Dog Food

This website analyzes dry dog foods based on their ingredient content and the author's experiences. Foods are rated for quality and cost, and pros and cons are listed. Discussion is brief but adequate. The… author leaves no doubt which foods he feels are best and worst. Foods with high meat content, such as Innova EVO and Wellness CORE are highly rated but expensive. Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul is identified as a top choice that's more reasonably priced. A couple of dog foods available in supermarkets get decent -- though not top -- ratings. Some well-known brands -- such as Purina Dog Chow -- are highly criticized for the use of cheap fillers and by products.

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Each year, Whole Dog Journal publishes a list of "approved" canned dog foods. The criteria used are rigorous, with an emphasis on high-quality protein sources. Foods with non-species-specific protein… sources, by-products, artificial flavors or colors, preservatives or sugars are disqualified, as are foods from manufacturers that are not completely forthcoming about who makes their dog foods, and where. Though dominated by high-end foods, the list is extensive and access is only available to subscribers. No attempt is made to rank or rate the foods on the list. A separate list of approved dry foods is also published annually, and the same positives and negatives apply.

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This site belongs to a no-kill animal shelter in Minnesota, and is clearly driven by a love of animals. With the help of Dr. Linda Wolf, DVM, the publishers of this website evaluate various dog and cat… foods based mainly on ingredients. Foods with a meat-based protein source as the first ingredient, plus at least some organic ingredients, are rated highest. Negative points are given for the presence of chemical preservatives, unidentified animal products and ingredient splitting. The editors note that the original research was done in 2001 and that formulas may have changed since then. Although some rare updates are being done, readers are urged to use this list as a starting point for their own research.

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This article focuses on by-products, chemicals, molds, bacteria and other toxins present in dog foods. The article goes into great detail about how pet food is manufactured. Ingredients are discussed in… depth, and recommendations are made regarding what to look for (and what to avoid) in commercial food. No products are specifically rated or recommended, but the information found here is excellent.

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This site is owned by a pet store with two locations in Orange County, Calif. The owner, Jerry Carter, is a die-hard dog lover who opened these stores to provide consumers with better choices of food and… supplies. The site has all the usual sales links, such as toys, bowls and treats, but it also has one page devoted to nutrition, which is well researched and in agreement with other sources. There are no ratings or recommendations, but there's a list of foods to avoid since they contain by-products, corn meal and added animal fat. He adds that most foods that can be bought in supermarkets or large retailers (such as Wal-Mart) should "generally be avoided."

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Zootoo is a great place to read owner feedback on dog food. You sort the listings by canned and dried, and the number of reviews and the ratings are displayed on the main page. Sorting options include top… rated foods and most recommended foods. Comments on premium foods often address ingredients, while owners who recommend less pricy choices discuss how eagerly their dog enjoys the meal. Premium foods, such as Canidae All Life Stages, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul and Innova do well, as do supermarket brands such as Pedigree.

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This site features consumer ratings of a wide range of dog food types and offers an overview of high- versus low-rated foods. Like most such websites, the quality of the reviews varies greatly, but many are… interesting to read and several varieties get lots of feedback. While premium and supermarket brands can be found here, premium brands top the ratings. Orijen stands out for its high rating following more than 250 reviews.

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This site is recommended for its enormous dog food database listing ingredients and other important details. The downside is that the site doesn't have much text or many articles, but if you're looking for… information on a specific brand of food, this is the place to go. There are no dog food ratings, and no particular foods are specifically recommended. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)

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This site belongs to a breeder of Labrador retrievers. This article looks at gimmicks and labeling with a critical eye. The author's position is a little different than other writers' in that some… by-products are considered fine. The rationale is that in the wild, dogs certainly eat organs and other parts considered unpalatable by humans. What's important is to look for a named by-product rather than an unidentified by-product. The author states that her dogs do best on mid-range dog food -- neither the most expensive nor the least -- but no recommendations are made.

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This website originally operated as a print publication for 13 years. Visitors are required to register in order to read the articles, but the free registration gives you a six-month subscription. The site… reviews dog foods and other dog products. Food articles cover new product reviews, news updates from manufacturers, and product test reports. Although the articles seem thorough, there are no side-by-side comparison charts, and reviews are almost entirely positive. Many of these reviews seem very old, and articles are not dated.

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