Dog Food…?
What kind of dog food do you feed your adult lab/ large breed dog? My lab is coming on 12 months, and Im thinking of transitioning him over to adult food, and need help picking one…thanks in advance
When choosing a dog food, check the ingredient list. They should contain things like meat, or even meat meal (like chicken meal). Other things that are good to include are rice and some veggies (but not a lot, dogs are omnivores not vegans). Here is a simple way to “test and grade” your dog 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 3points
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 is not
allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog is not
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
How to score your food:
94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
69 and below = F
The closer you are to 100 (over 100 would be even better), generally the better your dog food is. Hope this helps you.
Some examples of good dog food are:
Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Canidae / Score 112 A+ (this food is my personal choice of dog food)
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A
Tagged as:
lab large breed,
lab large breed dog,
lab large breed puppy,
lab large dog