Last week I began switching my dog’s food from Purina One lamb and rice to Nature’s Variety Instinct duck and turkey.
Nature’s Variety Instinct is a grain-free dog food with no by-products. I chose this food because I like that it has a raw option. Eventually I plan to feed Ace raw food several times per week.
My two cats are also eating Nature’s Variety Instinct. It is my responsibility to provide all my animals with the best quality diet.
Below is a link to a dog food rating worksheet sent to me by a reader where you can score your pet’s food based on the food’s ingredients:
How does your dog’s food rate?
The worksheet is very straightforward and will give you an idea of how healthy your dog’s food is. You start with a score of 100 and subtract and add points based on the food’s ingredients. For example, for every by-product listed, you will subtract 10 points. For every nonspecified animal source, you will subtract another 10 points, etc.
If you usually throw the bag away, that’s OK because most dog food companies list their ingredients online.
Of course, the worksheet will only give you a general idea of how healthy your dog’s food is. Use it as a guidance.
If you are too lazy to complete the math, many popular foods and their scores are listed at the end of the worksheet.
No surprise here, but Purina One lamb and rice scored a big, bold F! The food contains a lot of corn and by-products, so go figure. The food failed the test by about the fourth question!
Nature’s Variety Instinct received more than a perfect score. I took off one point because it contained salt (sea salt), but the brand got extra credit for containing specific animal protein sources such as turkey, duck and salmon and for containing actual fruit such as cranberries and blueberries.
Of course, I did not need the worksheet to know which food to feed my dog, but it’s still a fun exercise to try. For some surprising information on what to look for in your dog’s food, check out my post on dog food ingredients.
I feel much better now that my dog is eating natural dog food, but don’t feel bad if your dog eats a lower-quality food. You can always mix it with a healthy dog food so your dog gets the good nutrients at a lower monthly cost.
Thank you Christie (and Buddy, pictured) for sending me the dog food rating worksheet.
What kind of food does your dog eat? How does it score on the dog food rating worksheet?
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December 3rd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Hey! Great to see you are going to put Ace on some raw food. Let us know how he likes it!
Just for kicks, I evaluated Biggie’s homemade raw diet -it scored about 120+. If I switched to organic meat I think we’d be over 130. The kibble we use when we use kibble (which hasn’t been in over a year now, since Biggie’s kennel and day care will feed raw), is Innova EVO which scores about a 114+, which is pretty darn good, too!
But I have to say Biggie’s teeth, coat and poop are much better on raw as compared to Evo, and he is much happier with raw. I would not be surprised if Ace starts turning his nose up at the kibble once he gets a taste of raw!
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:41 pm
I switched my dogs to Natural Balance right after this list came out after talking to people at the pet food store. Strangely it is less expensive than the food I was feeding them, a food that is highly advertised.
I do respect those who feed raw, but it isn’t for me.
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Hey Biggie, I can’t wait to feed Ace raw food. I am going to mix it with kibble at first and see how it goes. For now, I’m just getting him used to the quality kibble before adding anything too drastic. I can’t imagine Ace turning down any food, but we’ll see!
Jan, some vets have told me “the more you pay for dog food, the better it is.” Um …
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:42 pm
We have been feeding our two dogs, Ike a purebred Mini Schnauzer, and Wally a Schnoodle, Natural Balance for years. We have been very happy and the pups seem to be as well. They are in great shape and have no digestive problems. Their coats look show ready. They also have better consistency with their stool on this food.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Glad to hear you found a food that works well for your dogs!
December 4th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
You should write more on how to transition your dog from one food to another.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Good point! When switching a dog’s food, it should always be mixed in with the old food, just a little at first and then slowly more and more of the new food. I like to stretch this process out over a few weeks. Most dogs will get an upset stomach if they go from one food to the next too fast.
December 4th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Hello there Lindsay,
I recently came across your blog a few days ago, and about the same time I also started a “dog blog.” I would love to exchange letters sometime. Anyhow, in responding to your post, I first started my dog out on Purina Dog Chow (yuk!). After some research, she now eats foods like Blue Buffalo and Canidae. Glory likes to switch it up though, so we often get a new brand or flavor every month…but Blue Buffalo and Canidae are her favorites. I then mix it with some wet food, or even some of my own food, and….voila!
December 4th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Hi Lindsay,
Nature’s Variety has coupons on their website for buy one, get one free. I think it’s probably a one time deal, but a good deal! I also give my older cat a little for a mid-day snack…she loves it!
I recently picked up some of the frozen raw food for my dog’s to try. I mixed it in with their kibble and they gobbled it right up. My dogs are grazers and it helps when I have a foster that can’t have food left out for them, or just for a nice treat from time to time. I will say that I think it smells horrible, but I’m not much of a meat-eater myself
December 4th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Thanks, Christina, I’ll have to check out your blog. I’ve heard great things about Canidae. There’s nothing wrong with switching it up, though!
Jamie, I know Ace is going to love the raw food! I can’t wait to try it with him and the cats, too. I don’t eat very much meat either. The only meat I buy is for my animals. I will definitely go look for those coupons. Thanks!
December 5th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
We use Wellness Super 5 Mix & add a little bit of oil. We chose it because it was well-rated, and so far, so good. Shiny, healthy coat. Less (& easier to deal with) poop than from the IAMs stuff she came to us eating.
I also throw in some “real” food from time to time – yogurt, chicken, cottage cheese, fish, etc. Last night, we had extra chicken broth that we put in there. Now that was popular. The food additions are not too much or so often that it’s expected every meal, but often enough that there is always the “Hmmmm, what’s in my bowl now factor?”
As for switching, my method is assume 2/3 old + 1/3 new for about 5 days, 1/3 old + 2/3 new for another 5 days, then move to the new stuff. Then pay careful attention to symptoms of digestive problems or upset stomach and adjust accordingly. Some dogs need more time in transition. Some could move even a little faster. But no reason to rush and risk problems.
Lindsay, I look forward to hearing about how your raw food diet goes! I suspect that I don’t have the time or resources to commit to the shopping and prep involved, and I’m eager to get your report about it once you’ve been trying for a bit.
Ideally, I’d like to take a month or two to try it out, even if it’s just a break from the usual, but a part of me is afraid that she’ll resist going back to the kibble after. Intellectually, I know that you transition back slowly anyway, Lady is *not* remotely picky (gotta love labs), and that if a dog is hungry, eventually he or she will stop “holding out” for the better stuff. Still, I have that irrational fear that she’d become a food snob such that it becomes an “issue.”
December 5th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Your switching method is a good one. I am not that scientific about it. As long as my dog is slowly introduced to the new food over a week or two, he is fine. Sometimes I just mix the two bags so it’s pretty much half and half.
The raw diet I plan to go with is preprepared so all I have to do is pull a frozen “patty” out and give it to my dog. How’s that for easy? I trust Nature’s Variety more than I trust myself to come up with the proper raw ingredients on my own.
I’m glad you understand that eventually a dog will eat if she’s hungry. It annoys me when people don’t realize this and begin to mix “goodies” in with their dog’s food just because she skipped one meal. That’s a great way to train the dog not to eat her kibble – better food will be on the way if she doesn’t eat it!
December 6th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Will someone please explain to me why all this enthusiasm for feeding dogs raw food? Is it politically correct? A “green” thing? As I understand it,dogs are social animals, adapted over thousands of years to form a joint venture with humans. In other words, a collaboration with a species that for a very long time has mostly eaten cooked food, the leavings of which they have fed to their dogs.
Please understand, this is not a criticism, just a question.
December 6th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Barry,
I’m no expert, but I think there are different motivations of people advocating for a raw food diet for dogs.
There are those who think *people* should be eating an essentially raw food diet too. And anyone who thinks people should be eating raw food, likely thinks dogs should too.
Leaving those folks aside, because I think they are a distinct minority, next we get to those who think that it’s healthier and safer to eat freshly prepared food over processed food. I think most people would agree that this is appropriate for *people* to strive for. As for dogs, I think you wind up balancing your time & resources for providing non-processed food with the concern that you might not provide the dog with an appropriate nutritional balance if you just wing it. That’s why, I imagine, Lindsay has chosen a pre-prepared formula. Takes out the prep time AND the need to calculate/measure nutrients.
For me, I don’t eat a lot of processed food myself. When I’ve been more serious about training for sports, I’ve been especially clean in my diet at a level I’m not reaching now (e.g., logging everyday, hitting certain protein targets, proper fat %, etc.). I know that due to my job, right now, I’m not quite that clean or balanced in my OWN diet, and I wouldn’t think that I could achieve that balance for my dog either. I know Lindsay has written about this before: yes, it’s good to be noble about your dog’s diet, but think first about how you are even able to manage your own first!
As for raw food versus what I’ll call “regular non-processed food,” I think that the motivation behind the raw food diet for dogs is that:
(1) The food tastes best to dog raw; and
(2) All cooking methods remove some nutrients from food.
Sure, you’ll hear some people talk about raw food as though it is what dogs or wolves may eat in the wild. But I don’t really think that’s the point, since as you’ve noted, dogs have been scavengers for thousands of years, so they are used to eating all sorts of cooked and uncooked scraps. And I’m pretty sure that feral dogs now wind up with that same diet.
So based on that, I think the raw food diet – to the extent it has nutritional merit – is about what tastes best to the dogs while providing them with the best nutritional profile from the food.
December 6th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Barry, A raw diet is natural for dogs as it is what wolves would eat in the wild. But beyond that, a raw diet is healthiest for humans, cats and so many other animals because when food is cooked it loses important enzymes that help us absorb the food. Remember that although we have been eating cooked food in recent history, humans as a whole have eaten raw food for the majority of our existence.
But a raw diet is the healthiest diet only if it is done properly. Obviously we need to eat a balanced diet, and so do our dogs. Feeding a dog raw hamburger every meal and calling it good will only result in a sick dog. Vets usually don’t recommend a raw diet for dogs simply because vets are aware that most people are not willing to do the research and take the time to feed their dogs a balanced raw diet. There are plenty of quality dry foods out there that are not quite as ideal, but not so bad, either. And it’s much easier.
I first became interested in a raw diet for myself when I read about it from a blogger named Steve Pavlina: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/12/30-days-raw/
As for dogs, here is a good article on why you should feed your dog a raw diet from my friend Biggie: http://biggiezblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-go-raw-pros-and-cons-of-switching.html
I don’t know if eating raw is more “green.” I suppose it is because it encourages the availability of more organic foods.
December 6th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Thanks for your response, Shay. I think for the most part we are on the same page. You are exactly right, I am going with the pre-prepared food because I don’t want to deal with creating a balanced diet for my dog on my own. I have a hard enough time feeding myself! I try to stay away from processed food as much as I can … although I love Kraft macaroni …
As for my dog, he would probably eat pretty much anything!
December 8th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Lindsay and anyone else considering the switch:
to go TO raw, you can just start feeding them 100% raw, there is no need to transition slowly! It is only when you go FROM raw TO kibble that you MUST transition the dog SLOWLY onto kibble again. You do this by adding 1/4 cup to their diet, per day, and reducing the corresponding amount of raw food.
I think that also answers Barry’s question to some degree – a raw diet is much easier for your dog to digest.
December 8th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Shay –
It’s pretty easy to feed make-at-home raw that’s balanced. Throw some meat, throw some veg, add a little yogurt and there you are. I work a pretty crazy job and we always joke that the dog eats better than we do. We have a friend who feeds the patties, and she said they smell a little, especially if they’ve been defrosted too long and aren’t eaten. ick!
Biggie eats anything that is food – he is the most food-oriented dog I know and he loves to eat – but there is such joy when he eats raw (as opposed to regular happiness with kibble) that I really enjoy s being a part of that ritual for him. He RUNS to his crate and sits pretty for his dinner.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Thanks for the info, Biggie! Very helpful as always.
December 25th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Thanks to those who troubled to respond to my question/comment on raw vs. cooked food for dogs. I must say, though, that I remain unconvinced. When serious research confirms that health and longevity are both served by raw diets–for either humans or dogs–I’ll be more willing to take this seriously. I’m inclined to think balance and moderation for both species makes the most sense. I like raw fruits and vegetables IN my diet, not AS my diet.
December 25th, 2009 at 10:46 am
No problem, Barry! I think we can all agree that you can’t go wrong eating a balanced meal that includes a lot of fruits and vegetables and as few processed foods as possible.
As for a healthy raw diet, it should be balanced to include protein, fat, carbs, etc. It is not easy to do. I certainly have never been able to maintain it.
January 30th, 2010 at 8:40 am
I also recently began researching dog food and quickly took my dog off of Pedigree. I can’t believe that I fed him such a substandard kibble for so long! Now he eats The Honest Kitchen’s raw, dehydrated dog food.