New food! Thoughts?

[Pawbla]

So I've already stated I'm from south america and we don't get grain-free, healthy dog food. Best we have is Royal Canin (rated 2-3 starts if I remember correctly on dog food analysis). On the top of that I'm a poor college student, so I was only being able to afford pedigree-ranged foods, which are the "middle" brands here (believe it or not, there are much worse dog foods).

So, with all those considerations, take a look at this ingredient recipe. The unusual lack of ethoxyquin, BHA or BHT made me happy.

Ingedients: Chicken meal, meat meal, wheat, rice, precooked corn, corn gluten, wheat germ, micronized soybean meal, brewers yeast, chicken fat and vegetable oil preserved with natural anti-oxidants (rosemary extract), sugar, yucca schidigera extract, flavor: hydrolyzed entrails and chicory extract rich in fructooligosaccharides.

Vitamins: A, D3, E, K, B1, B2, B6, B12, folic acid, nicotinic acid, calcium pantothenate, biotin, and choline.

Minerals: Zinc, Iron, Copper, Iodum, Manganese, and Selenium.

So, question is: Is this food "okay" until I can afford to homecook/feed raw or should I keep looking for other foods? This brand was quite recommended as because of its quality/price rate.

[CrazyCharlie]

Well, I would say its better than some because there is no by-product. Granted I don't even know what some of those Ingedients are lol.

But I don't know what some of the stuff in the food I feed my dogs is either.

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Corn and wheat have an extremely high rate of allergic reaction in dogs, Boxers especially. I also do not like that they add sugar. I would encourage you to try and find a food without corn or wheat in it. Have you tried online? Many places have the higher end foods (like Taste of the Wild) and free shipping.

[TwoDogs]

Originally Posted by BxrMommieNAZ

Have you tried online? Many places have the higher end foods (like Taste of the Wild) and free shipping.

The OP's country of Argentina has strict importation and shipping bans. The government has banned the importation of a number of consumer products for which there are domestic equivalents. My guess is that the OP is VERY limited in which products they can or cannot have shipped in.

Pawbla,
The food looks pretty heavy in corn, soy and wheat which concerns me. Additionally, "meat meal" can be any kind of meat. Likewise, "entrails" doesn't specify which animal it comes from. I don't like foods that don't specify which animal the ingredients come from.

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Originally Posted by TwoDogs

The OP's country of Argentina has strict importation and shipping bans. The government has banned the importation of a number of consumer products for which there are domestic equivalents. My guess is that the OP is VERY limited in which products they can or cannot have shipped in.

Pawbla,
The food looks pretty heavy in corn, soy and wheat which concerns me. Additionally, "meat meal" can be any kind of meat. Likewise, "entrails" doesn't specify which animal it comes from. I don't like foods that don't specify which animal the ingredients come from.

I admit, I know nothing of the country and I'm too sick to do any kind of research on it at the moment.

My only other suggestion would be to look at a basic home cooked recipe that could be affordable, chicken, rice, veggies, or a raw diet may work as well depending on the price of raw meat/bones and your access to a butcher/fresh or frozen meats.

[Pawbla]

Yeah, luckily my dog isn't allergic.

My problem with homecooking is that I don't even have a food procesor or any kind of basic home appliances. So until I can afford to buy more, I can't homecook. I must say that homecooking is quite expensive anyways. I will homecook once I get more home appliances .

Should I rate low content of corn as more important than meat contents? By the way they have three products: Complete (cheapest), Premium (middle one) and Balanced (most expensive). In the Premium package (cheaper than the Balanced I'm buying) it says that cow meat, I'm guessing they use cow meat too here (it wouldn't make sense if they were using IDK, rat meat on the most expensive food).

Ok, I'm all out of options here. The most expensive foods there are in the market are, from most expensive to least expensive: Eukanuba, Royal Canin, Iams, and this one I'm buying. Any of those are any better?

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Originally Posted by Pawbla

Yeah, luckily my dog isn't allergic.

My problem with homecooking is that I don't even have a food procesor or any kind of basic home appliances. So until I can afford to buy more, I can't homecook. I must say that homecooking is quite expensive anyways. I will homecook once I get more home appliances .

Should I rate low content of corn as more important than meat contents? By the way they have three products: Complete (cheapest), Premium (middle one) and Balanced (most expensive). In the Premium package (cheaper than the Balanced I'm buying) it says that cow meat, I'm guessing they use cow meat too here (it wouldn't make sense if they were using IDK, rat meat on the most expensive food).

Ok, I'm all out of options here. The most expensive foods there are in the market are, from most expensive to least expensive: Eukanuba, Royal Canin, Iams, and this one I'm buying. Any of those are any better?

Just as an FYI, allergies can turn up at any point in their lives. My dog was fine the first 8 months and then allergies started. It wasn't until he was 3 years old that he became allergic to beef and others have popped up over the years. My cat is 12 years old and just became allergic to salmon. So allergies can come up at any point in an animal's life. Also, corn is a completely undigestible food source for them, so overall it is not healthy.

I would say your best option would be to learn to make your own food as all of the ones you listed, regardless of price, are extremely unhealthy for dogs. You do not need a food processor to home cook. If you can boil chicken and rice then you can home cook for your dog. When I did it, it was a stove (or range) or microwave, water, and a pot and that's all I needed. It doesn't have to be complicated. I boiled chicken quarters, white rice, and veggies. It does not have to be terribly expensive, hard, and you don't need any fancy appliances. If all you have is a microwave or a range you can easily make it work with one or both fo those items, a pot, and water.

[Sansal]

Royal Canine Boxer is rated 2 stars on dogfoodanlaysis.com. I think it might be a better option than the one you posted. There is no sugar in the royal canine and also no unidentified meat or entrails. The main grain is rice which is considered better than wheat. I also think that homecooking would be your best option but I understand it might not be possible for you right now.

[Caney Creek]

Originally Posted by Pawbla

Should I rate low content of corn as more important than meat contents? By the way they have three products: Complete (cheapest), Premium (middle one) and Balanced (most expensive). In the Premium package (cheaper than the Balanced I'm buying) it says that cow meat, I'm guessing they use cow meat too here (it wouldn't make sense if they were using IDK, rat meat on the most expensive food).

It sure wouldn't make sense to you or to me but I am willing to bet that IF they were in fact using 100% cow meat in the more expensive food, it would read that way on the ingredient list. To name a specific meat source would look better for them, so I'm sure the only reason they don't, is because they can't according to USDA guidelines.

Originally Posted by Pawbla

Ok, I'm all out of options here. The most expensive foods there are in the market are, from most expensive to least expensive: Eukanuba, Royal Canin, Iams, and this one I'm buying. Any of those are any better?

I don't know the ingredient lists of those foods off the top of my head, plus the ingredients in one brand of food might be different where you are compared to the same brand of food here in the US. If you could list the ingredients then we could definitely help

As for the ingredient list you posted above, the inclusion of corn, wheat, and soy are less than ideal, but personally the ingredient that I hate seeing most of all is sugar. Foods containing sugar will wreak havoc on a dog's teeth.

On a side note I have to commend you for putting so much work into finding the best possible food for your dog when your selection is quite limited, as is your budget. I hope you can find a food that you are satisfied with, one that is also somewhat affordable!

[Pawbla]

Originally Posted by BxrMommieNAZ

Just as an FYI, allergies can turn up at any point in their lives. My dog was fine the first 8 months and then allergies started. It wasn't until he was 3 years old that he became allergic to beef and others have popped up over the years. My cat is 12 years old and just became allergic to salmon. So allergies can come up at any point in an animal's life. Also, corn is a completely undigestible food source for them, so overall it is not healthy.

Yes, I know, just like people n.n I meant like he's not allergic /right now/. I know it's overall not healthy but all dog foods seem to contain it.

Originally Posted by BxrMommieNAZ

I would say your best option would be to learn to make your own food as all of the ones you listed, regardless of price, are extremely unhealthy for dogs. You do not need a food processor to home cook. If you can boil chicken and rice then you can home cook for your dog. When I did it, it was a stove (or range) or microwave, water, and a pot and that's all I needed. It doesn't have to be complicated. I boiled chicken quarters, white rice, and veggies. It does not have to be terribly expensive, hard, and you don't need any fancy appliances. If all you have is a microwave or a range you can easily make it work with one or both fo those items, a pot, and water.

Really? All the recipes I found made me use a ton of different home appliances. It was like, excessive to me, so I imagined it was not exactly the best approach for now. I've checked out a few books and all of them used a lot of home appliances, same as all threads I checked on the forums. Do you have any recipes you'd be willing to share?

Originally Posted by Sansal

I think it might be a better option than the one you posted. There is no sugar in the royal canine and also no unidentified meat or entrails. The main grain is rice which is considered better than wheat.

Hmm unidentified fats here, and a good amount of corn here besides the chicken by-product. True, it has no sugar, though.

Originally Posted by Caney Creek

It sure wouldn't make sense to you or to me but I am willing to bet that IF they were in fact using 100% cow meat in the more expensive food, it would read that way on the ingredient list. To name a specific meat source would look better for them, so I'm sure the only reason they don't, is because they can't according to USDA guidelines.

True. Although I don't live in the US so we don't have the same guidelines to follow.

Originally Posted by Caney Creek

I don't know the ingredient lists of those foods off the top of my head, plus the ingredients in one brand of food might be different where you are compared to the same brand of food here in the US. If you could list the ingredients then we could definitely help

As for the ingredient list you posted above, the inclusion of corn, wheat, and soy are less than ideal, but personally the ingredient that I hate seeing most of all is sugar. Foods containing sugar will wreak havoc on a dog's teeth.

... that actually explains a lot. My dog's teeth are awful. I brush them, though.

Royal Canin:
Rice, chicken by-product meal, corn, corn gluten, animal fat, hydrolized liver, vitamins, minerals, beet pulp, vegetable oil, brewer's yeast, fish oil, mannan-oligosaccharide, powder egg.

I can't find the other two . I'll look them up as soon as possible. I'll probably get them in two weeks.

Originally Posted by Caney Creek

On a side note I have to commend you for putting so much work into finding the best possible food for your dog when your selection is quite limited, as is your budget. I hope you can find a food that you are satisfied with, one that is also somewhat affordable!

Thanks a bunch! Yeah I'll start working around march so I hope that helps my doggie's feeding .

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I've never followed recipes, just varied ingredients and added some bone meal for calcium (or gave raw meaty bones) and a multi-vitamin to account for anything I was missing. I would boil 10 pounds of chicken, some rice, and add whatever veggies were on sale that week, mixed it together and fed 3-4 cups per day of the mixture.

It's only as complicated as one makes it out to be. But again I varied my veggies, used potatoes or oatmeal (well I didn't 'cause mine's allergic to oatmeal but you could), or rice, varied between pork and chicken since those are the 2 cheaper meats that he isn't allergic to, and whatever veggies were on sale which varied. Then added bone meal for the calcium/phosphorus aspect.

[Pawbla]

Can I give him raw chicken instead of boiled chicken to add the calcium? Because I'm not sure about where I could get the bone meal (besides the one I use for plants...?).

So, to clarify, basics are:
Meat (I have to vary, but doesn't matter if it's red or white?)
Veggies (just wondering, green veggies? and/or fruits? in uni we get a fruit per day for free, and many people don't eat it... sounds tempting to me, hehe. What kind of veggies would be good to my dog?).
Carbohydrates source (rice, potato, oatmeal... any other? White or brown rice? I eat brown myself)

3-4 cups per day, how much did he weigh?

Thanks a bunch for all the advice, as you can see I'm a bit unsure hehe. But I'm also kind of scared of feeding "uncomplicated way", I'm one of those people that would weigh every single gram of food to make sure it meets the dog's requirements.