Dog food experts.

[imported_Cassie]

Just wondering if Natural Choice dog food is a good food. I am rotating my dogs between Wellness, Solid gold and would like to find another good quality food in my area...I was advised Nutro natural choice is a good high quality food...the only ingredient I am uncomfortable with is Poultry fat...other than that is sounds alright.

chicken meal, brown rice, ground rice, lambe meal, rice bran, sunflower oil, poultry fat, salmon meal, natural flavors, oatmeal, alfalfa, beet pulp, tomato pomace, cranberry, fish oil, dried egg product, l-lysine, kelp, tauine, bacillus licheniformis, fermentation extract, bacillus subtilis, fermentation extract, l-carnitine, glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate. garlic, marigold extract...plus a list of added vitamins and minerals.

[TDG]

in my opinion, nutro is totally overpriced for the quality it offers. it's better than the garbage you can find at the grocery stores, but it doesn't even come close to wellness or solid gold.

where other pet food companies use meat meals with an ash content of around 7-8, nutro uses a product that has 9.5%. this means the product has a fairly high bone content and is less digestible. they also use far less meat and more grains overall compared to real premium foods.

if you need some other brands to look at, check out canidae, innova (personal favorite), natural balance, eagle pack holistic select, azmira, artemis, back to basics or holistic blend. there are a number of other good ones, but i can't think of all of them right now.

hope this helps! :)

[DogPaddle]

It seems ok but I also find it is just a little overpriced for what's in it. There are brands I'd go with first. I feed Innova for one of the dogs meals a day right now. (Finally some store in my city carries it.) But I really like Canidae too - tons of different protien sources, good ingredients, excellent price, however, its short on fruits and veggies. Innova has one less protein type but has the fruits and veggies.

[imported_Cassie]

Thanks alot for the information on this dog food. The only good foods sold around here are Solid Gold (we can't get the beef one, millennia due to the ban on beef on the US border to Canada). I think I may suggest to my boss at the grooming shop to start bringing in and selling some of the wonderful brands you two have mentioned.
I should have known better when I was looking at Nutro at the local pet store that the sales clerk was just pushing it a little too hard. The sales clerk even put down Wellness & Solid Gold and said the quality was not as good as Nutro :roll: its no wonder consumers get confused...it seems the people at some of these pet stores are so convincing and can make a person feel as though they are poisoning thier dog by not feeding their brand of food. :lol:
Another thing the clerk (owner) said which put my hackles up was when I mentioned I rotate my dogs food...he stated that this was not a good idea and will harm the dogs in the long run :roll: I just listened to him and didn't say any thing back and quiety left.
The shop I buy my Solid Gold and Wellness at will listen to me and actually encouraged me to rotate my food...they will listen and not shoot me down for having a different opinion (different ideas is how we learn)..the clerks there seem VERY interested in hearing new things and they will ask the source for info and will make their own decision by doing research instead of just shooting you down for a question or suggestion. These are my kind of people. :wink:

[DogPaddle]

I understand, I had I clerk basically tell me I was an idiot for being concerned about switching protein sources (from chicken to lamb) and brands of dog food all in one go. Wether it was a groundless concern or not it is not good business to insult your customers. I don't shop there now.

[TDG]

store people for the most part only know what the pet food manufacturers tell them. of course it's in their best interest (but not your dog's) to stick with one food and never change. gotta keep those $$$ rolling in!

if you want to look into a canadian food, check out www.petcurean.com. there was a scare last year about a supposedly bad batch of food on the west coast that killed a number of dogs, but apparently it turned out they died from completely unrelated causes.

petcurean makes excellent products, 3 different lines, one with about 25% meat, one with 30-35% meat and one with 42% meat.

if you want a resource for comparing over 600 dry foods, have a look here.