Rate My dog Food

[Akk578]

I feed my GSD Diamond Naturals Lamb and rice large breed puppy. I have looked into the other brand dog foods that I know are better but with 3 children and a limited income I can't afford $40 to $50 for a bag of dog food that's only around 20lbs. So I buy this brand dog food and I spend $32.99 for a 40lb bag. My concern is how good od a quality it is. I feel it's good quality I have had people recommend this food to me. All of you have the same breed of dog as I do and a lot of you seem to be very
thorough with some of the choices of dog foods you choose. So I would like to know is this a good dog food? What do you think of it? Am I wasting my money on this dog food when I could be buying the same quality of food for $20? I value your opinions. Thanks

Ingredients

Lamb, lamb meal, egg product, cracked pearled barley, millet, ground rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), potato protein, oatmeal, potatoes, tomato pomace, flaxseed, natural flavor, ocean fish meal, salmon oil (source of DHA), potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-Carnitine, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

[sagelfn]

If your dog is doing well on it and it fits your budget then stick with it. My parents feed Diamond Naturals and their dog is doing very well on it. Yes there are better foods out there but there are also much worse things you could feed. Personally I do not like the Diamond Brand so I would look into similar priced foods like 4Health(tractor supply co) and Kirkland (Costco)

Have you seen these websites www.dogfoodproject.com and Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

[Lilie]

I feed my GSD the same thing. Now he is on the adult food. He does very well on it, and he has no more itching and scratching. I love it.

[ChancetheGSD]

I hate those stupid rating sites. They're nothing more than the opinion of the creator. (Just like the ratings on this poll are the opinion of the person voting.) Don't get me wrong, they're a nice start for people who don't understand dog food labels but too many people take it to heart and act like those websites are Bible for dog foods!

If it's working for your dog, great. It has pretty good ingredients for a grain food. I think it's not so much the ingredients that put people off of it but the Diamond brand since they've had so many recalls and problems with ingredient quality control.

You could always throw in some eggs or bits of meat to balance out the grains a little more too. It's always nice to add for variety and some "fresh" nutrition.

[selzer]

I won't feed my dogs anything manufactured by diamond, but by the ingredients the food looks fine. Barley is the grain source with the heighest weight, if your dog does ok on it, than that is fine.

I listed as ok. What is important is how your dog fares on it.

[rjvamp]

If your dog is doing fine - don't fret!

I agree about the whole rating website stuff...those sites CAN NEVER take into account how your dog is going to do. It is just a bunch of fear marketing for ONE opinion - the website owners. Of course many Pet Food companies will scare you to death with their claims too.

How the ingredients work together as a whole is very important. Remember - to make kibble you need some sort of starch and that can be in the form of grains, potatoes, tapioca, etc..... Otherwise kibble would not be around So not sure why there is such a fuss about corn, wheat, etc.... I think just like certain dogs get a bad rap in one decade, certain ingredients do in dog food (and yes there are dogs with allergies - so not discounting that - only 10% of the population). After all, Grain Free and No Corn, No Wheat and No Soy are the biggest trends in dog food right now and they will take you all the way to the bank if they can! Personally, we feed Purina Pro Plan Weight Management (the Shredded Blends Chicken and Rice) and on the weekends we give some Raw Meaty Bones for the teeth. Dogs doing great, small stool, soft fur, etc... We have also given Purina One (Which they also love - the Small Bites Beef and Rice Formula). Right now Petsmart and Petco (at least here in Minnesota) is having SUPER sales right now on Purina brands.

I do like that your food choice has FRESH meat at the beginning. That means, while yes, mostly water, it was cooked ONCE, not twice like Meat Meals are. And the protein in the chicken isn't going to escape down the drain when the water is cooked out! Because it does have Lamb in the name and doesn't same "with" it should have at least 25% of lamb in the food. I hope I remember that correctly from the FDA website where it talked about labeling.

Of course, regardless of the number of grains or number of meats, as long as you aren't using glutens (plant based proteins - have nothing against anymore - after all they do provide protein and amino acids), if you have 25% protein (just guessing on this food), then you have about the same amount of meat as any other 25% protein food, give or take a %. Just a merry go round of ingredients! Unless there is a HUGE amount of salt in that food - I doubt the berries, tomatoes, etc... add very much to the food. You could give a bit or two of your own berries and it would do about the same or better!

Enjoy your pups, your family and save the money!

[Jax08]

Meat meals have more protein in them because the water content taken out.

You might want to take a look at the tractor supply store food, 4-health. A decent price for what looks like a decent food. It's not top of the line grain free but looks ok.

4Health Dog Food | Review and Rating
4health dog food at TSC

It is supposed to be close to the Kirkland brand at Costco and is made by Diamond

[rjvamp]

Originally Posted by Jax08

Meat meals have more protein in them because the water content taken out.

Well that is true - more concentrated - and also cooked twice

Of course you can only use so much fresh ingredients anyway apparently.

[ahazra]

Bear in mind it's not the ingredients alone that makes a good pet food. It's the ratio of each ingredient as well. If you dog is doing fine (as in healthy, coat is shiny, no itching, not soft or runny stools) then I say you should stick with it.