DogAware.com: Diet Options for Dogs

 

I have gone here at times. Not that I believe everything is written in stone LOL!

Dog Food Reviews, Ratings and Comparisons

 

I don't think Dog Food Analysis is unbiased. Their rating system is pure ridiculous

You want to learn about dog food?....read posts on this site. We'll tell you exactly what the dog is doing on the food. We've fed it all!

 

Why do you think that?

 

I don't like DFA simply because it is too simplistic in its rankings.

Rating Taste of the Wild in the same class with Orijen and EVO is unfair in my opinion. (both 6 stars)

I'd also like to see more emphasis on faith and ethics of the manufacturer.

However, I will say this....it would be near impossible to devise a PERFECT system for rating foods. DFA does it about as best as you would be able to do.

And if someone picks anything on that site in the 4-6 star class, they are feeding a much better food than 9/10 owners.

 

if you look at taste of the wilds rating, they say that it is not a solid 6 stars contender and is one of the lower quality 6 star ones. then if you go to orijen regional red, hey say its got one of the highest meat contents available. i like DFA they are very explanatory for each specific one of their foods they got.

 

Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings

they use protein, fat and carb metres for each food, and also flag controversial ingredients... a nice change from dog food analysis.

 

I do like this rating system, better than DFA.

 

I would never put much credence into a site which does not fully explain their whys and wherefores. And, too, WHO is this site? Are they canine nutritionists or just some schmo with his opinions? Learning about ingredients, nutritional analysis, and studying the companies/ manufacturers ( do they own their own plant? if not, who makes their food? how long in business? where are their ingredients sourced from? what is their recall history? etc) are all things that would play into whether I would be interested in a particular food. And then, of course, the very most important.... does my dog (s) do well on this food? Everything can look great on paper, but if your dog doesn't do well on it.... GI upsets, allergy issues, dull dry coat, etc. it's a no-go.

FWIW, I like this site as it does have an educational bent... not just some random ranking based on personal bias. DogAware.com: Commercial Dog Foods

 

TOTW is a Diamond product and as such has ethoxyquin in any fish meal ingredient. That for me is enough to put it in the NO bucket.

 

ive read people
's emails(posted on forums) that TOTW as tested just as low as orijen for ethoxyquin. ive also read it is cooked out during the extrusion (cooking) process. im assuming all kibbles with ethoxyquin are just cooked out...im not sure why ethoxyquin is illegal in human if this is true so maybe im wrong?

 

In looking at DFR, am I missing something???? Does he not have the nutritional analysis available? And he only profiles one variety of a brand? They can vary considerably. Personally, I want to see the nutritional and guaranteed analysis. The cahos ratio is very important for our autoimmune compromised springer who is an AIHA survivor. There is much more info by visiting the companies' websites. Also, he is a DENTIST..... just who I want my dog food consultation from! lol

 

That is the rhetoric from some. However, there are quality foods out there without ethoxyquin.... they either use whole fish (not meal) or are preserved with Nature Ox ( a natural preservative). Most quality foods not using ethoxyquin state so on their site, and also state that their suppliers do not use it either ( a big loophole, since if suppliers use it, it does not have to be disclosed).

Very important, neither Orijen or Acana use ethoxyquin. See their site here:Champion Petfoods | F.A.Q

 

How is Acana Grain Free a 5 star and Canine Caviar a 3 star!!!!!!

DFA is the most messed up grading system in all of the dog world.


I whole heartedly agree with Penny and Maggies Mom.


Can DFA decipher a Nutrtion Analysis?



Lastly, as everyone seems to be talking about TOTW. Yes, DFA says it's barely a 6 star because it's grain free. I'd just like to point out that at 360 to 375 calories per cup, (depending on the formula) not only is it missing grain, but it's missing meat!

If they rank Acana Grain Free a 5 star, then based on DFA's pethetic "rating" scale, TOTW would be a 4 star at best.

 

well if its baked out i dont see the problem. ive read that all foods use a little bit. ive read orijen has lie .00001 or something in it, so its not 0... and TOTW has liek .00005 or something.(just making up numbers but iread something similar)

salty dog, i think for the most part DFA is accurate, however....i think they have canidae grain free and TOTW mixed up. they rate canidae grai nfree as one of the highest quality 5 star foods, yet TOTW which is a lesser food IMO is a low quality 6 star.
i think acana grain free is a little higher quality than TOTW also and that's 5 stars.

id give canine caviar atleast 4 stars.

 

All foods do NOT use it. Read the orijen/ acana link I posted above. Also, all natura products are E free, as are fromm products. And remember, it is ONLY used to preserve fish MEAL (not whole fish) so if a food does not contain some kind of fish meal, it is E free no matter who the manufacturer is.

Also, I have never seen scientific evidence of it being cooked out. If you have, please post a link.

 

ive stated this countless times on another forum:

dogfoodanalysis is primarily a tool that is good for looking at many different foods and their ingredients and profiles all in one handy location. beyond that, i think it is incumbent on a consumer to further research their food choices via other sources. DFA is certainly not the bible of dog food quality evaluation that many think it is. the rankings are inconsistent at best. are most of the better foods in the 4,5,6 star category? id say in general, most of them are, but that is a pretty broad range.

as far as canine caviar, i have emailed them to ask what percentage of their final product is meat content. they have responded with the old standy "proprietary information." i can get this information from Natura or Champion. i believe a high meat content is important. i dont expect it to be very high at 26% protein for the CC. my own personal ranking would probably put CC at 4 stars. i definitely think it is justifiable to have some of the grainless foods with high meat content rated very high, while others (TOTW, for example) should not be quite as high.

 

First, I love your first paragraph. DFA is not the gosple of dog foods, and your right, it's place to check out every kibble on the market today. Just don't get sucked into their rating system.

As far as Canine Caviar goes. I'll say this about it. It's the only kibble on the market that doesn't use rendered meat meals...Chicken, Venison or Lamb is trully the first ingredient since it is already in dehydrated form...it's a high energy, highly digestible food. I think CC is pretty good stuff.

If TOTW is a 6 star, then so is Canine Caviar Venison Split Pea formula, which is their grain-less food.

I do agree with you buddy, what is the meat content in Canine Caviar? BUT, look at the calorie levels in this food. AMAZING!!! Their isn't a kibble on the market with more energy. Not even Evo.

 

High five, low six, what does it matter?
The rating system IS in fact biased because NEARLY every grain free food makes it into the six star category without considering other factors.

Reliability of companies aren't even considered AT ALL.
Recall histories aren't posted, and they should be. How DARE DFA preach the wonders of Diamond products without warning of the dangers.
Carbohydrate content isn't considered other than the foods that advertise low carbs, then it might be pointed out. Grain free doesn't necessarily mean low carb!
A food like TOTW in my opinion can not even touch the ranks of Evo or Orijen, and to put them at the same "ranking" is incredibly misleading to someone less educated who follows DFA blindly assuming it's all accurate. Personally, I think that Evo and Orijen nearly deserve their own category on the matter, not just for ingredients, but for being the best ingredients, from the best companies.

I think that grain-inclusive foods and grain-free foods need their own categories as well. Not all dogs can handle the rich grain free foods, and I think it's a bit unfair to assume they can.

 

Excellant response

Readers take note!

 

For the most part, I agree with everyone's posts.

I will say this though...I have the exact same issues as everyone with DFA. However, I do believe we are being a bit hard on the site. Overall, I would say DFA certainly does more good on the subject than bad. They got me to start looking at better foods, so I know they serve a purpose.

Like I said, I think it's very fair to direct someone at the START of their "better food" search to DFA...tell them to look at 4-6 star foods and go deeper from there.

--OR-- make it easy on them and just tell them to buy Orijen, Acana, or EVO :wink:.........or if they are financially strapped, tell them to buy Healthwise.

See, you don't even need a mega supersite for that :wink:

 

I have mixed feelings about TOTW, for example a lot of dogs have allergies, especially to grain and chicken. Most grain free, chicken free formulas are very expensive, at least $65 for a large bag, usually more. For someone who is on a tight budget and/or has multiple dogs, feeding high end food is simply not an option. Should they feed their dogs something from reputable company and let them be itchy and miserable, or try Totw pacific stream which could be a potential life saver for the dogs.
My friends have couple goldens, one is 90 lbs and the other one is 80, they obviously should have anticipated the food expense before getting them, but one dog has allergies and bad tear stains. They are both extremely picky and would rather starve then eat anything with grains in it. They used to feed canidae, but they had to mix in sardines with it every time to get the dogs to eat. Then they switched to Innova, but the dogs wouldnt touch it.
I got them few samples of TOtw which I thought would help with tear stains.

They absolutely love the taste, their coats look amazing and they have a lot of energy and as I suspected the tear stains have dissapeared, plus no more itching. And for the owners, its something that they can afford to feed without breaking the bank.
So I personally dont have an issue with reccomending this brand to dogs with allergies and people who cannot afford to spend $70 for a bag of food.

 

I have mixed feelings about TOTW, for example a lot of dogs have allergies, especially to grain and chicken. Most grain free, chicken free formulas are very expensive, at least $65 for a large bag, usually more.

:biggrin:just called my feed store. they dont susually stock evo herring, but they said if i want they will order me some. they said it will cost 59.99 for the big bag. they have the best price!:biggrin:

oh and they started stocking orijen red.(15 pounds)

 

Thats a pretty good price, the lowest I found here is $64 for the big bag.

 

idk how she figured outt he price of it if she doesnt even sell it? she said she looked it up o ntheir site..but dont they have to come up with a price that will make them profits? they sell the red meat for 57.99, im assuming that price took thought. do they just sell it for the price they buy it from natura from? they wouldnt make profit then? or did they just look it up and figure out a price and just call me back?

either way i was SHOCKED when i heard that price it is so low. i was so impressed lol.

 

p and g bpought them out so now idk what to do....
maybe ill request themto order 28 pounds of orijen red.

 

There may be nothing wrong with Evangers food, but lately, they have some pretty shady business practices. At what point will the food suffer?


I've fed Evangers many times before over the years.....this past January, using their game meats, my dogs became ill. Stopped using Evangers, dogs got better. Coincidence? I dunno, but we don't use Evangers anymore.


I got sick once when I was a teen. I ate cottage cheese and chewy Christmas mints not long before I got sick. I don't eat cottage cheese or chewy Christmas mints any longer :wink:

 

If it works for you, great, and hopefully your dogs will thrive on it, bacause when it's fine it's the best canned meat foods available, but I just can't deal with the shadiness of this Co. I've never heard of anyone having their dogs get so sick they have to stay overnight or longer in a hospital from Evo (so far god knows what will happen in the future with P&G), Evo, or Horizon Legacy which I feed and only feed my dog, along with Trippet.

Also I found many of the reviews there to be idiotic. Many complained of soft stools and others would comment to them things like Evo or Orijen should be fed to only active large dogs that small dogs can't handle high protein foods.

 

Dogfoodanalysis is about the worst place you can go to for info. They rate any food that is “grain free” at the top, regardless of anything else. They knock foods that they don't like for using tomato pomace, calling it a “filler,” and don't say anything about it in foods that they like (most of the higher quality foods contain tomato pomace). They knock the foods that they don't like for "splitting" and don't say anything about it in foods that they like. They knock some foods for being "grain heavy" and don't say anything about others than have more grain (in number and total carbohydrate) and they rate it higher. They knock one food for using avocado and don't say anything about it in another. They say that grains are not a "natural" part of a dog's diet and don't say anything about many other ingredients that are no more "natural." Did you ever see a dog digging white potatoes, the carbohydrate used in “grain free.” Potatoes are higher on the glycemic index and lower on the digestibility scale than the better grains. In one review they say that they are confident of the meat content in this product and in the next paragraph they say they have some lingering doubts about the meat content. They use the phrase "lack of any low quality or controversial ingredients is the reason this food is placed in a class above the more conventional form dry dog foods” for foods that have several ingredients that they call low quality and controversial in other foods. They make assumptions about the quantity of meat in some foods according to the number of meat sources listed, which cannot be done. They don't tell who does the reviews or what their qualifications are while criticizing food companies for not releasing information. I suppose it is a good place to go to find the ingredient lists for most of the foods in one place - except that many are outdated. I suppose all in all it probably does more good than harm by keeping people from using the worst products. They knock one food for containing black malted molasses and it doesn't even have it. Its black malted barley. All in all, not the best place to get information.

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No Such URL

 

ORIJEN DOG FOOD

Look at the comments at the bottom.

Tania Cummings Says:
7. March 2010 at 7:47 pm

I know for a fact they use render produced in the USA in their cat kibble. I’ve seen the documents released under the Australian Freedom of Information Act when I was researching the issue of the irradiated Orijen that paralysed my cat and 99 others, 30 of whom died. Can’t comment for certain on the dog food but worth checking the facts before claiming that “None of the ingredients of Orijen brand dog food formulas are obtained or produced in a facility other than their manufacturing plant in Alberta.”

Anyone heard of this?

 

ORIJEN DOG FOOD

Look at the comments at the bottom.




Anyone heard of this?

this person does have an ax to grind with orijen if one of her cats was adversely affected by the irridation of orijen cat food by the australian govt. im not familiar enough with all the details to say if the australain govt or champion is more culpable in the whole situation.

ive started looking through some of those documents she linked in that thread. it would be concerning if champion is sourcing outside canada for cat food ingredients when their website says:

"Made with the highest inclusions of free-run chicken & turkey, whole eggs, and wild-caught freshwater & saltwater fish—all farmed or fished within our region and delivered FRESH (never frozen) each day"

...id would not consider meat sourced in the usa (if this is true) to be "within their region."

 

^^^ Wow, quite the email from Champion Pet Foods.

With the never ending change over in ingredients and pet food companies, I'm currently working on getting out of feeding kibble, as I'm sure many others on this site have been looking at.

I would like to point out one kibble food though, Canine Caviar, does not use rendered meat meals, but is produced in an outsourcing factory, Ohio Pet Foods. Their claim to fame? It is the only raw food in kibble form.

 

^^^ Wow, quite the email from Champion Pet Foods.

With the never ending change over in ingredients and pet food companies, I'm currently working on getting out of feeding kibble, as I'm sure many others on this site have been looking at.

I would like to point out one kibble food though, Canine Caviar, does not use rendered meat meals, but is produced in an outsourcing factory, Ohio Pet Foods. Their claim to fame? It is the only raw food in kibble form.

Sounds like an oxymoron to me.