What ingredients do you avoid in dog food?

[MVons]

I'm so frustrated as I'm picky on ingredients and I find a dog food only to see it is on recall. So what ingredients do you NOT want in your dog food.

Corn - corn can cause bloat, and unless it is organic, it is genetically modified,
Soy - unless it is organic, it is genetically modified. This I know for fact as Shaklee is down to one supplier in the US for soy.
Wheat - 5 pesticides unless organic, allergen for many dogs.
Oatmeal - a cheap filler imo.
Potatoes (white) - hard to digest, minimal nutrients
Whole Barley (not cracked) - too hard to digest (I could see it in Pepper's poop). I am willing to try because of the nutrition in Barley.
White rice - no nutrients, give me brown rice please
BHT - preservative suspect to cause kidney problems down the road

I want one type of protein to know what my dog is reacting too if there is a problem.

Thus my choices are limited. I wish there was a database that I could do a search on.

Merrie

[Jespah]

It's a tough one, but I would think about the concerns you are having about the white rice, potatoes and oatmeal. Carbohydrates while not heavy on nutrients, are still an important part of a diet for energy if nothing else. Feeding only carbs is a whole other matter. That is why it is so tricky with making dog food yourself. It's a matter of balance. I wouldn't be worried about food that has the rice, oatmeal or potatoes. Oatmeal serves some very good purposes in health.

Just a thought,

Deb

[corgimom]

I try to avoid anything with by-products, digest, corn, wheat, soy and any artificial preservatives. I would say if your breeder is feeding your pup a good quality food then stick with it; Unless the puppy has some digest upsets, you wouldn't have to change. Companies will often put in oatmeal and barley instead of the corn and wheat. Here is one of the foods I feed Cody and the ingredients - I rotate this with other ones from the same company that also have white rice in them along with brown rice.

Naturally formulated with fresh Wisconsin duck, fresh chicken, fresh lamb, fish, whole eggs & real cheese. In addition, we enhance this recipe with probiotics to aid digestion and salmon oil for a healthy coat. This product contains no corn and no wheat.

Fresh Wisconsin Duck
Fresh Hand-Trimmed USDA Chicken
Fresh Low-Ash Lamb
Real Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese
Chicken Cartilage Rich in Natural Glucosamine
Prebiotics & Probiotics to Aid Digestion
Optimum Omega Fatty Acids Ratio
No Corn and No Wheat
Ingredients:

Duck, Chicken Meal, Chicken, Brown Rice, Pearled Barley, Oatmeal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Lamb, Potato, Tomato Pomace, Whole Egg, Salmon Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Cheese, Flaxseed, Brewers Dried Yeast, Alfalfa Meal, Carrots, Lettuce, Celery, Lecithin, Chicken Cartilage, Monocalcium Phosphate, Salt, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Chicory Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Longum, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcous Faecium, Vitamin A, D3, E, B12 Supplements, Choline Chloride, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Carbonate, Manganous Oxide, Copper Oxide, Cobalt Carbonate, Calcium Iodate, Sorbic Acid, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite.

[Dillydoodle]

Well, I avoid Corn, wheat, meat by-products, sugar or corn syrup, and any artificial colors or flavors. As for potato, i prefer to see sweet potato in the food as it is more nutrient rich... where as white potatos are just starch with little nutrient value. Barley i thought was cracked when used in the food, otherwise who can get the benefit from it? Oats are not bad either, if nothing else, they help provide some fiber which helps things move on through! I prefer to see brown rice to white rice , again for the nutritional value but many of the super premium foods that contain rice are using brown rice.

the foods i am currently feeding are Timberwolf Ocean Blue and Timberwolf Wild and Natural, and i am doing a 50/50 mix and then adding a little bit of either canned canidae lamb and rice or canned Wellness lamb and sweet potato.

The ingredients for Timberwolf Ocean Blue:

Ingredients: Low Ash White Fish Meal, Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Sardine/Mackerel/Anchovy/Tuna Oils, Kelp, Hydrated Alfalfa Leaf Leaf, Potassium Chloride, Carrot, Watercress, Spinach, Celery, Parsley, Fennel Seed, Blueberries, Cranberries, Pears, Figs, Thyme, Anise Seed, Ground Cinnamon Bark, Fenugreek, Garlic Pieces, Sunflower Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Apples, Taurine, Spirulina, Choline Chloride, Lecithin, Probiotics: (Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Lactis, Bacillus Bifidum, Streptococcus Diacetilactis, Bacillus Subtillus), Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols (a source of vitamin E), Lysine, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Thiamine, Methionine, Carnitine, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Iodine Proteinate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine (a source of vitamin B6), Copper Proteinate, Selenium Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate, Papain, Yucca Schidigera Extract.

The ingredients for the Wild and Natural Timberwolf are:

Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Fresh Chicken, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and rosemary extract), Low Ash Salmon Meal, Potatoes, Sardine/Mackerel/Anchovy/Tuna Oils (preserved with mixed tocopherols and rosemary extract) Eggs, Dried Chicken Liver, Dried Whole Milk, Dried Whey Extract, Kelp, Hydrated Alfalfa Leaf, Casein, DL Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Lecithin, Taurine, Lysine, Carnitine, Choline Chloride, Creatine, Probiotics: (Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum Fermentation, Bifidobacterium Longum Fermentation Product, Enterbacter Faecium Fermentaion Product, Bacillus Subtillus Fermentation Product, Blueberries, Cranberries, Mixed Tocopherols (a source of vitamin E), Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Thiamine, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Iodine Proteinate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine (a source of vitamin B6), Cobalt Proteinate, Papain, Yucca Schidigera Extract.

the ingredients for the canned lamb and rice canidae:

Lamb, Lamb Broth, Lamb Liver, Brown Rice, Herring (Source of Omega 3), Sunflower Oil (source of Omega 6), Egg, Potassium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Flax Seed Oil (Source of Omega 3), Kelp, Salt, Cranberries, Rosemary Extract, Choline Chloride, Carrageenan, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Lecithin, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin E Supple-ment, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite

The ingredients for wellness lamb and sweet potato canned:
Lamb, Lamb Broth, Lamb Liver, Ocean Whitefish, Ground Barley, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Ground Flaxseed, Canola Oil, Carrageenan, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Canola Oil, Salt, Iron Proteinate (Source Of Chelated Iron), Zinc Proteinate (Source Of Chelated Zinc), Choline Chloride, Vitamins A, E And D3 Supplements, Copper Proteinate (Source Of Chelated Copper), Manganese Proteinate (Source Of Chelated Manganese), Riboflavin Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, D-Biotin.

Emilie

[corgimom]

Merrie, Here is a link you might want to check out - it is from the Natura web site but you can check out different ingredients that are sometimes used in foods and read about them.


http://www.naturapet.com/tools/ingredient.asp

[sutulu]

From what I am reading about the recalls.... any thing with "gloutin" - wheat gloutin, rice gloutin, etc is a possible troublemaker.

What I am liking in ingredients lists? Probiotics, Omega oils

Susan

[darci]

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html