Can we start a "safe" dogfood list?

[Arbitrary]

My dogs still get some kibble - I just returned a bag of TOTW.

After a long chat with my local independent pet store people, I bought a bag of grain-free Pacific Ocean Fish First Mate last night. Potato is the main filler/carb source, and herring/sardine/anchovy is the main protein source.

They have their own manufacturing plant (Canada). They claim to source ingredients locally (except for Aussie lamb).

The other brands the sales clerk recommended were:
Fromm
and
The GreatLife (waaay too expensive for me: http://www.doctorsfinest.com/category_s/79.htm)

[wendy]

I feed native#4 as the base of my diet, small quiet company, nice products. I also trust Nature’s variety, Natures logic, orijen, acana, anamet, and innova. Timberwolf and Ziwipeak have some nice formulas if you can find them. Stella and chewy raw food is nice.

What is safe? any and all of these manufacturers can have an individual, isolated problem- orijen is generally quite good, but there was a flap about fish bones in their six fishes formula some years ago; Blue Buffalo had that vitamin D toxicity problem; anything with corn in it can have isolated aflatoxin problems; and salmonella is a recurrent problem that pops up over and over again in all sorts of pet edibles.

also, do you blame the companies that bought contaminated products from China as having bad quality control? personally I stay away from glutens/rice proteins because I suspect they are all still made in china, plus of course they are cheap substitutes for meat.

I would stay away from anything made by Diamond (already discussed), anything made by Merrick (includes Before Grain); both of these companies have had repeated quality issues over the years.

then there are the concerns about what else is made in china and could be contaminated- vitamins? joint supplements?

[JB]

@wendy;6317622

also, do you blame the companies that bought contaminated products from China as having bad quality control?

Yep, I do, especially when it’s known how little China cares about quality control, how utterly pathetic their water quality is, and how much water is used in processing a great many of these “nutrients” that are used in these products

I don’t want MY food coming from China (and it’s so incredibly difficult to figure that out) and I don’t want my animals’ food coming from there

[wendy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simkie

Their calcium levels are waaaay too high for puppies, though. :-/

I need clarification on this. I thought that because puppies are shedding puppy teeth and growing in adult teeth that they needed more calcium. My breeder recommends that I add yogurt to the diet to give additional calcium. The ears go wonky during the teething phase folks say that’s because the calcium is going to the teeth production and away from the cartilage in the ears…I hear that a lot but don’t know if there is any science behind it.

no, it’s VITAL that puppies NOT receive too much calcium up to age 6 months, and even older if they are large breed puppies. They can’t control how much calcium is absorbed via their guts during this period, and excess calcium will distort bone growth.
Do not supplement puppy diets with calcium, make sure you check the calcium level on your food- if it’s over 1.5% its definitely too high (there is some argument about just what is the correct level- 1%? 0.8%? but all agree it has to be under 1.5%).
If you home-cook or feed raw, be particularly careful with puppies. A lot of people manage to permanently cripple their growing puppies by giving incorrect amounts of calcium during critical puppyhood growth periods. Also for puppies do not use one of these “raw food balancers” that you are supposed to mix with meat, since most of these produce extremely unbalanced calcium amounts when fed as directed.

[lucky_dog_farm]

So, what puppy food would you all recommend?

[RacetrackReject]

Just wanted to report that I received my Fromm dog food and started switching my dogs over to it. They tend to try and pick it out of bowl and avoid their old dog food so it’s a win on taste for sure (pork and applesauce). Still waiting until I get them switched over to see if I have any digestive problems from it with my JRT.

[Simkie]

@lucky dog farm;6318741

So, what puppy food would you all recommend?

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=338960

[quote=wendy;6317672]no, it’s VITAL that puppies NOT receive too much calcium up to age 6 months, and even older if they are large breed puppies. They can’t control how much calcium is absorbed via their guts during this period, and excess calcium will distort bone growth.
Do not supplement puppy diets with calcium, make sure you check the calcium level on your food- if it’s over 1.5% its definitely too high (there is some argument about just what is the correct level- 1%? 0.8%? but all agree it has to be under 1.5%).

[/quote]

Wendy, I thought the top limit (from your previous posts and referenced articles) was 1.7%? Has new data come out?

[wendy]

no, but the FDA/AAFCO may change the regs at some point to limit foods with the label “for large breed puppies” to foods with 0.8 to 1% calcium.

Re; puppy foods.
this site is pretty good, usually up to date on recalls and manufacturer problems. It’s rating system is pretty good too. You might quibble about whether a food should be in the 4 instead of the 5 category, but almost no one would argue that a food this site says is a 1 or a 2 level food is a food best not purchased.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/best-dog-foods/best-puppy-foods/