Opinons on these ingredients?
 

Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Brown Rice, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat [Preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E)], Egg Product, Pearled Barley, Brewers Dried Yeast, Natural Flavor, Menhaden Fish Meal, Lecithin, Menhaden Fish Oil, Flax Seed, Canola Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Kelp Meal, Sea Salt, DL Methionine, L-Lysine, Monosodium Phosphate, Cranberry, Alfalfa Meal, New Zealand Sea Mussel, Ascorbic Acid, Glucosamine, Garlic Powder, Vitamin E Supplement, Biotin, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Citric Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate.

chicken is the only meat in there and there's alot of grain (alot of oatmeal, brown rice), and beet pulp. i usually like to have more meat in my dogs food as the first few ingredients. i really think its all a matter of personal opinion. i know dogs who've lived LOOOONG happy lives on alpo and others who live short ones on the highest quality food. i think genetics plays a huge part.

You really can't tell from the ingredient list alone whether there is "a lot of oatmeal and brown rice". It could have 50 percent chicken meal, 15 percent oatmeal and 14 percent brown rice which would be great, or it could have 20 percent chicken meal, 19 percent oatmeal, and 18 percent brown rice which would be not so good.

There appears to be no non-meat protein boosters (such as peas, pea protein, etc.). If we knew the protein percentage, we would be able to tell if there is a lot of meat, or a little meat. This is only a guess, but judging by the ingredients they have chosen and the ones they have avoided, I would guess that it is a quality food with a decent amount of protein, which would make it a decent food. However, only by knowing the protein percentage will we know for sure.

OP - what is the protein percentage. What is the brand?

OP - never mind, I found it. It is Dr. Gary's. It has 25 percent protein (28 percent dry matter basis). It has a significant amount of chicken, and has well chosen ingredients. There are no plant-based protein boosters. It has a mix of low glycemic-index grains. I would say it is a high quality food.

zookeep is totally right, i didn't think of that

I hesitate at the flax and canola. Those are supposed to be healthy and may be for humans but not necessarily about dogs. I don't worry about the rest of the ingredients and would feed it if it was the only better quality food available.

Like I have posted before Chicken Meal is pretty much bone and skin. Oatmeal is not the Oatmeal you might be thinking of, but is a fair filler. Brown Rice is fine. Dried Beet Pulp is a low grade filler left over from processing, used for stiffening of a dogs poo in low quality dog foods. I hate seeing so much in a dog food. Egg Product is fine. Pearled Barley is a very low grade grain. The rest are minor ingredients. When I see this much Dried Beet Pulp I get a little leary because it is used to fake out a dogs system into thinking it it is a decent dog food. It is just a low grade filler/fiber. If I was going to feed this, I would add a lot of fresh meat to my dogs diet.

You are incorrect on what a meal is. Much depends on the ash content.

Chicken meal (or lamb meal, beef meal, etc) is defined as muscle meat, by-products are anything but muscle meat.

As RocketDog said, you are wrong on chicken meal. You have no way of knowing the bone content without knowing the ash content. Also, according to The Dog Food Project:

and

The Dog Food Project - Identifying better products

You are also wrong on beet pulp. Again, according to The Dog Food Project:

The Dog Food Project - Identifying better products