Best dry kibble???

[voidecho]

I've definitely heard you don't want to be above 1.8% for calcium, maybe not even above 1.6%. I've also heard someone say that you don't want to exceed 3.5mg of calcium per 1000 kcal. If that's true, then the % needs to be much lower than 1.6%. For Orijen Large Breed Puppy food the calcium % would have to be 1.19% to meet this 3.5mg of calcium per 1000 kcal maximum. Not sure if there's any merit ot this recommendation.

As for Protein, I've heard Protein levels really don't matter than much. People avoid high Protein foods because they tend to also be higher in calcium.

 

[Smart_Family]

Yep you never want to feed calcium over 1.8% to a pup under 2. Ideally the level should be 1.4-1.6%.

 

[Ak3179]

Well I have it down to either Innova large breed,solid gold wolfking or Canidae all life stages.
Innova-protein 24% phosphorus .7% calcium .9%
Canidae all life stages-protein 24% phosphorus .90% calcium 1.20%
Solid gold wolfking-protein 22% phosphorus not sure, calcium 1.5%
Any thoughts????

 

[Smart_Family]

The innovas a little low in calcium. You want at least 1%

 

[cookiedough39]

Dog Food scores:
Alpo Prime Cuts / Score 81 C
Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy / Score 114 A+
Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Authority Harvest Baked Less Active / Score 93 B
Beowulf Back to Basics / Score 101 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice / Score 83 C
Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice / Score 106 A+
Burns Chicken and Brown Rice / Score 107 A+
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Diamond Performance / Score 85 C
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice / Score 106 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
EaglePack Holistic / Score 102 A+
Eukanuba Adult / Score 81 C
Eukanuba Puppy / Score 79 C
Flint River Senior / Score 101 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Innova Large Breed Puppy / Score 122 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Member's Mark Chicken and Rice / Score 84 C
Merrick Wilderness Blend / Score 127 A+
Nature's Recipe / Score 100 A
Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice / Score 116 A+
Nature's Variety Raw Instinct / Score 122 A+
Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice / Score 81 C
Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy / Score 101 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Max Adult / Score 93 B
Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice / Score 98 A
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free / Score 86 B
Nutro Natural Choice Senior / Score 95 A
Nutro Ultra Adult / Score 104 A+
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry / Score 109 A+
Pro Nature Puppy / Score 80 C
Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach / Score 94 A
Purina Benful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Purina One Large Breed Puppy / Score 62 F
Royal Canin Boxer / Score 103 A+
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Solid Gold / Score 99 A
Summit / Score 99 A
Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry / Score 120 A+
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

 

[Smart_Family]

It's great to know how a food scores but a food being an "A" doesn't mean it's the best choice for a growing mastiff.

 

[voidecho]

Where's the scores come from? Do they have Earthborn, Orijen or Acana scored?

 

[Smart_Family]

It's been posted all over. There was a criteria for adding and subtracting points based on ingredients and what not. They just used some random foods.

 

[Yamizuma]

We picked out Blue Buffalo lamb and brown rice...which I thought hit all the right notes...but now I'm quite confused.

 

[tb44]

I also feed blue buffalo but I'm switching after reading this Dog food alert, Blue Buffalo included..

 

[voidecho]

So I found the formula and it looks like Orijen Six Fish would score around 128 or so and that's without getting any of the extra points for Barley, Flax Seed Oil, Oats, and Sunflower Oil. It obviously won't have Barley and Oats since it's grain free and per Orijen, Flax Seed and Sunflower oils are useless for dogs and cats as they don't have the enzymes to convert inactive ALA (found in plants) to active EPA and DHA (found in animals). Doesn't sound like extra points should really be awarded for those two things. Not unless they're going to award extra points for other animal based sources of Omega 3's. I'm surprised the forumula doesn't give extra points for Probiotics and Chelated Minerals.

 

[Ak3179]

It's great to know how a food scores but a food being an "A" doesn't mean it's the best choice for a growing mastiff.

very very true!!

 

[Ak3179]

The innovas a little low in calcium. You want at least 1%

since the calcium level is .1% to low is that really gonna make a differance? The Wolfking phos was 1.2. It really looks like the best out of the 3 would be the Solid Gold Wolfking or the Wolf Cub. The only differance between the Solid Gold puppy and the Adult is that the Adult protein is 22% and the puppy protein is 26%.

 

[Ak3179]

I have been doing a lot more research and have seen that their is a lot of people that are saying that the Canidae ALS formula is not what it used to be and i have read that a lot of larger bree dogs did not to to well and have allergies to it.

 

[Smart_Family]

That .1% does add up over a week. 1% is the minimum calcium recommended but the ideal level for good steady growth is 1.4-1.6%

 

[cookiedough39]

I feed my puppy innova large breed puppy. 3 reasons. How its scored, she loves it, and her stool looks great.

 

[cookiedough39]

I wanted to give my pup orijen but the vet told me its a little high in protein for large breed mastiffs because of how fast they grow. Not saying its bad, just stating what vet told me.

 

[Smart_Family]

Most vets have a very brief education in nutrition, which is understandable with all they have to learn in such a short period of time. It's actually calcium not protein that affects growth which is why the calcium levels and ratios of calcium to phosphorus are so important.

 

[mmyrto]

I feed Acana (pacifica or wild prairie for growing pups) same company as Orijen but a bit less expensive. Im pretty happy with it.

 

[MJT]

who scores these? We just switched to Diamond Large Breed 60+ from Purina One...so that's an improvement huh?