Canidae Canine Dog Food

*Est. $1.15 for 13.5-ounce can

Pros

Plenty of "human-grade" meat
Good carb sources – brown rice, barley
No chemical preservatives
No low-value fillers

Cons

Expensive
Harder to find

Our Analysis

Experts say Canidae Canine is among the best canned dog foods, using "human-grade" ingredients – no chemical preservatives and meat from animals that weren't pumped up with hormones. We found no reviews that test dog food in a laboratory. Rather, they evaluate the labels, looking for lots of meat atop the contents. Unlike cats, which don't need carbohydrates, dogs do need carbs (up to 50 percent). But it's best that those carbs come from nutrient-rich sources (like Canidae Canine's brown rice and barley) rather than low-value fillers like corn or wheat found in cheap dog foods. Experts say dogs should get a rotation of foods, including wet and dry. Reviews say Innova EVO (*est. $21 for a 13.2-pound bag) is a top dry food.

Most of the dog food reviews we found do essentially the same thing: editors read labels and rate the contents. DogFoodAnalysis.com covers the most products, and offers detailed reviews on some of them. But while Canidae products are rated, curiously they are not reviewed. Thus we found AnimalArk.com and DogAware.com more helpful in this instance. We found good general buying advice about dog food from the Ask Susan Peters blog, Dogma.com and the website of the National Academy of Sciences. Consumer Reports doesn't cover dog food.

Our Sources

1. AnimalArk.com

This site belongs to a no-kill animal shelter in Minnesota, and foods are rated from one to four stars based mainly on ingredients (the original research was done in 2001). Canidae Canine gets four stars and the note that the meat is from animals that haven't been injected with hormones.

Review: How Does Your Pet Food Rate?, Dr. Linda Wolf, DVM, and editors of AnimalArk.com

2. DogAware.com

Mary Straus says she has attended seminars and studied on her own to learn about dog diets, and her comments are balanced and insightful, based on label analysis. She says Canidae is "human-grade" food.

Review: Dog Feeding Info, Mary Straus

3. DogFoodAnalysis.com

Dog foods aren't tested but are evaluated according to contents listed on the label and rated from one to six stars. Reviews often explain why certain ingredients are better than others, but not on the four Canidae varieties that are rated four stars.

Review: 4 Star Premium Canned Food Reviews, Editors of DogFoodAnalysis.com

4. Ask Susan Peters

This blogger rates a wide scope of dog foods and cat foods by evaluating the labels. She doesn't cover Canidae Canine but does give high scores to Canidae canned products in general.

Review: Canidae Dog Food Reviews, Susan Peters

5. Dogma

This California pet store website doesn't rate dog foods, but does offer good general buying advice. He lists foods to avoid since they contain by-products, corn meal and added animal fat.

Review: Choosing a Healthy Dog or Cat Food, Editors of Dogma

6. National Academy of Sciences

This site offers a free 16-page download based on a 600-page report on dog and cat nutrition (you can buy the whole report for $265). There are no ratings here, but there's very helpful information about evaluating your dog's diet.

Review: Nutrient Requirements for Cats and Dogs, Donald C. Beitz, Ph.D., et al., 2006

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