Dog food analysis website

[Crow]

Hey guys I know there are a ton of these websites out there but I came across this one & it is a pretty good one. It has several different ways to look up different dog foods & breaks down in easy to understand wording what each ingredient is. It even highlights in red which ones are controversial & explains why. I also figured out that what I was feeding & was supposed to be a good food was not very good at all. Then found that I could buy a much better product that actually was cheaper. Even has a store locator for each brand of food you can click on while reviewing a brand. Overall I was impressed with it & found a better food that was cheaper per pound. I'm still in the process of feeding the last of what I had so I haven't switched just yet to compare the results. Anyway just wanted to share a website with everyone that I found very useful. Here it is:

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

Also I found a site that you can order dog food online that has free shipping if you order $50 or more. Same food, cheaper price, 1-2 day shipping to your house, & you don't even have to leave your place to get dog food. I found this from a buddy who's been using it for a while with no problems. He's very pleased says always there in a couple of days. Here it is:

http://www.chewy.com/

There is another free shipping website on the dog food site I posted but I don't have any knowledge about them though. There is a link on the home page on the upper right side. Anyway, sorry for rambling, hope someone else finds these useful as well.

[deerhost]

Great site!! Thank you DH!

[LR Patch]

What do u boys up in Oneida feed ? What are u changing to ?

[Crow]

No problem. Glad you like it. Dog food is to high to feed a bad one, especially if you can spend the same amount or even save a buck or two on a better one.

[Crow]

What do u boys up in Oneida feed ? What are u changing to ?

Man it varies from one to another. There's really not a dominant brand up here. Some use Purina One(terrible review), some use sportmix(about the same), then there's pride(no better), I fed Iam's ProActive MiniChunk (sucks to). All these are supposed to be pretty good foods but all have a bunch of pretty crappy ingredients come to find out & range from about $0.75 - $1.10 / pound. I'm Probably gonna go with either Diamond Naturals or a brand called 4Health. They are both 4 - 4 & 1/2 stars out of 5 (the ones above are 2.5 or less). Both are available at Tractor supply or the online website & are about $29-$30 bucks for 35-40 pounds depending on the exact "flavor" if you will.

[wireman252]

Crow,
I've been feeding the Diamond Naturals chicken and rice 26/16 for over a year now and like it alot. The ingredients are pretty darn good in my opinion and I'm paying $24/40lb. that's $.60/lb. Still affordable for me.I know a few other houndsman feeding it as well. Dogs look good,have plenty of "go" in them and have firm stools. I've noticed ,however,that if they're fed too heavy , the stool will loosen up some. Also I've notice ,with anything I've ever tried feeding over the years, that some dogs will have loose stools in the field yet firm stool in the kennel. I'm under the assumption that this is simply from their nerves and being "amped" up.

[Crow]

Crow,
I've been feeding the Diamond Naturals chicken and rice 26/16 for over a year now and like it alot. The ingredients are pretty darn good in my opinion and I'm paying $24/40lb. that's $.60/lb. Still affordable for me.I know a few other houndsman feeding it as well. Dogs look good,have plenty of "go" in them and have firm stools. I've noticed ,however,that if they're fed too heavy , the stool will loosen up some. Also I've notice ,with anything I've ever tried feeding over the years, that some dogs will have loose stools in the field yet firm stool in the kennel. I'm under the assumption that this is simply from their nerves and being "amped" up.

Where do you get it for that price? May be a regional thing but it's about $5 higher here.

As for the loose stool I am no vet but from my understanding of that being "amped" may be part of it but the physical activity of running & all the other things beagles do while hunting increases the movement of materials through the digestive tract by the physical agitation & also increases peristalsis which is the radially contractual "wave like" motion your intestines use to move material along toward the exit if you get my drift. That would explain the loose stool in the field & the not in the kennel. That's also probably why a dog goes more in a few hours hunting than all day in the lot. Anyway not trying to sound like a know it all but just sharing some info.

[wireman252]

I live in southern Michigan , and go in on a pallet at a local feed store. To buy one bag at a time off the street at this store is about $27.50 a bag.

[Crow]

I live in southern Michigan , and go in on a pallet at a local feed store. To buy one bag at a time off the street at this store is about $27.50 a bag.

Gotcha, you're closer than we are to the distributor I believe. Also buying in bulk helps a lot. Thanks for the info.

[LR Patch]

I've used that 1st site 4 yrs , I've fed Sportmans Pride 26/18 for 10 or more years it's the 1 they reveiwed , it didn't rate to go but my dogs do real well on it , firm stool , engery good or above coats. Years ago I fed Pro Plan before purina sold it to nestles it was the best I have fed till they sold it and IMO it went down hill thats when I switched to Sportsman Pride. I can't get The Pride here but not looking to change don't think

[Alabama John]

I also feed Sportsman Pride and have for a long time.
Greet food and don't take as much as most others to keep them in shape.

[likeemfast]

Ive also been up and down thru that same site and have fed a couple 5 star feeds since switching from Purina years ago. TOTW and Blue Buffalo were what i fed for a couple years before i switched to Diamond Naturals chicken and rice. As ive stated on here before, i have more stool on Diamond than the other 2 feeds but its because of the higher ash content. Diamond naturals has 7.5pct ash content. More stool but can feed it in summer and dogs dont gain weight like they did on that high corn Purina. JMO tho.

[gemcgrew]

"There's no scientific evidence that any food is better than the next. Pets can thrive on inexpensive food or become ill from pricey food. If your animal is active and healthy, the food is doing its job. A higher price could mean better ingredients and better quality control during and after manufacturing. But you might also be paying for pretty packaging, marketing, or a fancy name". (Joseph Wakshlag, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine)

[Crow]

"There's no scientific evidence that any food is better than the next. Pets can thrive on inexpensive food or become ill from pricey food. If your animal is active and healthy, the food is doing its job. A higher price could mean better ingredients and better quality control during and after manufacturing. But you might also be paying for pretty packaging, marketing, or a fancy name". (Joseph Wakshlag, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine)

This isn't meant to be about buying more expensive dog food. This is about finding a quality dog food for a price you think is fair. If I'm gonna spend $25 or $125 per bag of dog food I want to have the best product for that money I can find. There's no debate that dogs can & do live long happy lives on some pretty low quality feed. But if I can spend the same amount of money why not get a better quality or maybe use the site to find the worst & cheapest feed out there. No one is implying that this site must be used to buy the most expensive. Just meant to be used to find what you want. It does list the highest quality food but it also lists the lowest as well. Which one we buy is each persons choice, beagles probably won't starve to death either way. Personally I like knowing whether or not the dog food I'm feeding contains ingredient that have been scientifically linked as cancer causing ingredients, liver toxicity, or kidney damage. . . some may not care to know. Sorry you did not find this site helpful.

[BCBeagles]

I agree this is a valuable site, but I question one thing. How much money each brand contributes to the site, this one or anyone for that matter. If product A gives 250 bucks they will inheritently get a better review than product B, the small independent for the good ole boy. Like it or not, I find these site to be driven by the almighty dollar like many are. Call me crazy or whatever. I work in the sales industry and the group throwing us the most money gets the most credit. JMO.