I went back to the pet store yesterday but this time I had the Whole Dog Journal's 2008 Approved Grain-Free Dry Dog Food list in my hand. Every February, the Whole Dog Journal puts out an approved list of dry dog foods. This year, they included the grain-free dog food list in their March issue. It's fabulous. All the information I need in the palm of my hand.
In order for the dog food to make the list, they have to meet certain criteria, such as:
- All foods must contain high quality animal proteins. The first one or two ingredients must be an animal protein.
- No foods can contain meat by-products or poultry by-products. Yuck.
- No foods can contain fat or protein that is not identified by species. That means no road kill!
- All foods must contain whole food ingredients.
- No foods can contain artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. Vit E, C, and Rosemary extract are all natural preservatives.
- No foods can contain added sweeteners. They don't need those nutritionally empty calories
In light of the recent mass pet food recalls, the Whole Dog Journal has also done a lot of the leg work in asking pet food companies to provide full disclosure on their products. That means they called all the companies and asked them to disclose their food's manufacturer. And if they were unwilling to disclose or didn't bother to respond, they were highlighted in the "Won't Disclose Origin of Manufacture" list. Haha. There's no hiding guys. What was even more suspect to me was some companies wouldn't disclose the manufacturing location. Makes you kinda wonder why huh?
So here's the grain-free list:
Artemis "Maximal Dog"
Champion "Orijen"
Dick Van Patten's "Potato & Duck"
Solid Gold "Barking at the Moon"
Petcurean "Now!" and "Go!"
Canine Caviar "Venison & Split Pea"
Diamond "Taste of the Wild"
Natura "Evo"
Nature's Variety "Instinct"
Taplow Feeds "FirstMate Potato & Fish"
Honest Kitchen "Force" and "Embark"
Wellness/Old Mother Hubbard "CORE"
I first looked at Songbird's recommendation of Wellness CORE. We wanted to see what Miss Molly has been eating. We liked the high protein and liked even more that they were local (Tewksbury!). But the original variety is mostly poultry and I don't care to smell the fishy Ocean formula so unfortunately we had to pass on CORE this time. The Bernerbuddy gets goopy eyes with poultry. So we looked for something with more red meat. And we found it.
Evo's Red Meat Big Bites. And the prices at the pet store were practically the same as what I found wholesale on the internet. In addition, Evo gets two more thumbs up for being the very first pet food company, in 2005, to manufacture and market a grain-free kibble, as well as providing a complete nutrient analysis for each of its foods on their website. Now that's thorough!
So we went with a 13 pound bag. The Whole Dog Journal also highly recommends switching foods regularly. Since several dog foods can all be considered "nutritionally balanced" no two dog foods are alike. Some foods are low in some nutrients but high in others. And other foods are vice versa.
"Imagine that a dog is given a lifetime diet that is a bit low in some nutrients and a bit high in others. Over time, fed a diet solely comprised of that food, the dog's body will become a figurative model of those nutrient levels, for better or worse. This is exactly why humans are told to eat a variety of healthy foods - to prevent this very scenario!"
-From the Whole Dog Journal, March 2008
For now, Sabrina and Riley will get Big Bites, courtesy of Evo.
5 comments:
Wait, there's a Berner on the bag! Are you sure that didn't influence you? ;-)
I'll try it, too. Looks great. We are due for a change-up soon, I'm sure. (Molly grows bored easily.) Sam does really well with Core, while many other foods make him too loose, so to speak.
Ha, the bag I got actually has a Rottie on the bag. The Berner just happened to be a coincidence!
You shouldn't say such things about Sam or Sabrina will think she should pay Sam a visit soon. :P
I enjoyed your post. EVO is an excellent dog food. It is not quite a substitute for raw but it is pretty close in a dry kibble. I saw the WDJ article. It was very good. I like they are finally addressing the grain free dog food. I still prefer Raw dog food but again these are really exceptional dog foods for those not wanting to take the leap to raw.
Thanks k9 cuisine! How did you find my blog? Is that your own business?
Yes our family business was bourne out of our own desire to feed our pets healthier diets. Living in a rural area, obtaining grain free foods for our faithful four-legged friends, had become a real challenge-thus k9cusine.com! We continue to research and love info sharing with others who share our passion for providing healthy nutrition for our pets. WDJ is a valuable resource! Quality ingredients make a tremendous difference! Cheers to you for sharing their message!
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