Comments on: Rate Your Dog Food. Does Your Brand Get an A or an F? http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/ One Writer Mom. One Teen Kid. One Brilliant Australian Shepherd. One Comical Border Collie Mix. One Dog in a Maine Coon Cat's Body. And Latest to the Party -- One Cuddly Cavalier. Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:52:35 -0600 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: 5 Common Mistakes People Make with Dogs | Author Mom with Dogs http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-135634 5 Common Mistakes People Make with Dogs | Author Mom with Dogs Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:20:51 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-135634 [...] each day, until you’ve fully switched out the old brand with the new. (Click to learn which dog food brands get the highest ratings.) Bottom line: If you’re traveling with or kenneling your dog, make sure you bring along his [...] [...] each day, until you’ve fully switched out the old brand with the new. (Click to learn which dog food brands get the highest ratings.) Bottom line: If you’re traveling with or kenneling your dog, make sure you bring along his [...]

]]> By: Karen http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-115320 Karen Sat, 02 May 2009 02:42:30 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-115320 We also use Wellness along with some raw feeding. No doubt about it in my mind either that nutrition makes a huge difference. We also use Wellness along with some raw feeding. No doubt about it in my mind either that nutrition makes a huge difference.

]]> By: Katy http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-115319 Katy Sat, 02 May 2009 02:36:42 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-115319 We use Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken for our two 3-year-old dogs. A year and a half ago we took on our friend's dog, a yellow lab/pit bull mix. He was being fed el cheapo dry dog food before he came to us. Within 3 months he lost the fatty folds and layers and his coat became much softer, too. Not only that, he is much more alert, no longer lethargic, and we realize he is a much smarter dog than he seemed when we adopted him. Nutrition definitely makes a huge difference. We use Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken for our two 3-year-old dogs. A year and a half ago we took on our friend’s dog, a yellow lab/pit bull mix. He was being fed el cheapo dry dog food before he came to us. Within 3 months he lost the fatty folds and layers and his coat became much softer, too. Not only that, he is much more alert, no longer lethargic, and we realize he is a much smarter dog than he seemed when we adopted him. Nutrition definitely makes a huge difference.

]]> By: Anne http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-109959 Anne Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:14:49 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-109959 Yay! Madison's dinner gets an A+ - we do a mix of Canidae and Wellness Super5 Chicken. She is a nibbler, and needing to keep her weight up (a growing, very active Giant) so we sprinkle with a few tablespoons of Wolfgang Puck's Organic Free-range Chicken Stock. That can't hurt, right? She loves it. <abbr><em>Anne’s last blog post..<a href="http://withlovemadison.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-kind-of-dog-are-you.html" rel="nofollow">What kind of dog are you?</a></em></abbr> Yay! Madison’s dinner gets an A+ – we do a mix of Canidae and Wellness Super5 Chicken. She is a nibbler, and needing to keep her weight up (a growing, very active Giant) so we sprinkle with a few tablespoons of Wolfgang Puck’s Organic Free-range Chicken Stock. That can’t hurt, right? She loves it.

Anne’s last blog post..What kind of dog are you?

]]> By: Karen http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-109511 Karen Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:55:01 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-109511 Lynn, I believe it would. The idea is to look for protein as the main ingredient, and stay away from by-products and fillers. Lynn, I believe it would. The idea is to look for protein as the main ingredient, and stay away from by-products and fillers.

]]> By: Lynn Sinclair http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-109479 Lynn Sinclair Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:21:04 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-109479 Do you think that grading system applies to cat food? <abbr><em>Lynn Sinclair’s last blog post..<a href="http://animalovation.blogspot.com/2009/03/gone-fishing.html" rel="nofollow">Gone Fishing</a></em></abbr> Do you think that grading system applies to cat food?

Lynn Sinclair’s last blog post..Gone Fishing

]]> By: Life With Dogs http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-108619 Life With Dogs Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:27:40 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-108619 That would be *spooked ;) <abbr><em>Life With Dogs’s last blog post..<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NigelSolaCo/~3/LRgSM8IjFms/no-parking.html" rel="nofollow">No Parking</a></em></abbr> That would be *spooked ;)

Life With Dogs’s last blog post..No Parking

]]> By: Life With Dogs http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-108618 Life With Dogs Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:26:47 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-108618 I was sppoked when I saw this, but our food gets a great score. Terrific post, people need to know what they are feeding... <abbr><em>Life With Dogs’s last blog post..<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NigelSolaCo/~3/LRgSM8IjFms/no-parking.html" rel="nofollow">No Parking</a></em></abbr> I was sppoked when I saw this, but our food gets a great score.

Terrific post, people need to know what they are feeding…

Life With Dogs’s last blog post..No Parking

]]> By: Karen http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-108528 Karen Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:54:04 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-108528 Lori, Thanks for the great information and links. I hear you on not wanting to add more... anything, until your pack gets a few years on them. I'm finally able to sit back and relax a little with the nice age spread my guys have. Kiera - 9, Graidy - 6, Finn - 3, and Wink who's almost 1 already. Though, I gotta say I'm a little jealous of the Shetland sheep. I can keep dreaming though. Thanks for stopping by. Lori,
Thanks for the great information and links. I hear you on not wanting to add more… anything, until your pack gets a few years on them. I’m finally able to sit back and relax a little with the nice age spread my guys have. Kiera – 9, Graidy – 6, Finn – 3, and Wink who’s almost 1 already. Though, I gotta say I’m a little jealous of the Shetland sheep. I can keep dreaming though. Thanks for stopping by.

]]> By: LoriA http://karenshanley.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-grade-your-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-108527 LoriA Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:45:48 +0000 http://karenshanley.com/blog/?p=1402#comment-108527 Interesting article. I highly recommend the site http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ Incredibly comprehensive, frequently updated, quite thoroughly checked. Uses a system of 6 stars , 5 stars, 4 stars, etc. For each kibble, all ingredients are listed, and most are reviewed (the easier part, just scroll down). The scoring system is explained thoroughly, as are good additives, noxious additives, and things which could contribute to bloat. A great source is "So You Are Confused By Dog Food," http://www.dogster.com/forums/Food_and_Nutrition/thread/518898 This is a thread found on the Food and Nutrition Forum at Dogster: http://www.dogster.com/ You can read, post, or ask questions as an Anonymous Guest or join Dogster for free. I have found members of this Forum to be extremely helpful & friendly. They answered my questions about my brother's overweight dog (who was on Beneful, ick!), appropriate amounts of protein for my 2 adult dogs, and considerations for feeding my puppy. There is information on how to feed better foods that are not terribly expensive, once you take in consideration that your dogs will eat less of a higher quality food. For the truly geeky, you can even calculate the kcal required. There are also fora for home-prepared food and recipes and raw food diets, as well as fun stuff. I even ended up providing food for some friends dogs who didn't feel it was worth it (fortunately they were small breeds!). I'm happy to have found your blog. I, too, have 3 dogs (a male 3-year-old Golden, a male 2-year-old Lab mix, an 8-month-old blue-eyed female English Setter/English Pointer/whatsit mix) & a doggish Maine Coon mix. Plus a bunch of Shetland sheep. Strange that I don't have a herding dog, huh? But I don't think I'm up to the training & job requirements of such a dog. In fact, another dog or another cat would be too much until this pack is a little more mature! Interesting article. I highly recommend the site
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
Incredibly comprehensive, frequently updated, quite thoroughly checked. Uses a system of 6 stars , 5 stars, 4 stars, etc. For each kibble, all ingredients are listed, and most are reviewed (the easier part, just scroll down). The scoring system is explained thoroughly, as are good additives, noxious additives, and things which could contribute to bloat.

A great source is “So You Are Confused By Dog Food,”
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Food_and_Nutrition/thread/518898
This is a thread found on the Food and Nutrition Forum at Dogster: http://www.dogster.com/
You can read, post, or ask questions as an Anonymous Guest or join Dogster for free. I have found members of this Forum to be extremely helpful & friendly. They answered my questions about my brother’s overweight dog (who was on Beneful, ick!), appropriate amounts of protein for my 2 adult dogs, and considerations for feeding my puppy. There is information on how to feed better foods that are not terribly expensive, once you take in consideration that your dogs will eat less of a higher quality food. For the truly geeky, you can even calculate the kcal required. There are also fora for home-prepared food and recipes and raw food diets, as well as fun stuff. I even ended up providing food for some friends dogs who didn’t feel it was worth it (fortunately they were small breeds!).

I’m happy to have found your blog. I, too, have 3 dogs (a male 3-year-old Golden, a male 2-year-old Lab mix, an 8-month-old blue-eyed female English Setter/English Pointer/whatsit mix) & a doggish Maine Coon mix. Plus a bunch of Shetland sheep. Strange that I don’t have a herding dog, huh? But I don’t think I’m up to the training &
job requirements of such a dog. In fact, another dog or another cat would be too much until this pack is a little more mature!

]]>