Trader Joe's Canned Food

[Breanna]

The breeder gave me some canned food from Costco when I first got Crush. I added it to her food sometimes just for an extra treat. The breeder raved about the ratings that it had which I confirmed when I did an online search. The canned food looked pretty wholesome, too. 

I do most of my grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and picked up a canned dog food when I got home. I  didn't know about the quality so I figured I would research it when I got home. The internet didn't bring up a lot of information on the quality other than it contains soy which dogs are sometimes allergic to. I opened up the can to check it out and it looked horrible. There was a gelatin-like layer on the top that didn't sit well with me. Crush was in the kitchen and was very interested in what I had so I gave her a tiny taste and threw out the rest. If I ever buy canned food to add to Crush's kibble, I'm going to costco from now on. However, when I want to add things to her food I usually just toss in some dog-approved vegetables or pumpkin puree. 

Just thought I'd let you all know. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Costco has treats that are sourced from China and I wouldn't trust their canned dog food unless it was thoroughly checked out. The Chinese sourced treats killed and sickened many dogs. There is no need to give canned food and vegetables and even your own meat or chicken are much better treats.

[Breanna]

She did warn me about the treats and I didn't really trust any brand of dog treats so I just make my own (it's less expensive too). 

Aren't there health benefits to adding "real" food to their kibble, like meat and veggies? 

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/kirkland-canned-dog-...

This is the review I read of the costco food. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Karen will tell you that DFA doesn't take into account the sourcing of ingredients.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

GMTA! 

[F, Calla & Luca]

: )

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The reviews don't take sourcing into account. I do not recommend any Kirkland products, Kirkland is owned (not just made, but owned) by Diamond, which is not a good thing. 

Canned food is not "real" food any more than kibble is. Although there is no documentation of any health benefits from adding fresh foods to a dog's diet, I believe that it is a good thing for dogs to get fresh food in their diet and not exist on 100% dry kibble. However, you don't need canned food for that, it's not fresh food anyway. Just about any animal protein or vegetable that your family is having for dinner would be fine for your dog, too. Just remove visible fat and wash or trim away any added salt, seasonings, or butter. You can even set aside a teeny bit of your dinner meats or veggies for the dog ahead of time. When JD did not need a restricted diet, I did that just about every night. 

[Breanna]

When I cook I just try to remember to set aside some things to leave the seasoning off of. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep, that's the best way to do it. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Karen, Kirkland is a house brand for Costco and cover many things from coffee to tissues. So how can Diamond own it?
And my doodles do often get a spoonful of my food.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's what is known in the retail business as "private label". Here's how it works. I own a company that makes soap. I make soap for different stores and businesses, and put their label on the packages, but I own the company that makes the soap, and I do the purchasing and formulating. The soap I sell to F's Emporium is the same soap as the soap I sell to Calla's Beauty Salon, just a different label. This is different from a dog food company that contracts with a plant for just the manufacturing portion of the product, but controls and supplies the recipes, sourcing, etc.

All of the products that bear the Kirkland label are manufactured by someone else who owns the company that makes that product. I should have said that Kirkland Dog Food is owned by Diamond.  

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am very familiar with this private labeling. I never thought my grocery store made all those products either. But still, after seeing that very interesting Costco program on CNBC I know Costco has a lot on influence on their partner manufacturers and I wonder how much they specify for the dog food. They showed how stringent Costco is about testing Kirkland toilet paper. Clearly the don't source ingredients from China hasn't gotten through to them.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46603589

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I hadn't seen this show, but I'm going to watch it. 

It's really difficult to determine which foods are actually owned by Diamond and which are only manufactured under contract, and this lack of transparency is part of the reason I don't trust the Kirkland food. It took me the better part of 4 months to get confirmation that TOTW is indeed owned by Diamond. I'd always rather err on the side of caution, especially with a company that has the recall history Diamond has.