how do you stretch dog kibble

[NateinFL]

Excellent post Melissakins, thanks so much for sharing, it amazes me how much helpful information can be found on this site

 

[Melissakins]

I'm a geek about my dogs

I'm trying to find a post about Dog Food "grades" - literally grades on some of the more popular and some of the less popular types of dog food fed to our canine kids.

Found it!

http://www.elkcountryanimalshelter.org/GradeDOG FOOD.html

Here are some foods that have already been scored. Dog Food scores:

Dog Food scores:
Alpo Prime Cuts / Score 81 C
Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy / Score 114 A+
Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Authority Harvest Baked Less Active / Score 93 B
Beowulf Back to Basics / Score 101 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice / Score 83 C
Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice / Score 106 A+
Burns Chicken and Brown Rice / Score 107 A+
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Diamond Performance / Score 85 C
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice / Score 106 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
EaglePack Holistic / Score 102 A+
Eukanuba Adult / Score 81 C
Eukanuba Puppy / Score 79 C
Flint River Senior / Score 101 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Innova Large Breed Puppy / Score 122 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Member's Mark Chicken and Rice / Score 84 C
Merrick Wilderness Blend / Score 127 A+
Nature's Recipe / Score 100 A
Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice / Score 116 A+
Nature's Variety Raw Instinct / Score 122 A+
Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice / Score 81 C
Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy / Score 101 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Max Adult / Score 93 B
Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice / Score 98 A
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free / Score 86 B
Nutro Natural Choice Senior / Score 95 A
Nutro Ultra Adult / Score 104 A+
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry / Score 109 A+
Pro Nature Puppy / Score 80 C
Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach / Score 94 A
Purina Benful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Purina One Large Breed Puppy / Score 62 F
Royal Canin Boxer / Score 103 A+
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Solid Gold / Score 99 A
Summit / Score 99 A
Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry / Score 120 A+
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

 

[ametauss]

WOW -- there's a ton of info on here.... My Vet said to augment my dog's diet with chicken tenders boiled, rice, green beans, hard boiled eggs, and boiled potatos. This mix is high in protein and the green beans and rice are fillers.... we feed this twice a day and have kibble down all the time....

I now have 6 dogs and no stinky farts.... I can't say it has lowered my costs.....

 

[Melissakins]

Wowee, they eat well!

My dogs would like to come eat at your house

Except the one allergic to chicken

 

[chickerdoodle]

I think its great more owners are "geeks" about their dogs! Not a bad rating system and a good place to start but I still prefer http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ . This is a more scientific, laboratory tested rating and gives good reasons for any pro or con ingredient. It also goes into questionable preservatives, fillers (beet pulp for one) that appear not to be and the overall effect for each diet. It amazes me how much junk food they sell as being good for you dog (Benefil is NOT beneficial!). If only we cared as much about what we eat!!

I should add I feed EVO by Innova.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

I feed mine a very small amount of Wellness SuperFive mix kibble. Mostly they eat my home-cooked. I buy chicken leg quarters on sale (or whole chickens) & boil & debone them. Then return the meat to the broth & add chopped broccolli, peas & carrots, brown rice, maybe zucchini or squash or green beans--cook it all down until the rice is done & then cool it, bag it & freeze it.

I might give scrambled eggs or tuna a couple times a week, or a scoop of cottage cheese. Mine will eat anything. They maintain their correct weight without a problem & are healthy & have nice shiny coats.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Wow I have to say if your going through 30 lbs with SIX dogs that is pretty darn good! My boxer and pom are going through 30 lbs in 14 days for JUST the two of them...my boxer is 70 lbs and my pom is 15 lbs. They are not fat either...my boxer runs and runs all over our 20 acres and I feed them Canidae which is 40 bucks for 30 lbs. I don't know how you could really thin that out...IMO that is very good.

 

[protodon]

Quote:
It really does depend on the food I guess. When I was looking at better quality dog foods I looked into Canidae and saw it wasn't really grain free. I went with Tasteof the Wild like the OP and many other people on this thread and I am very happy with it. I feed my dogs much less than the cheaper brands but they look healthy and they love it. In fact everytime my family comes over they keep telling me my dogs are getting fat, which they are not. But that gives me piece of mind that they are not wasting away because am feeding them less food because it is a higher quality.

The same is true for my cats. I was feeding cat chow. Unlike the dogs their food is always available. I never kept track of how much they ate. I switched them to EVO dry cat food for a while but my one cat would vomit after he ate so I switched back to cat chow. After I switched back I noticed the bowl was always empty. They were eating it like it was air! I guess because it has little nutritional value. I now found a place that carries Feline Taste of the Wild and have been feeding them that. No vomiting and a whole bowl's doesn't disappear in a day.

 

[technodoll]

I am feeding 3 huge dogs for about $125 a month on raw food and cheap (but good) kibble from Costco...

20 lbs of raw chicken (with bones), delivered and including taxes costs us $12!

If I fed them only premium kibble at $75 for a 30lbs bag, my monthly cost would be about $225 and it's not even "real food"!

If you can source a local raw food supplier and keep checking the grocery store sales, make friends with butchers and hunters, you can feed your dogs the BEST food ever and never have to rely on kibble and it's kind to your wallet... healthy dogs = no vet bills

Good luck!

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
if you are doing all this you may as well leave out the kibble,why spend the money on it when you feed all the other stuff,in fact,I would also leave out the beans,rice and potatoes..and instead give any meat I can get my hands on include bone and organ.