How to grade dog food

clarkiek · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 11:30 am Post subject: How to grade dog food

I was looking at and English Bulldog breeder's website and thought this was interesting. I don't know how accurate it is, but did notice that Canidae scored well.

How to grade your dog's food:
Start with a grade of 100:
1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat)
reference, subtract
10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e.
"ground brown rice", "brewers rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5
points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top
3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other
protein sources), subtract 2 points
12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to wheat),
subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef),
subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point
Extra Credit:
1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one;
count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and ""
as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1
point
100+ = A+
94-100 = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
<70 = F
Here are some foods that have already been scored.
Dog Food scores:
Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
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
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
Flint River Ranch Lamb Millet and Rice / 115 A++
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 D
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
Purina Benful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

simis · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject:

That is very interesting, thank you for sharing!

GailB · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 6:20 pm Post subject:

thanks for that..very interesting...

AmazingGrayce · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 7:00 pm Post subject:

Awesome!

I feed Flint River Lamb Millet and Rice 115 A++

and Trout and Potato which I just did the test and it scored 110.

Not too bad. Makes me feel like a I made a good choice when switching foods Smile

DoubleTrouble · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:23 pm Post subject:

We went to a vet which recommended Purina Beneful (we'll never go back) so we switched from Purina One which Heartland feeds... now we feed Canidae-- HUGE DIFFERENCE! Obviously, don't always trust a vet's advice.

tltrooster · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject:

Isnt that weird, our vet promotes Purina Dog Food Products too!

We dont have any one that sells Canadie here, but I found a
feed store actually two of them that sell Innova and Innova EVO,
I have switched mine to Innova which scored high. I feel much
better as well.

h20fwlkillr · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 1:28 am Post subject:

The true way to score a particular dog food has nothing to do with whats wrote on the bags. It is how a dog does on the food and whether the food is readily available and at a decent price.

Driley5 · Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:45 pm Post subject: Food Choice