Of all the common pet foods, which is the best? I am using Science Diet because my vet sells it, but I am open to change…
Well, that’s a loaded question. There are just as many answers as there are dogs who eat!
Depending on your particular dog’s breed, age, health issues, etc. there may be a number of different foods you may want to look at. However, one way to start is to educate yourself on what a dog’s nutrient needs are, and what really is in commercial dog food.
Excellent sources of information: The Whole Dog Journal reviews the best dog foods available once a year. As this magazine doesn’t take advertisements, they offer a totally unbiased view, based on nutritional needs. here’s their web site: http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/ — even if you are not a subscriber, you can purchase back issues or even single articles — check out their reviews; as well, they also tell you just what to look for in a quality food.
Another good site is the Dog Food Project: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
You will find a lot of really good information there on nutritional needs; they also have ingredient listings of all of the available dog foods.
Generally, however, you want to look for a food with the least amount of additives and preservatives; one with real meat within the first two ingredients, and without corn. Dogs can’t metabolize corn well — manufacturers use it because it’s cheap and filling. However, it goes right through them, usually, and they can’t absorb any nutrients from it. That’s why you will notice that instructions on dog food with corn in it recommend feeding far more of it than dog foods without corn.
A higher quality food may cost more in the beginning, but your dog will eat a lot less of it, because it’s more biologically available to them.
Brian,
This is extremely helpful information. I agree that Whole Dog Journal is a great source of rational, unbiased evaluations. And, there is so much misinformation out there about dog foods.
Recently, I was trying to learn more about the FlexPetz organization, because of my concern about pet rental companies trying to come to MA. On the FlexPetz website, they state that they feed their dogs a food called “KUMPI dog food, considered the best in the world” according to their quote. I had never heard of it so I followed up a bit. On the KUMPI website, they imply that real meat is inferior because its weight includes its water content (they disparage real meat as “liquid meat”). They cite “comparisons” giving some very excellent foods (e.g. Innova) very low “scores”, relative to Kumpi’s, because they have this “liquid meat” instead of meat meal (which is not necessarily a bad ingredient, according to WDJ). They say that they object to “liquid meat” because it has less protein per weight than meat meal. Well, no kidding — it does have water weight included but what matters more is how much meat is actually in the food! And, indeed, in KUMPI’s own comparison figures, some of the excellent foods to which they gave low “scores” actually had higher protein contents than KUMPI despite containing the so-called “liquid meat”. They don’t happen to remark on that! Then, as if that’s not misleading enough, the website brags about the corn that’s the first listed ingredient in KUMPI because it is not genetically modified! As Brian said, corn is a cheap filler; there’s no other reason than that to have it in a dog food. The KUMPI marketing people are just playing with words to try to convince consumers that they’re the “best in the world”.
Anyway, I guess my point is beware of the marketing and do your own homework, using unbiased sources such as those Brian quoted, to educate yourself. The good news is that, presumably because pet owners have demanded it, there are now many excellent foods available with high quality ingredients.
Sue