsmart is carrying Blue Buffalo, which isn't too bad. It would really be best if you could go up to a 4-star food, but that might be a really difficult sell to your parents.


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## myminpins (Dec 20, 2008)

Well, Canidae isn't a SUPERIOR food. It's pretty good (4 star rating) but definitely not in the true top foods recommended (6 star rating). If you feed one of the true top recommended foods, you will find you have to feed much less to maintain weight.



tirluc said:


> that's not necessarily true....i feed Purina One, have for a long time and probably won't change unless i see a drastic change in my dogs..... did, however, try Canidae for almost 5 mo w/ mine and i had to feed 2x the amount of Canidae to keep their weight on....so, my dogs went from (ruffly) 2 c a day of P.O. per dog to 4 c a day of Canidae.....so, for mine it was definitely not going to cost me the same or less, it would be considerably more.....not to mention the fact that they were pooping more on the Canidae, their coats went to Hades and their energy level dropped....i'll stay w/ P.O.
> 
> but, on that note, i would never feed my dogs Kibbles and Bits, Pedigree, Dog Chow.....the 1st ingredient has to be meat and there can be no wheat in there....


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## pugmom (Sep 10, 2008)

I think even with "top shelf" dog food .....how good they do depends on each individual dog....

I really wanted to have my guys on Wellness....I have heard so many wonderful things about it and my local petco started to carry it...but...

after 2 bags my guys were sooooooo gassy...and there coats and skin were all dry and flaky...

we have now switched to TOTW and have seen intimidate difference...less dry skin...95% less gas (whooo hooo)

One thing that is true in our case is that we do feed less then we did on lower quality brands.....where my girl Isis was getting almost 4 cups a day on the "bad" food....she is now getting a bout 2.5 cups a day on TOTW.


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## UrbanBeagles (Aug 13, 2007)

Dakota Spirit said:


> Typically, any food sold at a super market or general grocery store isn't going to be very good. Many of the best brands can only be found online or in feed stores/pet shops.



Ok, even I will admit Kibbles N Bits is pretty low if not the bottom of the barrel on the totum pole of dog foods ... white sugar is just so unnecessary in a dog food, there is zero justification for it. However, I really have got to disagree with the statement that anything which can be found in the grocery store equates to crap, the only good foods are in specialty stores. This is pure opinion and not substantiated by facts at all (i.e. results). It's based on sites such as DogFoodAnalysis and similar nutrition propoganda websites. 

All kibble is processed, so if you're going to feed dry food, go with a brand that works, not one that just looks nice on paper. My latest stint with a holistic, can only be found by a special trip to God's Country and costs $50 for a 26lb bag, was with Wellness CORE. I tried it due to the fact my pups were doing so well on Wellness pup, and the mineral content was much more moderate in this brand than other grain frees. I have since learned that the reason we had TWO dogs have a hypoglycemic fit on CORE was due to the fact that potatoes are very, very high on the glycemix index. They can cause drastic spikes in the blood sugar level, which of course, would also make blood sugar crashes more likely. You know, what goes up, must come down ... I have NEVER had a dog suffer a hypoglycemic fit - and in the 10 or so days I fed CORE, I had two seize within 3 days of each other. I've been looking for the answer as to why one had a blood glucose level of 38, the other 41, and my research has shown that feeding potatoes to dogs as the main carbohydrate source, on a regular basis, can cause dramatic spikes in blood sugar. 

The food I'm using now for the adults has the EXACT same carb content of Wellness (38%) but contains sorghum, which I know from my days feeding Euk, is a grain chosen in dog foods because it PREVENTS spikes in blood sugar and promotes an even glucose level - thereby preventing spikes & the inevitable crashes that follow them. 
The grocerg store "garbage" and other brands I've fed that were frowned upon have never caused such issues. I think I've finally learned my lesson and will stick with the older, tried & true grocery brands. My pups are even back on Puppy Chow as of last week.


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## Nallah06 (Nov 26, 2008)

I'll have more to say about this later, when I get home. Be prepared!


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## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

Kibbles n Bits is even worse than Beneful. I emailed the company to ask what the purpose of propylene glycol and hydrochloric acid was in KnB and was told that propylene glycol contained in the food is at the FDA approved level. That is not what I asked. And no answer regarding the hydrochloric acid. Propylene glycol is to sweeten the food. Not sure what the Hcl is in it for but who cares?? I wouldn't feed this to my dog or a rat. I'm sure you can find a dog food by Purina that's somewhat decent. Many breeders feed one of their formulas. I think it's Briteday who feeds Purina One if I'm not mistaken. (sorry if I'm wrong).


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## Nallah06 (Nov 26, 2008)

*Warning Pups, this is going to be long!*

All credit is given to Sedona who is an active member of www.dogster.com

She took the time to do all of this research, and probably knew a lot of it already. So all credit given to Sedona. This is a guide to what a good food should have and what it shouldn't have. It also explains what those bad ingredients do and why they put them in there. _I know its long but please take the time to read about it if you are interested in improving your dogs health!! _ I also have to post this in 4 different posts as it is too long!!! 

Here it is:

_"INTRODUCTION 
You’re probably reading this because you’ve just learned the dog food you are feeding your dog is garbage or maybe you’re just reading this to get some more info. Maybe you’ve been looking for a new food but you just don’t know how to get started. What ever the case may be this is a guide to help you pick out a good healthy food for your dog. 

First, dogs are carnivores. See those sharp teeth they have? Those are for crunching bones and tearing flesh. If dogs were meant to eat lots of grains, fruits, and veggies they’d have flat molars like humans and bears. Remember learning about the Brontosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex? The main differences between the two dinosaurs were their teeth and diet. The Brontosaurus had flat teeth for eating and grinding plants, and the T-Rex had sharp teeth for eating meat. Dogs have the same kind of teeth as the T-Rex did. They are carnivores, not herbivores or omnivores. Carnivores need MEAT, not a bunch of plants. Okay, now we have that out of the way. 

HOW TO PICK A MEATY KIBBLE 
The first step in picking out a wholesome kibble is to make sure there is plenty of meat in the food. For example, if chicken is listed as the first ingredient and there is no other meat listed, there isn’t enough meat in the food. Here’s why; all animals are made up of mostly water, and water is heavy. The ingredients on all bags of dog food are listed by weight. Once the chicken is cooked and all that water is taken out, the chicken weighs a whole lot less. So in reality, there is much less chicken meat in the food than there is of the other first 5 (or so) ingredients. 

If chicken meal is listed as the first ingredient there is a probably good amount of meat in the food. Chicken meal is regular ole chicken meat that’s already been cooked and its water has been taken out. You can think of chicken meal as a cousin to chicken jerky. Since it’s already been cooked the weight of the chicken meal won’t change during processing. 

If you don’t quite catch the meaning of that, here’s an analogy to help out a little. Imagine the difference between one balloon filled with water that weighs 3 pounds, and 3 pounds worth of empty balloons. You have to have a lot of empty balloons to make three pounds right? Well that’s how it is with chicken and chicken meal. Chicken is full of water just like the water balloon. Once they cook the 3 pounds worth chicken to make kibble the chicken shrinks because all the water is out of it. It’s like if you were to empty the water balloon. The amount of meat is hardly anything compared to already cooked 3 pounds of chicken meal, and the size of the empty water balloon is nothing compared to the 3 pounds of the empties. 

Ideally you want a food that has both a whole meat and a meat meal. Although a meat meal (like chicken meal, beef meal, lamb meal, salmon meal, etc) is a good thing to find on your ingredient list, that stuff is overly cooked. Since it has spent so much time in the oven at really high temperatures, it has a lot of the nutrition cooked out of it. A regular meat source (like chicken, beef, lamb, salmon, etc) would have a more vitamins and minerals compared to the meal form, but a meal provides a whole lot of meat based protein. That’s why it’s good to have both. 

BY-PRODUCTS AND UGLY STUFF 
Now, you might scratching you head and wondering why the label on the back of the bag of your dog food doesn’t actually say chicken or chicken meal but says chicken by-product meal. Well, as it turns out you haven’t been feeding your dog much meat. 

SPECIFIED MEAT BY-PRODUCTS 
The organization who is in charge of dog food, the AAFCO, thinks it is okay for your dog to eat by-products. Well, they are half right. Specified meat by-products are the dry, ground, rendered, parts of slaughtered animals. Depending on the animal (chicken, beef, pork, salmon, etc) these by-products include heads, necks, feet, intestines, bones, undeveloped eggs, connective tissues, and a whole slew of other stuff left over from human processing. If your dog was feral and had to hunt for herself this is all stuff she’d eat anyway, so no biggie right? Not really. By-products don’t include one important thing; MEAT! For all intents and purposes by-products are meat-less. Remember this, chicken heads and feet are fine for a dog to eat, but the majority of their diet should come from meat. Dogs need meat to be their healthiest. So if the kibble doesn’t list a meat (like chicken or beef) or a meat meal (like salmon meal or lamb meal) and only has meat by-products, you aren’t giving your pet carnivore much meat. 

UNSPECIFICED MEAT PRODUCTS 
Okay, now some of you are going “Hey, my bag of food doesn’t even mention a specific animal. What gives?” If your bag of food has ingredients like poultry meal, fish meal, meat meal, liver meal, meat and bone meal, etc it’s best to just throw that food away right now. There is no telling what kind of animals are in that food. There could raccoon road kill or even cats and dogs in that food. That’s right! There are no laws preventing companion animals being made into pet food. As sick as that is, it’s the truth. 


CARBOHYDRATES 
Okay so you’ve found a food that has a good amount of meat without any uglies in it. Now what do you do? You need to take a second to look over the carbohydrate sources in the food. There are many different sources of carbohydrates used in kibble. You want a food that uses WHOLE forms of carbohydrates. Whole forms of carbs have more nutritional value than fragments. The main reason dog food makers use fragments is to beef up the protein levels in the food. There isn’t enough protein in the food because there isn’t any meat. 

Here’s some examples of whole vs. fragment: 
White Rice is whole, Brewers Rice is a fragment. 
Potato is whole, Potato Product is a fragment. 
Oatmeal is whole, Oat Hulls are fragments. 

Do you see where I’m going with this? If there are extra words attached to the name of the carb more often than not, it’s a fragment. Besides, would you eat something called Potato Product? I think not. 

If there are multiple carbohydrate sources in the food keep in mind that all those different carbs add up. If there are only one or two meat sources listed and five carbohydrate sources, there is a possibility that there are more carbs than meat in the food. 


FILLERS 
Fillers are just junky stuff no one uses so dog food makers throw it in food. It has no real nutritional value except as a source of fiber. Fiber is a good thing, but you can get fiber from other sources like the white rice and oatmeal I wrote about above. Avoid ingredients like Corn Bran, Oat Hulls, Rice Hulls, Wheat Middlings, and Cellulose. Those are floor sweepings, seriously. There are other fillers that aren’t so bad. A little doesn’t hurt but if there are more than a couple fillers in the food it’s probably best to avoid it. Some of the better fillers are Tomato Pomace, Apple Pomace, Citrus Pulp, and Dried Beet Pulp. Just make sure there isn’t a ton of that stuff in there. Remember that the ingredients on the bag are listed by weight so if a filler comes before a good ingredient, there is more filler than the good stuff. 

FAT 
Fat is probably the second most important ingredient besides meat. Good healthy fats are essential to your dog’s health. Okay, remember reading about the unspecified meat sources in the food. Well, there can be unspecified fat sources in the food too. If your ingredient list says poultry fat, it’s an unspecified fat source. Yuck. If they aren’t honest enough to list what kind of animal is in the food, then that company isn’t going to get my business. If it says chicken fat then YAY! Chicken is chicken; we all know what that is. This goes for all types of fats not just chicken. If it says animal fat, that’s no good. If it says pork fat then it’s good. Get it? Knowing what species your dog is eating is important. 

OIL AS FAT 
Some companies use oils as their fat source. That’s fine. I prefer oils made from animals (like Salmon Oil) as opposed to plant sources (like Flaxseed Oil or Canola Oil) because my dog is a carnivore. If your dog doesn’t have a problem with plants oils (like allergies and such) then you’re probably all right. Just make sure it doesn’t say Vegetable Oil because that’s unspecified and could have some scary stuff in there. 

*1 of 4 *_


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## Nallah06 (Nov 26, 2008)

*2 of 4*

FLAVOR ENHANCERS 
Ha, it’s pretty funny when you think about. These low quality dog foods are so terrible they actually have to add flavor and smell to the kibble to make dogs want to eat it. 

Tallow and Lard are two very bad forms of fat. These fats are nutritionally shallow. They aren’t a good source of linoleic acid which is important to a dog’s health, and are just there because they smell and taste appealing to canines. 

You also want to look out for anything called digest. Digest is like a big stew of just about everything except the kitchen sink. Then they take that soupy mess and add it into the kibble or spray it on after the kibble is made. It has zero nutritional value and its presence on an ingredient list is proof that the food is crap. 

Sugar, Sorbitol, Cane Molasses, Fructose, and Corn Syrup are all sweeteners. As yummy as candy and sweet stuff is, dogs don’t need that junk. Sweeteners can lead to obesity, Diabetes, and tooth decay. It’s not fun to be obese, sick, and toothless. 

CHEMICALS 
Dog food is chalk full of chemicals and dogs have to eat these chemical ridden foods everyday. Chemicals can build up in their bodies and cause sickness. 

You want to avoid artificial colors and dyes like Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and stuff like that. Dogs don’t care what color their food is. Dog food manufactures put that stuff in there so we see the different colors and think the food is better or more appealing. It’s not. That junk is known to cause tumors and other health problems. 

There are also some nasty preservatives you don’t want your dog to be eating. BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin, and Propyl Gallate are all really bad stuff. BHA and BHT have been banned by a lot of countries because it’s a known human cancer causing agent. It’s still legal in the US though. Don’t risk it. Humans would only eat BHA/BHT once in awhile, but if it’s your pet’s food they’d have to eat it everyday. Bad bad bad. Ethoxyquin is a stabilizer for rubber! It’s been banned for human consumption! It’s been known to cause all kinds of health problems! Steer clear of that stuff PLEASE! Propyl Gallate (aka Gallic Acid or Propyl Ester) is suspected to cause liver disease and cancer. You know, there are other options to preserve foods. Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Rosemary do just as good of a job as those chemicals! They just happen to be more expensive but they are much safer than that other stuff. 

There’s one more thing you should avoid. It’s located near the end of the ingredient list on that bag of food. It goes by the names Menadione Dimethyl-Pyrimidinol Bisulfate, Menadione Dimethyl-Pyrimidinol Bisulfite, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, and Vitamin K3. It’s synthetic vitamin K. This is another ugly thing that you should really avoid. It’s been linked to a whole bunch of health problems. There are other whole food and natural ways to get vitamin K in kibble. Manufactures use K3 because it’s cheap. 

WHY YOU SHOULD SWITCH 
Have you noticed any of the following problems with your dog, lack of energy, itchy runny eyes, eye boogers, itchy skin, ears that smell bad, overall doggy odor, dull coat, excessive shedding, large smelly and loose stools? None of those problems are normal for a healthy dog and most can be helped by switching to a better quality food. 

A lot of dogs have food allergies or sensitivities that can cause all those above symptoms. The best way to make sure you’re not feeding things to your dog that their body can’t handle is to have an allergy test done by your Vet. If you’re not too keen on running out and getting your dog tested there are a few things you can do right now to help. 

First, you should find a food that doesn’t have any of the poor quality ingredients I wrote about above. Sometimes that stuff just isn’t giving your dog enough nutrition to be their healthiest. Next you should check to see if there is soy, wheat, or corn in your food. Those are highly allergenic ingredients. A lot of dogs just can’t tolerate those at all. If there is none of that stuff in your food, check out the protein source. If you’ve been feeding the same brand of food or the same kind of protein for awhile your dog could have developed allergies to that kind of meat. 

So if the food you’ve been feeding has an ingredient list that reads like; Chicken, Chicken Meal, White Rice, Brown Rice, Barley etc you want to try a different food that looks nothing like the one you are currently eating. The new food could have an ingredient list like Salmon, Salmon Meal, Oatmeal, Sweet Potato etc. See how different that is? There’s no guarantee that it’s going to cure your dog but I bet it will help your dog. 

SO WHAT IN THE HECK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FEED? 
Well, there are lots of good foods out there. Since every dog is different it’s hard for me to say one food is better than another. What one dog does terribly on another dog could do wonderfully on. If you’re looking for a truly awesome and healthy food you’re not going to find it at your local grocery store or Wal-Mart. More than likely you’re going to have to go to a pet specialty store.


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## Nallah06 (Nov 26, 2008)

*3 of 4*

THE PRICE OF PREMIUM 
Premium foods are more expensive. From what I’ve seen, the really good foods average out at about $1.75 a pound whereas the food at the grocery store is about $.75 a pound. Huge difference isn’t it? Not really. The premium foods often have way more calories. So that 20lb bag of premium food that costs $35 it going to outlast the 20lb bag of food that costs $15. You probably think I’m full of it don’t you? 

Okay, let’s break it down: 

Purina Beneful Original has 1674 calories per pound of food. The cost of a 17.6 pound bag on PetFoodDirect.com is $19.49. 
1674 * 17.6 = 29462.4 calories 
So it costs $19.49 for 29463 calories (I rounded up). 

Canidae All Life Stages has 1875 calories per pound of food. The cost of a 20 pound bag on PetFoodDirect.com is 25.79. 
1875 * 20 = 37500 calories 
So it costs $25.79 for 37500 calories. 

That’s almost another 5 pounds worth of food! Sure the price per pound of Canidae is higher, but you’re getting a heck of a lot more food for that price. You’d have to feed a lot less Canidae than you would Beneful, plus the ingredients in Canidae are way better. 

INGREDIENTS COMPARISON 
Since I’ve already used Canidae All Life Stages and Beneful as examples I’m going to go ahead and continue using them. I don’t mean to pick on Beneful. It’s just that it was the only lower quality food that I could find the calories per pound so I used it. The reason I chose Canidae ALS as an example is because I know it’s a great good food at a really reasonable price and it is pretty easy to find. There are many other great foods out there. Don’t think that Canidae is the end all be all of kibble. 

Now let’s compare the ingredients of these two foods. I’m sure you’ve been paying attention so you should be able to pick out all the nasty ingredients right? 

Beneful- Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, sugar, sorbitol, tricalcium phosphate, water, salt, phosphoric acid, animal digest, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium carbonate, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, copper sulfate, biotin, garlic oil, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite. 

Canidae ALS- Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory root), Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement. 

Do I actually need to explain this to you? Nearly every one of the bad ingredients I told you about before is in Beneful. There are two kinds of sugar in the first 10 ingredients. There are unspecified animals sources. There are dyes and nasty chemicals. What gives? 

Do you see any of that junk in Canidae? 

Now don’t you feel ripped off? Where’s the meat and all the fresh foods that are supposed to be in there? If you are like me, you probably thought you were doing good for your dog buying a name brand food. That stuff is supposed to be good right? On the Beneful commercial it shows meat, rice, corn, and vegetables right? Well, where in the heck is that stuff? All I see are corn and chemicals! 

CORN AND LOW QUALITY FOODS 
A good indicator that you have a low quality food is the presence of corn. If you are feeding a food you got at a grocery store, chances are you’re feeding your dog mostly corn. Check the ingredients of the food you have or plan on feeding. Is there corn in there? Is it the first ingredient? Why would a dog need corn and meat-less by-products in their food instead of meat? If you ran out of dog food what would you feed your dog? An ear of corn? I hope not. If you have any sense, you’d most likely feed your dog a piece of meat. 

Why do the big companies like Mars (Nutro, Pedigree, Royal Canin). Procter and Gamble (Iams, Eukanuba), and Nestle (Purina, Alpo) think that dogs don’t need any meat? What are candy and toilet paper making companies doing producing dog food anyway? 

A few of you who are reading this are saying to yourself, “I had a dog live 18 years eating food like that and he was just fine.” Most of you that have a story like that have probably already stopped reading this. That’s okay. This is for the few of you that are still with me. A man named Buster Martin has been a beer drinker and smoker nearly his entire life. He’s 101 years old and he just competed in the London Marathon. If you had a dog live for 18 years eating mostly corn that dog is a genetic marvel just like Buster Martin. Most of us aren’t as lucky as Mr. Martin, and most of our dogs won’t be that lucky either. Dogs have very short life spans and providing them with the nutrition they need is an important way to keep them healthy for as long as possible. 

A QUICK WORD ABOUT CANNED FOOD 
Canned foods are less processed than kibble. They also provide your pet with much needed moisture. How do you know you’re getting a good kind of canned food though? You can use the same method as choosing a kibble. If the ingredient label on the canned food lists stuff like by-products, chemicals, lots of carbohydrate fragments, corn, soy, and other junk don’t get it. Simple as that. You should be able to recognize most of the ingredients in the food as food. 

An example of a good food is: Chicken, Chicken Liver, Chicken Broth, Brown Rice, Eggs, Peas, Carrots, Flaxseed, Spinach, Menhaden Fish Oil, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dried Kelp, Salt, Taurine, Potassium Chloride, Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide), Artichokes, Cranberries, Pumpkin, Tomato, Blueberries, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Parsley. 


And an example of a bad food is: Chicken, sufficient water for processing, poultry by-products, brewers rice, carob bean gum, sodium tripolyphosphate, carrageenan, minerals (potassium chloride, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide), vegetable oil(source of linoleic acid), dried yam, guar gum, natural flavor blend, bay leaves, vitamins (vitamin e, a & d3 supplements, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate {vitamin b1}, biotin. 

PUPPY, ADULT, AND SENIOR FOOD 
There are four main types of dog foods on the market; Puppy, Adult Maintenance, Senior, and All Life Stages. The first three are pretty self explanatory. Puppy food is designed for growing puppies, adult maintenance is designed to maintain the health of an adult, senior formulas are designed for older, less active dogs and they are typically lower calorie versions of the adult. Senior formulas are also notorious for being full of fillers, so make sure to read those ingredient labels. All Life Stages (ALS) foods are designed to be used by every dog no matter the age. It’s really up to you what kind of food you want to buy.


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## Nallah06 (Nov 26, 2008)

*4 of 4*

LARGE BREED PUPPIES NEED DIFFERENT FOODS 
Every dog is an individual, and therefore has unique needs. Large and giant breed puppies for example, should eat foods with a moderate protein percentage, as well as a calcium level of 1.5% or less. Also, it’s important to keep them lean to avoid extra pressure on the joints. These criteria ensure a proper growth rate, and help prevent joint issues in adulthood. Puppy foods, for the most part, should be avoided because they often promote a faster growth rate than is recommended. 

WHAT FOOD DOGSTERS DON’T RECOMMEND 
While Dogsters try not to ostracize anyone because of the food they feed, there are certain foods that are not recommended by the majority of members. Some of these companies listed make prescription foods. If you have a very sick dog that needs special foods, then you might have to feed your dog a food with pretty grody ingredients. Sometimes you just gotta do it. If your dog is very sick, please talk to your vet. 

Take a look at the ingredients of the following foods and try to apply what you’ve learned to see why they aren’t considered that great. 
Alpo 
Beneful 
Dad’s 
Dog Chow 
Iams 
Nutro 
Pedigree 
Purina One 
Pro Plan 
Science Diet 
Royal Canin 


WHAT FOODS DOGSTERS DO RECOMMEND 
This is a list of most of the foods frequently recommended (and fed by) Dogsters. Check out their ingredients lists and you’ll see why. All of these recommendations are for healthy dogs. There are other foods not on this list that are good too. This will at least give you a good starting out point. 
Blue Buffalo 
By Nature 
Canidae 
Natural Balance 
Eagle Pack Holstic Select 
Evanger’s 
Fromm 
Merrick 
Timberwolf 
Natura Products 
Wellness 
Nature’s Logic 
Nature’s Variety 
Orijen 
Solid Gold 
Taste of the Wild 
Ziwi Peak 


Okay, that is a basic rundown of dog foods. There are SO many products out there and it can get overwhelming very quickly. If you’re looking to switch foods just take it slow. You’ll find the perfect food you’re looking for. I promise! 

Here’s a couple of places that can help you with your food search. 
The Dog Food Project 
Dog Food Analysis 

Thanks to everyone who contributed and helped put this thing together! You all rock! 

Sedona and Gunner PAWS


*AGAIN-ALL CREDIT GIVEN TO SEDONA & GUNNER PAWS!!!! *


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## dinki2 (Nov 16, 2008)

Im definetly glad now that I took our rescued girl GSD off grocery store food and put her on TOTW, its only been like 5 days since I started feeding her it and she seems to have quite a bit more energy.


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

So, if you're feeding one of those bad brands, should you just switch to the better food immediately.

I mean, I'll more than gladly try Wally on a different food, even if I have to order it online, but I hear that you shouldn't switch immediately, even if it's from the bottom of the barrell to the top prime food? 

That doesn't make sense? If it's so bad - shouldn't I just up and switch ASAP?


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## nandeyane (Dec 19, 2008)

KBLover said:


> So, if you're feeding one of those bad brands, should you just switch to the better food immediately.
> 
> I mean, I'll more than gladly try Wally on a different food, even if I have to order it online, but I hear that you shouldn't switch immediately, even if it's from the bottom of the barrell to the top prime food?
> 
> That doesn't make sense? If it's so bad - shouldn't I just up and switch ASAP?


I think of the grocery brands kind of like cigarettes or something... they have all those funky chemicals in them, and once your dog's stomach has gotten used to all the stuff in it, they may need to be gradually weaned off of it. Of course, it depends on the dog. Some can probably go cold turkey. 
Personally I just want to get my dog off of the crap that i'd bought a few weeks ago before really getting into all this research (bought my first bag of EVO today ^__^ wohoo), and I don't think he'd have a great deal of trouble just switching over... but now... what to do with all this leftover crap food?... <__<


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## dinki2 (Nov 16, 2008)

You really should do it "gradually" really like say you buy the premium dog food and are currently feeding him like KnB, well what you would do then over a 5-7 day period is gradually increase the amount of premium food with that of the other like day one feed 3/4 cup of knB and 1/2 cup of the premium food, and then the next day increase the amount of the premium food a little more.

What I currently have my dog doing since she still has a litter of pups ot feed for awhile is I still free feed her the leftover Purina and feed her wet food mixed with TOTW twice a day. That way I get rid of the crappy food and she also gets the premium food.

I had quite a bit of KnB left over before I switched to purina so when she ate her first free feed of purina I switched over the KnB until they were gone then switched it back to the Purina, now she almost has the rest of the 20 lbs of purina gone. And it will be TOTW feeding only.


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## Nallah06 (Nov 26, 2008)

nandeyane said:


> I think of the grocery brands kind of like cigarettes or something... they have all those funky chemicals in them, and once your dog's stomach has gotten used to all the stuff in it, they may need to be gradually weaned off of it. Of course, it depends on the dog. Some can probably go cold turkey.
> Personally I just want to get my dog off of the crap that i'd bought a few weeks ago before really getting into all this research (bought my first bag of EVO today ^__^ wohoo), and I don't think he'd have a great deal of trouble just switching over... but now... what to do with all this leftover crap food?... <__<



*You ask what you should do with all of the old "crap" food? Donate it to a shelter, *they are always in need of food and will be more than happy to accept it. Unfortunately, the costs of running a shelter most often times do not allow them to pay $$ for the high buck foods.

And yes, you should always make the switch from any food gradually. Mix in about a quarter of new food to 3/4 old food. You can up the amount of new food every couple of days and slowly lower the amount of old food. 

Its much easier on our pups' tummies. A sudden switch for a lot of dogs will cause diarrhea!!


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