how to grade your dog food...

[jimlovestrout]

To grade your dog's food, start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points

2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points

3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points

4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source,subtract 5 points

5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer's rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points

6) If the prote in sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, su btract 3 points

7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points

8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3points

9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 morepoints

10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil,subtract 2 points

11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points

12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points

13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points

14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to beef ), subtract 1 point

15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points

2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points

3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points

4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points

5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points

6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points

7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points

8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points

9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points

10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 po int

11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point

12 ) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point

13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point

14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

94-100+ = A

86-93 = B

78-85 = C

70-77 = D

69 = F

Here are some foods that have already been scored:

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+

Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F

Canidae / Score 112 A+

Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+

Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F

Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 9 2 B

Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+

Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+

Foundations / Score 106 A+

Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 A

Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D

Innova Dog / Score 114 A+

Innova Evo / Score 114 A+

Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+

Life's Abundance is 120

Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B

Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B

Nutro Ultra Adult and it scores 98.

Nutros Chicken and Oatmeal 98

PetChef fish & potato 106

Pet Chef maintenance adult 93...contains corn

Pet Chef Lamb & rice 96

Pet Chef Chicken & Rice 101

Pet Chef Sensitive 106

Pet Chef Lean 97

Pet Chef Puppy 95...contains corn.

Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F

ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+

Purina Benful / Score 17 F

Purina Dog / Score 62 F

Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F

Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+

Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+

Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A

Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F

Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F

Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+

Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 (Contact Us Please)

[Surface Tension]

I didn't see WallMart brand in there.

I put a Lab down two years ago at age 16, she hunted grouse and pheasants up to age 14. My current Lab is 15 and she hunted grouse and pheasants last year, she won't this year on account of an arthritic knee.

Never over weight, no digestive problems, intelligent, and performance in the field was great. Both dogs ate WallMart food all their lives. At home or on a trip, neither dog was a fussy eater, the food was gone in 2 minutes. I felt guilty once(yes I got tricked by marketing)for buying the WallMart brand and bought a bag of "premium" food. Both dogs were at their optimal weight as usual but dropped weight on the "good stuff". I didn't bred either dog so can't say whether of not you might get a puppy with two tails by feeding a dog the "cheap stuff".

My next Lab will eat the same "junk food" from WallMart.

So since its not on the list I'll give it a rating of 100+.

[metrojoe]

What and who is the source for all this info?

[tealitup]

Yes, I always thought Science Diet was a good source of dog food. That is what I am feeding my puppy.

[jimlovestrout]

Quote:

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What and who is the source for all this info?

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My girl friend rescue's golden's and the group she is in is RAGOM (retrieve a golden of Minnesota) and got this from one of them... SORRY about opening this can of worms I guess that way some dogs lick there butt's to get the taste from the dog food out of their mouths

[Jameson]

search for thread "What do you all feed your dog?"

It's been hashed over before.