[Mr. Vega]

Originally Posted by Monkeymann_916

Dog Food Ratings - Where Does Your Favorite Rank?

This ranking was developed by a random owner of a Great Dane. I've seen this before. If my memory serves me correctly, she was an engineer or somethin like that. Not exactly an individual I'm gonna trust my dog's health with...

[Lara's mom]

Indeed! Thanks for the "heads up!"

[CorkyMax]

This is a link for books to buy on this subject---What is in dog food and other very informative books. I am not putting this address so people will buy from here---But it has a long list of dog books and will give you titles and a description of what is in the books--But it is a good place--I actually got over half the dog books I own from this place--about 9-10 yrs. ago. At that time it was in catalog form and then they discontinued sending catalogs in favor of going on the net. Anyway the link I am putting here is the section on dog food and what is in your dog's food, etc. The book Lara's Mom mentioned is there too. If you go back to the home page (after seeing this link--You will find many books listed on other subjects like training and behavior, etc. Welcome to Dogwise.com the web's #1 Dog Store!
I just noticed that at top of this page/link there are many books on sale --some pretty cheap and on many subjects but mostly about the different breeds---like How to take care of your Golden Retriever or a book on whatever breed you want to know about, etc.

[animalover]

Originally Posted by Mr. Vega

This ranking was developed by a random owner of a Great Dane. I've seen this before. If my memory serves me correctly, she was an engineer or somethin like that. Not exactly an individual I'm gonna trust my dog's health with...

Me too agree on your comment. Even I won't bet my dog's health with the ranking system.

[Pet food store owner]

When it comes to what i suggest for my customers, i have follow these 6 rules.

1) No byproducts
2) No seperated grains
3) No bad fats or bad preservatives
4) The 1st ingredient should be a good quality protein specific meal
5) Just because it is expensive, does not mean it is good
6) If they do not have their own facility, do not buy from them as they do not have total atomony of what goes into food.

I have used the first 5 rules for about 15 years and the last rule for about 7 years.

[greggypetty]

Originally Posted by GermanShepherdLover

What about Iams? I hear it is one of the best dog foods?

I think it is the best of the big brands. I know that there are better kinds out there, and feeding your dog natural food is good, but when you can only afford things like Pedigree or Iams, even with dogfood coupons, Iams is the best.

[CorkyMax]

This is a quote on Hill's from another dog forum I belong too:
Quote:
Ingredients
Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Flaxseed, Soybean Mill Run, Brewers Rice, Soybean Meal, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor, Powdered Cellulose, Fish Oil, Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Iodized Salt, DL-Methionine, Vitamin E Supplement, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), L-Threonine, Taurine, Soy Lecithin, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Tryptophan, L-Carnitine, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Chondroitin Sulfate, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Just take a quick look at the ingredients list. It also has a carbohydrate content of 46.9 %, which IMHO is way too much for a carnivorous diet. I would go back to a regular adult maintenance food with low carb and add some homecooked ingredients to it. Way easier on joints than all that garbage that's in Hill's. You can also add your own Glucosamine/Esther-C/Fish-Oil and if you supplement it yourself it's probably better quality anyways.(unquote)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by greggypetty

I think it is the best of the big brands. I know that there are better kinds out there, and feeding your dog natural food is good, but when you can only afford things like Pedigree or Iams, even with dogfood coupons, Iams is the best.

This company should not even be allowed to sell dog food!! For 1 reason--If you could see the video of what they do with the dogs they use in their 'testings'---You would never buy their product again! And I had pasted this article/video someplace. If I can find it again I will put it here! I could not even finish watching the video--It made me bawl!!

2ndly: It is a very poor quality--no nutrition crap of dog food!!

[CorkyMax]

Be forewarned----This is a very sad thing to see but if you want to see why Iams is horrible-----
IamsCruelty.com

On this page (of the link) esp. find the teal colored square (mid of page) with pic of many dogs with title (in gold):Iams: A Recipe for Cruelty. click on this video. Much other things to click on on this page too.

[Johnadam]

Pedigree is one of the best dog food but my dog eat chicken mixed with rice.

[Lara's mom]

I'm afraid I must disagree with you. Check out the ingredients in Pedigree as opposed to the premium brands. You may be surprised.

[CorkyMax]

I also think Pedigree is a bad dog food!! I think most 'commercial crap' is useless----I will only feed raw and home-cooked! BUT there are some out there that are better than others and Pedigree is not one of them!!

[CorkyMax]

What is Your Dog Eating? Did this article in an earlier post!

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Bad Dog Food
Ladies and gentleman, hold on to your hats. We’re about to tell you what bad dog food is, what’s in it, and who makes it. It’s not pretty.



The major dog food manufacturers are producing nothing but bad dog food. That may seem to be a grandiose claim, but there is a plethora of evidence to prove it. Behind the colorful bags, the jingles, the slogans, the commercials – major dog food brands supply one thing: bad dog food. It’s an injustice to all dogs and dog lovers. What these producers of bad dog food are really offering your favorite furry friend is a foul admixture of disgusting by-products and a cornucopia of toxic chemicals.



When cattle, chickens, lambs, swine, and other animals are slaughtered for food, it’s common that just the lean muscle is cut and used for human consumption. The left over carcass is then sent to a rendering plant, along with all the other waste that is around. This foul mess is rendered and will soon become bad dog food. What this amounts to is an appalling mixture of chicken feet, dead animals, euthanized dogs and cats, lungs, ligaments, beaks, teeth, intestines, and more. This bad dog food is cleaned up with the all-encompassing label of “meat-and-bone meal” and “by-products” on the outside of the bag.



Have you heard of the “4 D’s”? The “4 D’s” encompass the kind of cattle that are sent to rendering plants:

Dead
Dying
Diseased
Disabled
When all of this putrid material comes to the rendering plant, it's put in a huge vat and shredded. It’s then cooked at 220 to 270 degrees for 20 to 60 minutes. After it cools, the grease is skimmed off the top. This is "animal fat." The rest is pressed and dried. This is what’s called "meat and bone meal” and “by-products” – otherwise known as bad dog food.



Who’s Responsible?



Huge corporate conglomerates use pet food companies as a cheap and profitable way to dispose of waste produced by their human food companies:



Corporation
Pet Food Brands




Nestle
Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, Purina One

Heinz
9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature's Recipe

Colgate-Palmolive
Hill's Science Diet

Proctor & Gamble
Eukanuba, Iams

Mars
Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham's



So why do dogs eat this bad dog food? Their senses are being duped. To make this bad dog food pleasing to the eyes and noses of our canine pals is nothing more than a lesson in chemistry.



Some of the chemicals used in pet food include:

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) - known to cause liver and kidney dysfunction
BHT (butylated hydroxytolulene) - known to cause liver and kidney dysfunction
Ethoxyquin - suspected of causing cancer
Propylene glycol - causes the destruction of red blood cells
Some other things that may be added to bad dog food are:

Coloring agents
Drying agents
Flavoring agents
Lubricants
Texturizers
So who’s responsible? Who allows such practices to continue unabated? Who regulates the pet food industry? The answer is:

PFI – The Pet Food Institute
AAFCO – Association of American Feed Control Officials
FDA/CVM – The Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine
These agencies profess standards and measures for dog food manufacturers to uphold, but they DO NOT have the authority to enforce them. Therefore, there are no assurances of the quality of ingredients that the major dog food manufacturers are putting into their bad dog food.



About Commercial Dog Food

The Dog Food Project - Dog Food Label Information 101

[maquignon]

Blue Buffalo

[Mr. Vega]

"Have you heard of the “4 D’s”? The “4 D’s” encompass the kind of cattle that are sent to rendering plants:

Dead
Dying
Diseased
Disabled"


I am going to research this more. If it is the "leftovers" from beef cattle that are slaughtered for human consumption, than that is an impossible list. Any of the above would cause condemnation at slaughter and the animal would be rejected and sent back. I don't if slaughter houses exist for non-human consumption - and if they do, how tightly regulated they are. I'll get back to you on this.

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by Mr. Vega

"Have you heard of the “4 D’s”? The “4 D’s” encompass the kind of cattle that are sent to rendering plants:

Dead
Dying
Diseased
Disabled"


I am going to research this more. If it is the "leftovers" from beef cattle that are slaughtered for human consumption, than that is an impossible list. Any of the above would cause condemnation at slaughter and the animal would be rejected and sent back. I don't if slaughter houses exist for non-human consumption - and if they do, how tightly regulated they are. I'll get back to you on this.

I am assuming that the leftovers from the 'good' meat is just sent to this rendering place along with what was rejected for human consumption before it was slaughtered. My uncle (many years ago--He is dead now) was a rendering truck driver who picked up DEADanimals and took them to a rendering plant (Not a place where cattle that were still alive were taken for slaughter for human consumption.) I and his daughter (my double cousin--who is 1 month younger than me) use to ride along sometimes. We were about 6 yrs. old if I can remember right, and, lol/ugh---He use to tell us that the unborn calves were taken from the dead cows and made into 'hot dogs/weiners. I was at an age where that remark kept with me for a long time as I actually believed this at that tender age. This rendering plant had nothing to do with meat for human consumption. It was prob. a place that all kinds of dead stuff went to be made into dog food!!! And the unused parts that were leftover from the PROCESSING PLANTwhere they slaughtered and butchered good meat was/is taken to this horrible rendering plant (And I can still remember how bad it smelled and all the flies, ugh!!!

FROM 1ST POST: Note carefully how it is all worded:The left over carcass is then sent to a rendering plant, along with all the other waste that is around. This foul mess is rendered and will soon become bad dog food. What this amounts to is an appalling mixture of chicken feet, dead animals, euthanized dogs and cats, lungs, ligaments, beaks, teeth, intestines, and more. This bad dog food is cleaned up with the all-encompassing label of “meat-and-bone meal” and “by-products” on the outside of the bag.

[CorkyMax]

Rendering Plants
Recycling of Dead Animals and Slaughterhouse Wastes

Huge mass killing in modern slaughterhouses create a big pile of carcasses. Rendering plants are developed to get rid of them and other stuff from various sources. Let's take a peak at them...

Rendering Plants:

Rendering plants perform one of the most complementing functions for modern slaughterhouses. They recycle dead animals, slaughterhouse wastes, and supermarket rejects into various products known as recycled meat, bone meal, and animal fat. These products are sold as a source of protein and other nutrients in the diets of dairy animals, poultry, swine, pet foods, cattle feed, and sheep feed. Animal fat is also used in animal feeds as an energy source.

Besides, without running rendering plants nearby each modern slaughterhouse, our cities would run the risk of becoming filled with diseased and rotting carcasses. Fatal viruses and bacteria would spread uncontrolled through the population.

One estimate states that some 40 billion pounds of slaughterhouse wastes like blood, bone, and viscera, as well as the remains of millions of euthanised cats and dogs passed along by veterinarians and animal shelters, are rendered annually into livestock feed. This way they turn dairy cows, other cattle and hogs, which are natural herbivores (vegetarians), into unwitting carnivores (non-vegetarians).

This is a multibillion-dollar industry, and these facilities operate 24 hours a day just about everywhere in America, Europe and other parts of the world. They have been in operation for years. Yet so few of us have ever heard of them.

Raw Material:

The dead animals and slaughterhouses waste which rendering plants recycle includes:

Slaughterhouses waste such as heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, blood, bones, etc.

Thousands of euthanised cats and dogs from veterinarians and animal shelters

Dead animals such as skunks, rats, and raccoons

Carcasses of pets, livestock, poultry waste

Supermarket rejects

Along with the above material, the rendering plants unavoidably process toxic wastes as indicated below.

Toxic Waste:

The following menu of unwanted ingredients often accompany with dead animals and other raw material:

Pesticides via poisoned livestock

Euthanasia drugs that were given to pets

Some dead animals have flea collars containing organophosphate insecticides

Fish oil laced with bootleg DDT

Insecticide Dursban in the form of cattle insecticide patch

Other chemicals leaked from antibiotics in livestock

Heavy metals from pet ID tag, surgical pins and needles

Plastic from:

Styrofoam trays from packed unsold supermarket meats, chicken and fish

Cattle ID tags

Plastic insecticide patches

Green plastic bags containing dead pets from veterinarians

Skyrocketing labor costs are one of the economic factors forcing the corporate flesh-peddlers to cheat. It is far too costly for plant personnel to cut off flea collars or unwrap spoiled T-bone steaks. Every week, millions of packages of plastic-wrapped meat go through the rendering process and become one of the unwanted ingredients in animal feed.

Recycling Process:

The rendering plant floor is piled high with 'raw product' all waiting to be processed. In the 90-degree heat, the piles of dead animals seem to have a life of their own as millions of maggots swarm over the carcasses.

First the raw material is cut into small pieces and then transported to another auger for fine shredding. It is then cooked at 280 degrees for one hour. This process melts the meat away from bones in the hot 'soup.' This continuous batch cooking process goes on non-stop for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

During this cooking process, the soup produces fat of yellow grease or tallow (animal fat) that rises to the top and is skimmed off. The cooked meat and bone are sent to a hammermill press, which squeezes out the remaining moisture and pulverizes the product into a gritty powder. Shaker screens remove excess hair and large bone chips. Now the following three products are produced:

Recycled meat

Yellow grease (animal fat)

Bone meal

Since these foods are exclusively used to feed animals, most state agency spot check and test for truth in labeling such as: does the percentage of protein, phosphorous and calcium match the rendering plant's claims; do the percentages meet state requirements? However, testing for pesticides and other toxins in animal feeds is not done or is done incomplete.

Continued---------------------------->

[CorkyMax]

Recycled Products and Usage:

Every day, hundreds of rendering plants across the United States truck millions of tons of this 'food enhancer' to dairy industry, poultry ranches, cattle feed-lots, hog farms, fish-feed plants, and pet-food manufacturers. This food enhancer is mixed with other ingredients to feed the billions of animals.

Rendering plants have different specialties. Some product-label names are: meat meal, meat by-products, poultry meal, poultry by-products, fishmeal, fish oil, yellow grease, tallow, beef fat and chicken fat.

A 1991 USDA report states that approximately 7.9 billion pounds of meat, bone meal, blood meal, and feather meal was produced by rendering plants in 1983. Of that amount:

12 percent was used in dairy and beef cattle feed

34 percent was used in pet food

34 percent was used in poultry feed

20 percent was used in pig food

Scientific American cites a dramatic rise in the use of animal protein in commercial dairy feed since 1987.

The Story of North Carolina

In an article entitled "Greene County Animal Mortality Collection Ramp", states that: "With North Carolina ranking in the top seven states in the U.S. in the production of turkeys, hogs, broilers and layers, it has been recently estimated that over 85,000 tons of farm poultry and swine mortality must be disposed of annually.

To meet this disposal need, in 1989 the Green County Livestock Producers Association began using an animal carcass collection site. Livestock producers bring the dead animal and bird carcasses to the ramp and drop them into a water-tight truck with separate compartments for poultry and other livestock parked behind the retaining wall.

A local farmer, contracted by the Livestock Association, hauls the animal and bird mortality to the rendering plant each day and maintains the collection site. The rendering plant pays the Livestock Association each week based on the current prices of meat, bone, feather meal, and fat.

During the first 16 weeks of operation in 1989, over 1 million pounds or a weekly average of 65,000 pounds of dead animals and birds (mortality) were collected and sent to the rendering plant.

The end result of this very successful project is that Greene County livestock and poultry producers have a convenient, safe, and economical alternative to disposal of animal and bird mortality.

Now it must be very evident that the dairy cows are no longer vegetarian animals. The dairy industry feeds them recycled meat products, which is derived by recycling slaughterhouses waste and other dead animals such as millions of euthanised cats and dogs from veterinarians and animal shelters. Hence the milk produced by cows contains non-vegetarian elements.

Please send your feedback to author, Pravin K. Shah:
pkshah1@attglobal.net

[CorkyMax]

http://www.bornfreeusa.org/downloads...port_05-07.pdf

I had to come back in here after rereading all I have posted on this CRAP that is called DOG FOOD!!How can anybody give this crap/poison to their companion dog!!! To me this is another of the many obvious ridiculous things that goes on in this world!!!

[Baxter]

Wow. It's really hard to read the posts in here! My Baxter is 107lbs. and has really tried a lot of foods, thankfully not any listed with the graphic horror above. We have two larger breed Siberian huskies too, and they are all THRIVING on Rotations dog food. One reason I love this brand is truly because they are really open about what goes into the food, how ingredients were selected, and who the people are behind the scenes of making this food. Another thing they talk about on their website is how and why they make it (you can tell they own dogs too!). We have had incredible success with Rotations Adult dog food for all 3 of our large breed dogs (and we sure went through the ringer trying to find the best with other "premium" brands like TOTW, Artemis, Wellness, Canidae and more!).