Commercial Foods-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Tell us what commercial foods have worked for you and which have caused problems; information, questions, warnings and advice on dog food companies, ingredients, brands, and switching foods.
(Recall information now in it's own discussion here in The Food Group)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We all did; but now we know better. That's the main thing. There's a saying "When you know better, you do better." And we are.

[Loreta Janca]

Fromm is a great choice. Just remember that bone meal is not in the same class as chicken meal, lamb meal, etc. Bone meal is obviously a bad thing. Those other meals are actually better than the actual chicken or lamb, etc as an ingredient in the food. It means the water has been removed, so there is actually more of the actual meat in the food, than if its the meat alone. I hear people say to stay away from say, chicken meal, but it is actually your best ingredient in a kibble that contains meat. Not bone meal, or meat meal, but chicken meal, lamb meal, salmon meal, etc.
Fromm has great flavors and we switch Rusty's flavor every bag. Now he's eating duck and sweet potatoe. Mix a little canned pumpkin in there and yummm!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Why do you say Bone Meal is bad? Bone meal is ground up bones which is high in calcium and are part of a natural dogs diet. Bone meal is a natural calcium source for carnivores and provides many trace minerals. Powdered BM is sold in health food stores for supplementation. It also contains phosphorus and is an excellent choice if you are feeding a homecooked diet. Only feeding raw bones gives the alternative.Dogs with hip or bone problems are recommended to get BM into their diets, especially for large breed dogs.

I don't know why you believe it is bad but Dr. Pitcairn recommends it as part of a homecooked, real meat diet which is better than any bag or can on the market.

[Loreta Janca]

True, I miss spoke about the bone meal. I know the meat meal is not good, or so I've heard, but you are right about bones. I'll have to do some more research on bone meal. You don't see it too often in kibble, so I'm not as familiar with it as some other ingredients.
I've also heard that egg shells are a good source of calcium. That's why I love this group. You learn something new every day, and learn when you might not be correct :). I apologize.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Don't apologize! We are all learning together. :-D

[fergie11]

My breeder uses Nutural Abundance and recommends it. You have to mail order it and in today's economy I'm not doing that. I'm not paying shipping on 40# of dog food. I did buy it though to mix and change to another. I got Fergie off of it pretty fast. For some reason I decided it must be good so ordered a big bag for Lucy. Fergie's stool just would not firm up. Very pudding like. My local co-op carries Exclusive as their premium dog food and my vet suggested lamb and rice - easier on tummy. I switched her this week to this and she's doing very good. She likes it but she is a pig - she'd eat anything. But her stool is much better and she slept through the night all the way until 6:30 this morning. I checked out Exclusive and found a lot of positives on the net. The problem their were some bad reviews. The commercial dog food thing is so very confusing - Everybody is very sure of themselves about this. I guess I just want to know if anyone has heard anything really bad about this food? I know it's not the top top of the line but I can't spend that much on their food. I do make all their treats so I know what's in those. In fact - it's raining outside - I think I'll go make some now. So fun.
I love my doodles. Yep, I do need to "get a life" as they say.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Cathy, here's a link to the company's website, it will open to the ingredients page for the lamb & rice formula:

http://www.pminutrition.com/exclusive_blue.html

The ingredients look okay to me, but I have been emailing the companies who make Jack's foods and asking a few questions, just to be sure. Since this food contains fish meal, I would ask if they use ethoxyquin, which is used as a preservative in foods that contain fish, and is a known cancer-causing agent. While you're writing, ask if they use any ingredients imported from China, and if they are in any way associated with Menu Foods.
If they answer those questions satisfactorily, I'd say you're good to go!
Yes, the Commercial Dog Food thing is very confusing, and I don't think many of us are very sure of ourselves, lol. But I do think I know a lot more about it than I did before we started this group. Let us know what you find out about the Exclusive food.

[Kyoko]

I have been using Salmon variety of "Fromm" and "HALO", dog food. After I read your comment, I e~mailed "Fromm" and asked about ethoxyquin, and this is what they said.

Dear Kyoko,

Thank you for your email and inquiry to Fromm Family Pet Foods.
All of our ingredients and final products are free from artificial and industrial preservatives.
Additionally we pay more for our fish, whitefish, and salmon to not be treated or preserved with ethoxyquin.
Please let us know if you have any further questions.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Excellent! I knew this, but it's nice to have it here in writing. Thanks, Kyoko!

[fergie11]

Taste of the Wild - I'm really leaning to going to that kind of food. I see a lot of people using it. $44.00 for the big bag. How bad/good is that compaired to others? How long would a bag of that last for two 50# dogs. We've lost three dogs this week in our neighborhood. 2 of which should not have happened. Both mixed breeds and really should be very healthy dogs. Both died of Kidney problems. sad. I'm rethinking my thoughts about food. Is there any reason I shouldn't go with Taste of the Wild. What does concern me is the high protein and fat content. My puppy has a problem with soft stools - will the high fat be too much? I'm trying to find out everything I can about this food and I want anyone to tell any of the negatives. I can't seem to find any.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm at work, so I can't do much research as to the fat content until later, but I know that TOTW is very highly recommended by some of the people whose opinions I respect. As you may know, Lynne's standard poodle Magic was one of the dogs who died from the food recalls, so you can bet your life she is very very careful about what she feeds her dogs. She mainly home-cooks for them, but she does free-feed with kibble during the day, and TOTW is one of the few brands she uses. I'd call that a very good recommendation.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Like humans you may want to bear in mind it is not just the fat content but what type of fat ~ you know the good fat, bad fat thing. I too am at work presently and cannot get into a ton of the breakdown but would be happy to pop back in tonight if you are still looking. Though many prefer a grain free diet, some are on one for specific issues they are seeking to control or avoid. Is this the case with your situation, are there any special needs?

The protein issue is very similar, one cannot just look at the % as there is so much more that is underlying that would really be the issue with high protein. Some foods contain for example lamb meal that is only comprised of meaty parts, no bones ~ at one time I explained that with much more detail here and I will look for that later as well, but basically the cliff notes are generally meal, for simplicity we can say lamb again, would be the entire incinerated animal. While this does raise the protein level there are adjustments to the calcium, phosphorus and ash that can be taxing on the kidneys. With a high protein diet it is highly advisable to have an abundant supply of water available as well.

I do not think that the TOTW comes in a 50 lb bag, I think most are around 30 now.