[mmags]

At some point more of us than not have become seemingly obsessed with finding what is best to feed our furry companions, including myself. Due to the fact that not everyone can feed RAW or the varieties that it encompasses, I wanted to create a thread that highlights in my opinion some of the top kibbles. This is in no particular order and the foods are based on the following criteria:

1) Ingredients/Nutritional quality
2) Location of facility and production
3) Transparency
4) Recalls
5) Dogs stool on each food
6) Price

Up first is VICTOR brand dog food. What can I say, this brand has never let me down and seems to have great feedback. They have never had a recall. It is produced and located in Texas with close proximity to majority of the ingredients used. They use a high percentage of proteins from meats which they list all of the breakdowns on the bags and website. Victor goes above to add additional ingredients for health and wellness such as Selenium yeast which is an organic form of Selenium which dogs can highly utilize. Victor adds taurine to all of their formulas to provide additional amounts. They have trace mineral packs in their organic form which are absorbed better as well as pre and pro-biotics for digestive health. I love that on their website you get a guaranteed analysis, general analysis and breakdown of nutrient content. They seem to have nothing to hide. My dogs coats have always been silky and shiny. Stools are nothing short of perfect on this food no matter which formula I use. Other customers often times report firmer, smaller and less stinky stools than on other foods. They offer great grain free and grain inclusive lines. Their grain free lines dont depend on massive amounts of lentils, different types of peas, white potatoes and pea fiber like some other grain free lines. This is a relatively affordable food food considering the calorie content, amount you have to feed, and size of bags available. No Victor formulas contain corn, wheat or soy.

Nutrisource dog food is second. Made in the USA in Minnesota, this is a trustworthy company. Specifically I am talking about their grain inclusive lines which I like and not so much the grain free lines. They list full ingredient breakdowns and analysis on their website. Nutrisource also used selenium yeast, minerals, and probiotics in their formulas. No recalls so far with this food. I love that they support small shops. Their company is very transparent and posts videos as well as letters regarding any areas of concern in their products or the industry. They have a great variety of foods with different proteins as well as a performance line with a high calorie count per cup. Customer feedback for this food has been top notch from what I have seen, as well as from myself. Stools on this are A1. Many people have reported this being a great food for dogs with sensitive stomachs as this food digests well and reflects that in the stool. This is one of the more affordable premium foods.

Up next, Dr.Tims pet food. This food is manufactured in the US at Ohio pet foods. With no recalls in the 30 years they have been around, this is a very safe food. Dr tims posts full ingredients and analysis on their website which is easy to work around. They use high quality ingredients and offer corn, wheat, and soy free formulas with just some of their performance foods containing certain wheat products, which isnt always a bad thing. Their Fusion and Momentum foods have a calorie count of over 500kcal per cup. They also offer an ancient grains line which uses quality grains like millet and sorghum. Stools are nice and consistent making for easy pickups. This is one of the more expensive foods which is a factor for some.

Fourth on the list, Sport Dog Food. This food is a very small owned operation. Made in the US and owned by a family. They recently upgraded to a larger facility to meet the growing demands and the same quality has followed. There has not been a recall for this brand. This is a popular food amongst working and sporting dogs. They offer 3 different lines all with high calorie counts. One of the highest nutritionally rated foods in my opinion they use quality proteins and grains and offer grain free formulas that dont use potatoes and peas. All nutrients and analysis are listed on the website. They are similar to Victor in that they use Selenium yeast, advanced mineral packs, pre and probiotics. Most of their formulas stay around the 30/20 range and vary slightly. If you are looking for absolutely no controversial ingredients, this may be the food for you. They do not use beet pulp, tomato pomace, or canola oil which some people do not like. They also explain exactly why they use what they use. Stools are solid and small with this food and customers seem to rave on reviews of this food. This is also a slightly more expensive food when compared to others.

Lastly, Muenster brand pet foods. Made here in the US, specifically Texas this is a family owned brand for four generations. This company also supports smaller shops and local stores. They recently have come out with an ancient grains line and a grain free line with some unique proteins to offer such as rabbit and duck. They are also very transparent with their ingredients and analysis which can be found on their website. The owner addresses any issues or concerns promptly and kindly. Muenster has never had a recall to date. Muenster does use advanced minerals as well as probiotics. They also have high calorie foods most in the upper 400kcal per cup and some topping 500. They also have a cheaper line as well. Dogs stools were mostly great on this food with the occasional slightly soft. Most customer feedback I have seen has been great. I would rate this as an affordable food due to the variety with certain lines costing more than others but all within range. They also often offer deals such as BOGO and 20% off.

Again, this is all MY opinion. Some of you may be surprised to not see some forum favorites on here such as Orijen, Acana, FROMM, Earthborn, Wellness, Farmina, Kirkland, TOTW, Diamond, 4Health etc. but feel free to reply as to why because there is a reason those were not on here. Obviously there are many brands not listed that shouldn't even be considered.

 

[Katsugsd]

I feed my girl Victor Select Nutra Pro. She would have solid poops every day if we didn't use hotdog for training two nights a week. She likes it and it doesn't seem to cause any issues for her. My breeder picked it out for her litter (and a few others) to try and feed due to the phosphorus/calcium ratio. I kept feeding it because she digested it well. I have considered switching to Fromm since it is locally available here rather than having to order from Chewy.


My Shiba has a weight issue. We've tried multiple brands. He did well on Wellness Core Healthy Weight (or Weight Management...whatever it's called). Lost two pounds but maintained 38lbs when I needed him down to 36lbs. I took him off diet food for about 5 months causing him to gain 10 pounds. Since he doesn't want to eat the Wellness anymore, I've bought Dr. Tim's Metabolite formula due to the ratings on Dog Food Advisor and the lower calorie count. I've noticed he seems more active. I can't tell if he's losing weight as I have not weighed him since (it's only been 3 weeks) but people have been saying he looks slimmer. Pro is he seems to like it.

 

[mmags]

I feed my girl Victor Select Nutra Pro. She would have solid poops every day if we didn't use hotdog for training two nights a week. She likes it and it doesn't seem to cause any issues for her. My breeder picked it out for her litter (and a few others) to try and feed due to the phosphorus/calcium ratio. I kept feeding it because she digested it well. I have considered switching to Fromm since it is locally available here rather than having to order from Chewy.


My Shiba has a weight issue. We've tried multiple brands. He did well on Wellness Core Healthy Weight (or Weight Management...whatever it's called). Lost two pounds but maintained 38lbs when I needed him down to 36lbs. I took him off diet food for about 5 months causing him to gain 10 pounds. Since he doesn't want to eat the Wellness anymore, I've bought Dr. Tim's Metabolite formula due to the ratings on Dog Food Advisor and the lower calorie count. I've noticed he seems more active. I can't tell if he's losing weight as I have not weighed him since (it's only been 3 weeks) but people have been saying he looks slimmer. Pro is he seems to like it.

Good feedback. I am bringing home a Czech WL pup next month and will start him on a mix of Victor Select Nutra pro and Nutrisource LBP. My suggestion to you for the weight issued dog is maybe try a high calorie food with high protein and fat and just feed only once a day at about 1c-1.5c. This has worked for me.

 

[Jax08]

I have ethical issues with Sport Dog Food. They are a rip off of Victor. In fact, somewhere I have the email they forwarded when they started their company and Victor pulled their line from their store because of it. Even the SD website is like Victor.

Plus, they've had supply issues and everyone that jumped on their bandwagon was left with no food. I think it's fixed now but it wasn't a good situation.

 

[Sabis mom]

You do understand that forum members are from all over the world right? I am right "next door" in Canada and at a glance none of those foods are available here.
I appreciate the thought behind the thread but with recent issues people need to be consulting vets and other professionals before making any food choices, since it would seem that everything we thought we knew may be wrong.

 

[mmags]

I have ethical issues with Sport Dog Food. They are a rip off of Victor. In fact, somewhere I have the email they forwarded when they started their company and Victor pulled their line from their store because of it. Even the SD website is like Victor.

Plus, they've had supply issues and everyone that jumped on their bandwagon was left with no food. I think it's fixed now but it wasn't a good situation.

I agree, they copied Victor in a lot of ways. Yes, they were also out of stock for a while. At worst they copied an amazing food and yes that can be an ethical issue to some. Second was more of an inconvenience rather than something negative about the food itself. I was purely basing this off of quality of the food and safety. I get where you're coming from. I still feed Victor as my #1.

 

[mmags]

You do understand that forum members are from all over the world right? I am right "next door" in Canada and at a glance none of those foods are available here.
I appreciate the thought behind the thread but with recent issues people need to be consulting vets and other professionals before making any food choices, since it would seem that everything we thought we knew may be wrong.

Yes, I do understand people on this forum are from all over the world. An educated individual can have just as much nutritional knowledge on what to feed their dog as a vet would. They are animal doctors, not nutritionists trained in macro and micro nutrients and how all ingredients work/react within animals. Just like an MD is not a dietician. Funny how majority of vets will recommend some of the worst foods. Also, if you're referring to the recent heart disease and taurine issue, that was considered in the foods I listed.

 

[Sabis mom]

Dog food is always going to be subjective, and people will do what they will.

Since you completely ignored the fact that I mentioned none of those foods being available outside the US, I will correct myself. I am pretty sure I have seen Nutrisource somewhere.
The great thing about forums is that everyone can state their opinion. Since I have a dog who already has enough problems I think I will stick to the advice I know is solid. And like @Jax08, I don't purchase products from companies with questionable ethics. It tends to spread.

In the meantime I will do as advised and steer clear of potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas and lentils in the top ten.

 

[mmags]

Dog food is always going to be subjective, and people will do what they will.

Since you completely ignored the fact that I mentioned none of those foods being available outside the US, I will correct myself. I am pretty sure I have seen Nutrisource somewhere.
The great thing about forums is that everyone can state their opinion. Since I have a dog who already has enough problems I think I will stick to the advice I know is solid. And like @Jax08, I don't purchase products from companies with questionable ethics. It tends to spread.

In the meantime I will do as advised and steer clear of potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas and lentils in the top ten.

Seeing as I dont live in Canada, It wouldn't be fair for me to rate foods that I dont have my dogs use or have regular access to. You seem offended that I offered an opinion on a few good foods. Me saying that vets are not experts in nutrition was not an opinion, its a fact. Also I based my reviews off of facts as well. I listed locations, talked about ingredients and analysis, recalls, etc. You seem very strongly opinionated, so maybe you could contribute to the post by naming foods without those 4 ingredients in the top ten that you know are available where you live for other members.

 

[Jax08]

And like @Jax08, I don't purchase products from companies with questionable ethics. It tends to spread.
n.

People have no idea the money, time and effort it takes to develop a product. It's why there are copyright, trademarks and patents. As a designer, it's infuriating to hear people blow off ethical issues like this. Whether it's Ozark trail copying the Yeti design before they were able to file the paperwork or SD copying Victor. It's stealing.

But to each their own...

 

[Beau's Mom]

@mmags , are you a nutritionist or food scientist? You write with an expert’s voice about your preferred foods.

 

[GypsyGhost]

The best food is the one that works well for your dog...

 

[mmags]

@mmags , are you a nutritionist or food scientist? You write with an expert’s voice about your preferred foods.

Please tell me how I talk with an experts voice? Any knowledge of ingredients can be obtained pretty easily through basic research. I gave some foods I think are good. I stated it was MY opinion and I laid out some facts. I am not forcing anyone to do anything. I agree that the best food is what your dog thrives on, all of my boys thrive on these so I thought I would share as maybe it could help someone else. It gets frustrating when there are highly touted brands that then come up with quality control issues or give dogs constant runny stools. Based on all of the posts I have seen on different feeds and people struggling to find a solid trustworthy brand to try, I thought this might be helpful. Instead, like other posts I have seen in my reluctance to actually start posting, a few members always come in to try and bully the poster when most of the time they were trying to help. A lot of snarky replies from people who don't actually offer any additional input.

 

[Sabis mom]

We have members who feed Purina, RC, Iams, Hill's whose dogs have done awesome so it truly does depend on the dog and the environment. I have friends who feed Ol' Roy and frozen whole fish to their dogs and they just lost their old girl at 15. I fed dozens and dozens of fosters and my dogs a combo diet of Pedigree and fresh food for years and lost one GSD at 13 and one at 14. I refuse to feed or recommend anything Blue makes but there are folks who swear by it.
I recently switched my problem child to Acana, a switch motivated purely by availability. She is going back on First Mate as soon as the bags arrive. Acana is a highly rated and recommended food. The Canadian food is manufactured here, not in the US. After a few months on it I have seen no positive changes and a few negative ones so together with First Mate's most excellent customer service we have devised a plan.
Since I am neither a vet nor a nutritionist I can only recommend based on personal experience and since I'm really not that smart folks should probably stick to experts.

 

[mmags]

We have members who feed Purina, RC, Iams, Hill's whose dogs have done awesome so it truly does depend on the dog and the environment. I have friends who feed Ol' Roy and frozen whole fish to their dogs and they just lost their old girl at 15. I fed dozens and dozens of fosters and my dogs a combo diet of Pedigree and fresh food for years and lost one GSD at 13 and one at 14. I refuse to feed or recommend anything Blue makes but there are folks who swear by it.
I recently switched my problem child to Acana, a switch motivated purely by availability. She is going back on First Mate as soon as the bags arrive. Acana is a highly rated and recommended food. The Canadian food is manufactured here, not in the US. After a few months on it I have seen no positive changes and a few negative ones so together with First Mate's most excellent customer service we have devised a plan.
Since I am neither a vet nor a nutritionist I can only recommend based on personal experience and since I'm really not that smart folks should probably stick to experts.

I agree with a lot of what you just said. Although I will say that some people misunderstand a dogs genetics and them doing well on a food. Some dogs are more resistant to diseases etc. so an unhealthy food might not affect them while a dog with a more compromised system absolutely could not handle a low quality food. Its not that a dog is doing well on the poor quality foods, its more so that the dog is genetically gifted and can handle a variety of foods without showing any negative signs. I would never recommend Blue for a variety of reasons. I too tried Acana with no luck, high volume of soft stools I suspect because of the massive amounts of peas and lentils in the food which Is also why I dont not like Orijen. If only they paired their meats with other sources of starch maybe it would be better.

 

[Thecowboysgirl]

I tried Victor because of things I read on here and I have good luck with it and it is very affordable. Almost nothing I buy for my dogs is affordable so I am grateful.

My old dog is thriving on a diet of Honest Kitchen Ziwipeak and weekly ice cream and french fries. She is almost 12 and still chases her brother up the mountain and would train daily if I had the time and energy

 

[Beau's Mom]

Oh, dear I meant no offense, sorry if I caused any. I only asked because I thought you might be, you spoke with such assurance about the nutritional quality of the foods, and their influence on “dogs’ stool”. Or maybe that you’d seen 10s or 100s of dogs on your recommended foods, in a vet or other dog practice, and those were the dogs who’d thrived on the foods you listed.

I didn’t realize your recommendations were based only on your experience with your own pet dogs, sorry! Thanks for the list! If I ever switch Beau off raw, I’ll probably try one of those foods first.

 

[mmags]

Oh, dear I meant no offense, sorry if I caused any. I only asked because I thought you might be, you spoke with such assurance about the nutritional quality of the foods, and their influence on “dogs’ stool”. Or maybe that you’d seen 10s or 100s of dogs on your recommended foods, in a vet or other dog practice, and those were the dogs who’d thrived on the foods you listed.

I didn’t realize your recommendations were based only on your experience with your own pet dogs, sorry! Thanks for the list! If I ever switch Beau off raw, I’ll probably try one of those foods first.

No worries, its hard to interpret exactly how someone is coming off strictly over text.

 

[Sabis mom]

I agree with a lot of what you just said. Although I will say that some people misunderstand a dogs genetics and them doing well on a food. Some dogs are more resistant to diseases etc. so an unhealthy food might not affect them while a dog with a more compromised system absolutely could not handle a low quality food. Its not that a dog is doing well on the poor quality foods, its more so that the dog is genetically gifted and can handle a variety of foods without showing any negative signs. I would never recommend Blue for a variety of reasons. I too tried Acana with no luck, high volume of soft stools I suspect because of the massive amounts of peas and lentils in the food which Is also why I dont not like Orijen. If only they paired their meats with other sources of starch maybe it would be better.

I have debated that the reason all my dogs were able to thrive on Pedigree was because less then 50% of their diet consisted of kibble, with the balance being berries, meat, eggs and veggies. The same reason my friends dogs are able to thrive on Ol'Roy, most of the diet is fish with the kibble used for bulk.

The Acana clearly isn't working for my current dog. It has done nothing to help with dry skin. her stools are well formed but huge and although I have to feed 1/3 more she is acting starved and not maintaining weight. BUT I know a lot of folks who's dogs have done amazing on it.

First Mate is a small Canadian company with an excellent quality control record and they have just released a "grain friendly" line which is what we are now trying. I have been feeding their grain free food for 7 years and I like it. Oddly outside of Canada it can be ordered on line and is actually easier to get. The retailers in Canada are very few and it is not available on line. Budget brands they also make Kasiks and Skoki though at a glance neither impress.

 

[mmags]

I have debated that the reason all my dogs were able to thrive on Pedigree was because less then 50% of their diet consisted of kibble, with the balance being berries, meat, eggs and veggies. The same reason my friends dogs are able to thrive on Ol'Roy, most of the diet is fish with the kibble used for bulk.

The Acana clearly isn't working for my current dog. It has done nothing to help with dry skin. her stools are well formed but huge and although I have to feed 1/3 more she is acting starved and not maintaining weight. BUT I know a lot of folks who's dogs have done amazing on it.

First Mate is a small Canadian company with an excellent quality control record and they have just released a "grain friendly" line which is what we are now trying. I have been feeding their grain free food for 7 years and I like it. Oddly outside of Canada it can be ordered on line and is actually easier to get. The retailers in Canada are very few and it is not available on line. Budget brands they also make Kasiks and Skoki though at a glance neither impress.

That makes sense. I hadn't heard of those Canadian brands before. I will check them out. It seems like quality control in Canada is less of a problem than in the US. I think some American manufacturers try and produce for too many different dog food brands and quality is lost.