what are the ingeridients to look for when choosing food? my bud eats iams lg puppy and does great on it. hasa shiny coat and he is built like a brick you know what house. i want to give him the very best to eat. thanks in advance for your repiles.

For most people out there paying attention to the first 10 ingredients is all that is needed.

Here is what I look for in the first 10 ingredients:

1.) A meal type protein source as the first ingredient. However some brands list a whole meat source such as "Lamb" or "Chicken" and the the second ingredient will be a meal meat source, this is ok too. Avoid foods that list a grain as the first ingredient.

2.) A quality fat source, such as Chicken Fat. Avoid foods that list "Animal Fat" or "Poultry Fat". Really avoid Beef Tallow as a fat source too.

3.) Limited amounts of grain. In the top ten I don't like to see more than two grains listed.

4.) Limited "by-products" ingredients.

5.) Omega 3/6 fatty acid source either from fish meal or flaxseed oil.

6.) I try to avoid foods that used wheat at all, many dogs (and humans for that matter) are allergic to wheat.

7.) I do not buy foods with soy in them.

8.) Avoid foods that use wheat, corn, and egg products all at the same time. These are three ingredients that can cause problems in your dog for various reasons. So if your food has all three it will very difficult to determine the culprit.

9.) avoid foods that use nasty preservatives.

Well that that should be enough chew on for a while.

OTHERS: help fill in the gaps!

Good Luck!!!

thanks for the info i'll print this off to use when i'm food shopping next time. have a happy new year...

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/dogfoods.html

thanks for the link. i will read it and go from there.

Here is a link someone directed to me when I was looking at comparing foods.

http://www.greatgoldens.com/reviews/dogcomp.htm

You don't even have to print it out and take to the store...it reviews the foods right there with all the ingredient.

Don't get sold on the fact that some foods contain Glucosamine because there is only trace amounts and not enough to benefit your pooch. It is just a marketing ploy.

Originally posted by jackson
Don't get sold on the fact that some foods contain Glucosamine because there is only trace amounts and not enough to benefit your pooch. It is just a marketing ploy.

Since the benefits overall in regards to G&C regimens is still highly debated, I will concede that G&C as whole is a marketing ploy; not only in the pet food industry, but in the human dietary suppliment industry as well.

I have calculated out the amount of G&C that several pet food brands claim can be found in their food, and it is quite comprable in terms of dosage when compared to recommended intake for humans.

So, G&C overall may be a ploy as it may offer little or no benefit to dogs or animals. But to say that G&C is a ploy in pet food because of the amount added to the food, is not an accurate statement.

Therefore if you as a consumer happen to believe in the benefits of G&C you definitely can find several brands of pet food that have adequate amounts of G&C added to them.

If you do not believe in the benefits of G&C, then no amount of G&C will ever be enough.

The amounts of G/C in dog foods is not enough to be theraputic. Its always better to add your own.

Originally posted by labby
The amounts of G/C in dog foods is not enough to be theraputic. Its always better to add your own.

Well I do not want to battle about this, but this statement simply is not true.

I have done the math, and if need be I will do it again.