Sportmix wholesomes Review
Moderators: Pike Ridge Beagles, Aaron Bartlett
Re: Sportmix wholesomes Review
Good post. Gonna give it a try.
Re: Sportmix wholesomes Review
Made the switch from the 24/20 black bag to the 26/16 wholesomes. I cut each dogs ration by 1cup a day and they look better
and maybe gaining a little weight. also each dog went from craping 4or5 times a day down to 1 time a day. so im feedin less,
cleaning less and dogs seem to look and feel better. works for me!!!
and maybe gaining a little weight. also each dog went from craping 4or5 times a day down to 1 time a day. so im feedin less,
cleaning less and dogs seem to look and feel better. works for me!!!
Hammer Lane Kennels
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beagle-runner
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Re: Sportmix wholesomes Review
... are FDA, USDA and AAFCO. AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials. To me AAFCO is THE most important of all! AAFCO does feeding trials on ALL commercial foods. On the back of each bag/can of dog food there is an AAFCO statement. The statement that you want is Nutritional ...
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beagle-runner
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Re: Sportmix wholesomes Review
[quote="Doc Olly"]Hello everyone,
I often see threads like this on different hunting websites all over. The confusion and myths about diet can be both frustrating and confusing. I wanted to offer my 0.02 cents from a vets point of view. Fellas this comes from a humble place, so I mean no harm.
First let's start with all of the recalls. Believe it or not, recalls are a good thing. It means that the pet food industry is now being regulated or closely monitored;therefore, more quality products should be available. The 3 main pet food regulators are FDA, USDA and AAFCO. AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials. To me AAFCO is THE most important of all!
AAFCO does feeding trials on ALL commercial foods. On the back of each bag/can of dog food there is an AAFCO statement. The statement that you want is Nutritional Adequacy Statement. And that must say "complete and balanced" If your food says that , then by golly it is legit! If that AAFCO label says formulated to meet, then it has either not been through a feeding trial or did not pass an AAFCO feeding trial. Also, you must look to see if the label says formulated to meet all stages of life.
Some other things to look for does the maker have a full time nutritionist, it's own R& D department, it's own manufacturing plant and internal quality control standards. I know, that to many of us we don't look at labels like that for our own food but these are the facts from vet school.
Now, on to the things that "don't matter". Now some of these things may hurt peoples feelings and I do understand but it's al about the "perception", so just bear with me.
Guaranteed analysis, ingredients, designator are NOT important. All of these vary. Foe example, all ingredients are listed by weight. So just because rabbit is the first ingredient does not mean squat. It just means that there is rabbit in the food with added water weight which makes it appear VERY IMPORTANT, but it's not. Just slick advertising at it's best.
Also beware of terms like by products, human grade, grain free, holistic, and premium. These are all marketing tools to get your attention. These terms are not regulated by AAFCO or anyone else.
For example, I love when people/clients tell me that their dog should be eating a raw meat diet because that's what they ate in the wild. Show me in history where there was a pack of fat, wild pugs hunting down a fawn and I will give you my next paycheck!
Also, grains are not bad. In fact, dogs utilize and digest grains very well. Plain and simple they are a carb and are NOT a common cause of allergies or obesity like so many people think.
So there ya have it fellars, I hope this helps. Again, I was not trying to step on anyones toes. The good lord blessed me to follow my dream to become a vet and if I can help, I always try to. I own no dog food company so there is no money in this for me.
Good luck,
Doc Olly
__________________
It appears that Doc Olly has just made the very same statement that I have made numerous times as have others with the knowledge of the science and or the business. I'm headed down south to buy another TON of corn meal for my scraggly looking beagles and I may flip a few pizzas on my way back as well! One thing Doc Olly may be a little confused on is JUST HOW MUCH regulations FDA and USDA namely the FSIS (Food safety and Inspection Service) actually perform in the way of pet food. I can tell you VERY LITTLE other than ingredient labeling and assuring that the discarded meat and poultry unfit for human consumption is denatured so as it does NOT end up there! Other than that AAFCO is the standard to meet when declaring a complete and nutritional feed for your dog. Nearly ALL of the FSIS supervisors are veterinarians in the Meat and Poultry plants
warddog
Posts: 1985
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2002 5:58 pm
Location: Jasonville, Indiana
Top
I often see threads like this on different hunting websites all over. The confusion and myths about diet can be both frustrating and confusing. I wanted to offer my 0.02 cents from a vets point of view. Fellas this comes from a humble place, so I mean no harm.
First let's start with all of the recalls. Believe it or not, recalls are a good thing. It means that the pet food industry is now being regulated or closely monitored;therefore, more quality products should be available. The 3 main pet food regulators are FDA, USDA and AAFCO. AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials. To me AAFCO is THE most important of all!
AAFCO does feeding trials on ALL commercial foods. On the back of each bag/can of dog food there is an AAFCO statement. The statement that you want is Nutritional Adequacy Statement. And that must say "complete and balanced" If your food says that , then by golly it is legit! If that AAFCO label says formulated to meet, then it has either not been through a feeding trial or did not pass an AAFCO feeding trial. Also, you must look to see if the label says formulated to meet all stages of life.
Some other things to look for does the maker have a full time nutritionist, it's own R& D department, it's own manufacturing plant and internal quality control standards. I know, that to many of us we don't look at labels like that for our own food but these are the facts from vet school.
Now, on to the things that "don't matter". Now some of these things may hurt peoples feelings and I do understand but it's al about the "perception", so just bear with me.
Guaranteed analysis, ingredients, designator are NOT important. All of these vary. Foe example, all ingredients are listed by weight. So just because rabbit is the first ingredient does not mean squat. It just means that there is rabbit in the food with added water weight which makes it appear VERY IMPORTANT, but it's not. Just slick advertising at it's best.
Also beware of terms like by products, human grade, grain free, holistic, and premium. These are all marketing tools to get your attention. These terms are not regulated by AAFCO or anyone else.
For example, I love when people/clients tell me that their dog should be eating a raw meat diet because that's what they ate in the wild. Show me in history where there was a pack of fat, wild pugs hunting down a fawn and I will give you my next paycheck!
Also, grains are not bad. In fact, dogs utilize and digest grains very well. Plain and simple they are a carb and are NOT a common cause of allergies or obesity like so many people think.
So there ya have it fellars, I hope this helps. Again, I was not trying to step on anyones toes. The good lord blessed me to follow my dream to become a vet and if I can help, I always try to. I own no dog food company so there is no money in this for me.
Good luck,
Doc Olly
__________________
It appears that Doc Olly has just made the very same statement that I have made numerous times as have others with the knowledge of the science and or the business. I'm headed down south to buy another TON of corn meal for my scraggly looking beagles and I may flip a few pizzas on my way back as well! One thing Doc Olly may be a little confused on is JUST HOW MUCH regulations FDA and USDA namely the FSIS (Food safety and Inspection Service) actually perform in the way of pet food. I can tell you VERY LITTLE other than ingredient labeling and assuring that the discarded meat and poultry unfit for human consumption is denatured so as it does NOT end up there! Other than that AAFCO is the standard to meet when declaring a complete and nutritional feed for your dog. Nearly ALL of the FSIS supervisors are veterinarians in the Meat and Poultry plants
warddog
Posts: 1985
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2002 5:58 pm
Location: Jasonville, Indiana
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beagle-runner
- Posts: 47
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Re: Sportmix wholesomes Review
After 30 years of working for the USDA I have seen first hand what pet food is all about when it comes to MEAT and POULTRY ingredients. PLEASE do not think that any pet food is made from any meat, poultry or fish that is fit for human consumption as that is NOT the case. Doc Olly was also correct in the ingredients statement being based on wet weights and how much of that kibble is wet? The moisture content is low so that it will have some shelf life AND ALL those non-fit for human consumption ingredients have to be cooked with ultra high temperatures to get the moisture out and turn it from a high water percentage piece of meat, poultry to a dry meal ingredient. S.R. Patch is also correct in that the pet food companies put more time and money into advertising than they actually do in their feeds and the packaging is one such advertising gimmick. FACTS are that the vast majority of dry dog foods are all basically the same with the grains or carbs being what is used to increase the protein content as the meat/poultry ingredients are much more costly to increase than corn, potato, beets etc. Another ingredient is the fat from when the not-fit for human consumption meat, poultry or fish is cooked down into meal. More cooked off non for human consumption fat raises the product fat content when it smothers the high carb grain ingredients. AAFCO establishes the only STANDARDS as far as dog food nutrition is concerned and they have a profile that list each NUTRIENT minimum on an as fed basis that is REQUIRED for the dog food to be a "complete and balanced" feed. This varies from two classes of dogs one being those that are in the growth and reproduction stages of their life and the ones that are in a class of adult maintenance. Remember that the actual ingredient statement on the container be it a bag or a can is based on the raw weights including the moisture content and the AAFCO nutrient levels are based on the dry matter basis.
warddog
Posts: 1985
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2002 5:58 pm
Location: Jasonville, Indiana
warddog
Posts: 1985
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2002 5:58 pm
Location: Jasonville, Indiana
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jt's kennel
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Re: Sportmix wholesomes Review
I used the chicken and rice for about a year. But couldn't keep weight on them in the colder months. That bring me to the rest of the grain free foods the highest fat content is 16% there is no way that can keep the weight on the dogs without supplementing there feed, summer time I didn't have much problem. I would like to here other guys opinions on this that live in colder climate anyone below the midwest probably doesn't have this problem.