I have been looking at dog food analysis on 4 different brands of food. Each one has a different percentage of protein. I am a newbie with reading labels on dog foods so bear with me.

How do you know how much of anything you need such as protein, fat, fiber, etc.? It's all greek to me. Do you match up the protein with the needs of your dog? Growth or the amount of energy the dog burns throughout the day. Mine's probably going to be a couch potato. lol.

I can read all the recommendations by people all day long but not understand why something is good for the dog other than it its grain free.

Is there a standard to follow for the growth stages of a puppy?
I know for German Shepherds you only feed them puppy food for 6 months and then switch over to an adult version.

I could use some basic guidelines and everything is looking the same to me. HELP! lol.

Denise,

What brands did you research?

My exact question. It may sound like hemming and hawing, but percent of protein, for example, is meaningless if some of that number is coming from, say, corn.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/bestfood.html is a pretty basic overview.

The ingredients mean a lot...... and it's where I look first, before numbers.

 Quote: Carol Boche

Denise,

What brands did you research?

In my hands I have brochures on Natural Balance Allergy Formulas, Innova, Royal Canin and Evo. If there were more, I would have gotten them as well. I just picked up those at a pet store to learn about each product and compare. Each has a food analysis but since I don't understand the whys of the percentages, I can't make an informed decision.

For example:

Innova Puppy Food

Crude Protein 26%
Crude Fat 12%
Fiber 3.5%

Innova Lge Breed Puppy

Crude Protein 24%
Crude Fat 23%
Fiber 4.0%

I won't go on because it's too much but you get the gist.

The breeder I am working with is suggesting Evo Small Bites for 6 months and then switch over to Natural Balance Ultra. I don't have a problem with doing so but I just want to understand why. What's so special about this or that dog food? Can I get another brand that's just as good for less money? Also with the Natural Balance I am supposed to add supplements of salmon oil and joint support as well as digestive enzymes. I know all this stuff is good, but some of the dog foods on the market already have these ingredients in them.

I have done some research on which ingredients to look for or to avoid and in what order, but the percentages are what I am concerned about.

Do we have a dog nutritionist in the house? lol. I would ask my vet on Tuesday but everybody knows vets don't specialize in nutrition.

 Quote: denise hau

 Quote: carol boche

Denise,

What brands did you research?

In my hands I have brochures on Natural Balance Allergy Formulas, Innova, Royal Canin and Evo. If there were more, I would have gotten them as well. I just picked up those at a pet store to learn about each product and compare. Each has a food analysis but since I don't understand the whys of the percentages, I can't make an informed decision.

For example:

Innova Puppy Food

Crude Protein 26%
Crude Fat 12%
Fiber 3.5%

Innova Lge Breed Puppy

Crude Protein 24%
Crude Fat 23%
Fiber 4.0%

I won't go on because it's too much but you get the gist.

The breeder I am working with is suggesting Evo Small Bites for 6 months and then switch over to Natural Balance Ultra. I don't have a problem with doing so but I just want to understand why. What's so special about this or that dog food? Can I get another brand that's just as good for less money? Also with the Natural Balance I am supposed to add supplements of salmon oil and joint support as well as digestive enzymes. I know all this stuff is good, but some of the dog foods on the market already have these ingredients in them.

I have done some research on which ingredients to look for or to avoid and in what order, but the percentages are what I am concerned about.

Do we have a dog nutritionist in the house? lol. I would ask my vet on Tuesday but everybody knows vets don't specialize in nutrition.

I would ask the breeder WHY, if what you want is to research the breeder's suggestions. WHY is each one recommended by the breeder. If the breeder is the one telling you the brands, I would ask the breeder exactly WHY. I'm not saying these are bad suggestions at all; I am saying that if you and the breeder particularly want features of those two, then identify the features and start looking at different brands that might cost less and still have the same ingredients.

I would be choosing by ingredients, again, and not so much numbers, if I had to buy kibble.

I would read this list:
http://www.leerburg.com/all-natural%20kibble.htm

QUOTE:
Also with the Natural Balance I am supposed to add supplements of salmon oil..... I know all this stuff is good, but some of the dog foods on the market already have these ingredients in them. END

Not really true. Fish oil is far too delicate to survive the kibble process intact. There is NO dry food that contains appropriate long-chain Omega 3s from marine sources that has been properly handled, which means (for one thing) not heat-treated, and certainly not subjected to the heat that kibble is.

I would add that if I really loved the ingredients in two kibbles, I would buy both. Variety is the only possible way to come close to covering all the nutritional bases. I will never understand the one-food-every-day-forever dog-feeding mentality.

What made you pick up the "allergy formula"..... just out of curiosity?

Any reason you don't want to do fresh raw food?

Don't forget to check this one out too.

http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com

No grains! All natural meat, vegetables, fruits and lots of Omegas!! My dogs love it!

Evo?

Is this a puppy?

I have always heard that Evo is not appropriate for dogs under one year of age. However, on their website it states it is appropriate for all life stages - interesting. Wonder if they changed their formula recently...

Everybody is misunderstanding my motives. This has NOTHING to do with my breeder's choice of food. I am fine with it. If it works for him, it'll work for me. Why fix what isn't broke? I just wanted to understand the numbers of everything on the food labels. Many people say read the label, read the label. So I did and it's all greek to me. lol. This was to be a learning experience. So many people are smarter than I am when it comes to diets.

Please understand where I am coming from. I did a lot of things wrong with my last dog out of ignorance. With this new puppy I am more informed and willing to change. For 12 years, I fed my dog Purina Puppy and Dog Chow. She was fine on both and had no problems whatsoever.

I live in a very small town. Sometime down the road I may want to change my dog's food and find a brand that is just as good, closer to home and less expensive. I really wish it could be purchased at PetSmart because it's more convenient. I would rather drive 10 minutes vs. 40-50 minutes each way every month for dog food.

As for the brochures I have, I just picked up one of each of whatever was at the pet store on the shelves for informational purposes. That's when I realized I was a dumb consumer. lol.

As for why I don't do a raw diet, I'll be honest. There's too much work involved, I am afraid to and would rather just scoop it out of the bag. Yes, I'm lazy.

OK, gotcha. I gave you a list of better kibbles. :>
http://www.leerburg.com/all-natural%20kibble.htm


Again, the ingredients are what I focus on. I also gave you a link about the numbers.

P.S. I have never seen an acceptable food at a Petsmart. Maybe others have different experiences.