# Had a little talk with Petco Manager today regarding Dogfoodanalysis.com....



## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

I don't put a lot of stock into that site either. We also feed Iams, which of course they don't rate too well at all. We tried Tucker on so many of the foods that dogfoodanalysis.com rated pretty high, but he didn't do well on any of them. His stools were a mess and he even had flaky skin and ear problems on some of them. We started him on Iams back in April and all of those problems went away almost immediately. We now have a perfectly healthy and happy Golden. Our cats have been on the Iams Multicat formula for years and they are all perfectly healthy. It sounds like you got the PetCo manager pretty flustered! :bowl:


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

jwemt81 said:


> I don't put a lot of stock into that site either. We also feed Iams, which of course they don't rate too well at all. We tried Tucker on so many of the foods that dogfoodanalysis.com rated pretty high, but he didn't do well on any of them. His stools were a mess and he even had flaky skin and ear problems on some of them. We started him on Iams back in April and all of those problems went away almost immediately. We now have a perfectly healthy and happy Golden. Our cats have been on the Iams Multicat formula for years and they are all perfectly healthy. It sounds like you the PetCo manager pretty flustered! :bowl:


Ah well... I would say something and he would say..."uh huh". Pause. I would say something else. He would say "uh huh". Uncomfortable pause. So finally I said..."oh well...its fine...I just thought it a little self-destructive, is all.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

I'll have to remember to check and see if they posted that chart in our PetCo the next time we're there for food!


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## jenlaur (Jun 24, 2009)

I have a comment about Petco in general that is not about dogs or dog food but another example of self-destructiveness (is that a word?). Anyway, I was at the Petco in another town and they were having a cat adoption event. Except that all the cats were behind glass enclosures and you could only visit them once you checked in. Looked like there was only room for 1 or 2 people to visit with the kitties at a time. Being a cat lover and owner of 6 adopted cat I am of the belief that these little guys needing homes should be exposed to as many people as they can so that someone looking can have a chance to get close to and bond with a hopeful adoptee. I mentioned to the staff that it might be hard to choose a kitty with a glass wall in between you and the cat and I got the glazed look with the response that it was safer for the cats. The day I was there I saw very few people venturing into the glass rooms to meet with cats. I am sure many kitties did not find homes that day. Not sure if all Petcos are like this but I thought it was a poor way to make a dent in the homeless cats problem.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I went over to the dogfoodanalysis.com site to look around. I checked out Hank's Innova LBP, then wanted to see where Iams ranked since it's "rated #1" according to Petco???? It has a 1 Star rating. How can that be the #1 choice?


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

Feed what your pet does best on. Mine have been getting the evil kibble Purina Pro Plan for _years. _It's never rated highly on any of the sites, which always push some trendy/natural/holistic/magical food or another.


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## Emma&Tilly (May 15, 2005)

Food considered 'premium' in this country rate a not too impressive 3 stars (JWB and Burns) and the food I am currently feeding (Skinners) falls into that rating too...I can sleep at night knowing my dogs do perfectly well on their food...I don't think I could afford to feed a 6 star food like Orijen, I think you can have it imported for about £47 (75 USD) for a 13kg bag but it could well bankrupt me!


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Willow52 said:


> I went over to the dogfoodanalysis.com site to look around. I checked out Hank's Innova LBP, then wanted to see where Iams ranked since it's "rated #1" according to Petco???? It has a 1 Star rating. How can that be the #1 choice?


I'm sorry, I was saying that the "dogfoodanalysis" website was posted by Solid Gold.


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## pokey (Sep 4, 2009)

The 6 star foods are the grain free food. I think the site only looks at ingredients for there ratings, not how well dogs do on it. I do feed a grain free food for one at the moment, but not because it is rated well. I was more interested in finding a food that works well for each of my dogs individually; if that means feeding a 3 star food, so be it!


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## Emma&Tilly (May 15, 2005)

pokey said:


> I was more interested in finding a food that works well for each of my dogs individually; if that means feeding a 3 star food, so be it!


I'm sure my dogs would do very well, maybe better, on a 6 star food...for me my choice of food is mainly dictated by what I can afford to feed them. Tilly has a cast iron stomach that I'm sure would tolerate most kibble recipes and Im sure she would thrive on a grain-free food but it just aint in the budget at the moment! I would love to be able to see a direct comparison of Tilly on her normal food compared to what she would be like having been fed a grain-free food for all these years, just to see if there were any noticable differences in coat and energy levels and what not. The dogs _seem_ fine on their current food...nice coats, lots of energy, regular 'movements'...Im not sure what else to look for or what would be improved if they were on a higher quality kibble. I suppose you can't see whats going on on the inside though...


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Pointgold said:


> Feed what your pet does best on. Mine have been getting the evil kibble Purina Pro Plan for _years. _It's never rated highly on any of the sites, which always push some trendy/natural/holistic/magical food or another.


I couldn't agree more! Our GSD eats Pro Plan and does wonderfully on it. Tucker does great on his Iams. Of course, that site rates both of those foods horribly, which I think is just plain ridiculous. All I care about is that our dogs do well on the foods that they are on. Iams has been our savior for Tucker. We tried a couple of holistic and natural foods (which were rated very high) and I was constantly cleaning up mushy poop. It was WAY too rich.


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## msdogs1976 (Dec 21, 2007)

pokey said:


> The 6 star foods are the grain free food. I think the site only looks at ingredients for there ratings, not how well dogs do on it. I do feed a grain free food for one at the moment, but not because it is rated well. I was more interested in finding a food that works well for each of my dogs individually; if that means feeding a 3 star food, so be it!


No grains or few grains is their philosophy so take their ratings with a 'grain' of salt.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

I'm with the "feed your dog what works" people. I tried Flora on "high quality" food that dogfoodanalysis rated 4 or 5 stars, and Flora had horrible diarrhea the whole time. I've now got her on Purina ProPlan, which is probably rated -10 by dfa.com, and she's been doing great.


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## T&T (Feb 28, 2008)

It's good to see consumers researching ingredients more & more
We have to stay on top of food companies and their tricks of the trade
I don't promote any food in particular and my criteria is based on my dog's carnivorous anatomy
I do stay away from by-products, artificial preservatives & colors
Pets are more than ever suffering from degenerative diseases, something is definitely wrong out there


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

jenlaur said:


> I have a comment about Petco in general that is not about dogs or dog food but another example of self-destructiveness (is that a word?). Anyway, I was at the Petco in another town and they were having a cat adoption event. Except that all the cats were behind glass enclosures and you could only visit them once you checked in. Looked like there was only room for 1 or 2 people to visit with the kitties at a time. Being a cat lover and owner of 6 adopted cat I am of the belief that these little guys needing homes should be exposed to as many people as they can so that someone looking can have a chance to get close to and bond with a hopeful adoptee. I mentioned to the staff that it might be hard to choose a kitty with a glass wall in between you and the cat and I got the glazed look with the response that it was safer for the cats. The day I was there I saw very few people venturing into the glass rooms to meet with cats. I am sure many kitties did not find homes that day. Not sure if all Petcos are like this but I thought it was a poor way to make a dent in the homeless cats problem.


Maybe they are doing it this way after a few incidents where animals were stolen from Petco adoption events. One incident occurred at the nearest Petco to me--someone came in before Halloween a couple of years ago and took a black cat available for adoption. It was caught on camera. This cat wasn't a rare breed or anything, just a homeless cat! Unfortunately I'm afraid that poor cat was probably tortured/abused/killed for some Halloween thing.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Grains are not ideal for dogs, that's why. 

Luckily I am now once again able to feed raw, and my German Shepherd is being raised on it. He ate a small whole chicken today.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I was looking at it from a business sense view. I can see a holistic-oriented business promoting dogfoodanalysis. But a place who's shelf space is mostly taken up with Iams, Purina, Science Diet, beneful, and Nutro? They do sell holistic but not a lot compared to the commercial. 

Why would you send customers to an internet site that promotes the foods you mostly don't sell?


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

AquaClaraCanines said:


> Grains are not ideal for dogs, that's why.
> 
> Luckily I am now once again able to feed raw, and my German Shepherd is being raised on it. He ate a small whole chicken today.



Jenna, you need the snakes in your siggy too. : )


My previous goldens all lived to be 12, 12 and 14 on Purina. 

When I got Selka, my breeder fed Nutromax. My kids were grown and I had more money to spend on my dog's food rather than my children.

After being here on GRF, I learned more about foods,and illnesses prevalent in our wonderful breed. I switched to Nature's Variety, a high quality food originating and made right here in Lincoln. Then I couldn't work, and NV went sky high. I switched to Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato, thinking it was close to NV but less expensive. Gunner reacted by scratching like crazy, his hair fell out and he lost 15 pounds. Quickly I got them back on NV regardless of price. I was willing to give up whatever I needed to get my boy back to his old self. Now his coat is back thick and gorgeous and he's at his healthy weight. God willing, I'll never have to change food again.

Go with what your goldens do best on!


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

AquaClaraCanines said:


> Grains are not ideal for dogs, that's why.
> 
> Luckily I am now once again able to feed raw, and my German Shepherd is being raised on it. He ate a small whole chicken today.


I was finding raw too inconvenient - particularly on the road (keeping a separate dog food cooler) and then too much planning when I was home, I'd forget to thaw it before I left for work, etc. I found the grain-free kibbles (Evo, Core, Orijen, etc) to be unsuitable for my dogs - I was sort of stuck. I switched them a few weeks ago to the honest kitchen foods. Harder to find - but - wow, love it. Just did my first "away" weekend with the HK and it was a piece of cake - 5-10 minutes to rehydrate, it smells nice (looks like raw once it's hydrated) but I don't have the skeevy salmonella concerns I had with the purely raw. 

The best of both worlds for me...

When did you get a german shepherd?

E


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

> Go with what your goldens do best on!


Agree. 

I just got an email from our veterinary clinic offering to enroll Barkley, our 12 1/4 yo in a research testing program for dog kibble. They are looking for dogs over 7 years that are not on prescription food to taste test a new food for 4 months. The testing company provides the food, $340 in cash and $1200 worth of lab work. We won't participate because Barkley is doing so well on his current food and no telling what a "mystery" free food would do to his allergies. Besides, he's not very fond of getting his blood drawn and urine collected.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

*Spirit*



MurphyTeller said:


> When did you get a german shepherd?


August 18, 2009

Bi-color Long Coated, mostly working lines.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

MurphyTeller said:


> I switched them a few weeks ago to the honest kitchen foods. Harder to find - but - wow, love it. Just did my first "away" weekend with the HK and it was a piece of cake - 5-10 minutes to rehydrate, it smells nice (looks like raw once it's hydrated) but I don't have the skeevy salmonella concerns I had with the purely raw.
> 
> The best of both worlds for me...



I feed mainly raw meaty bones, etc, but I do give my dogs a half cup of THK very morning for breakfast because it's easier to mix any supplements, etc, I may want to give them at anytime. 

We LOVED only having to bring a box of THK on our road trip to Texas with us... much easier than having to bring a large cooler and keep meat from defrosting. I recommend it to any raw feeders for trips and stuff!

I am of the mentality that dogs need a meat heavy diet and grains are not necessary, though I don't think they are harmful unless your dog has grain allergies like mine does. While I do prefer to give my dogs a premium diet and would not feed many of the lower end kibbles myself, I do understand the struggles with finding the "right" food for a dog and wouldn't put anyone down for feeding a commercial kibble if it was what worked for their dog the best.


And on the subject of this post (lol funny how we get so off track) I think that Petco was perhaps trying to hype and sell Solid Gold if they just started selling it, so it makes sense they'd list it as a #1 pick on a website, even if that site may have some conflicting ratings for other brands they sell... I would imagine many people looking for a new dog food or something would see the sign and never even go look at the website, but take the posted sign at face value and try a food listed as #1 on a website as official sounding as "dogfoodanalysis". Who knows though. Petco employees are not anyone I'd go to for dog food advice.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I learned a huge lesson from my vet about all this. After arguing with him the merits of Eagle Pack Hollistic while struggling to get Tally's CBC normal for red blood cells/platlets after a bout of tick borne stuff, my vet finally demanded that I feed Eukanuba Premium Performance Sporting Dog for 6 weeks and then retest blood. Low and behold, Tally's first EVER normal blood test in his life. There were no other variables, so now I question if the Eagle Pack had enough iron for an active dog??? Finn has had normal CBCs all his life, but on the last one his red blood cells too were lower than normal, though still passing. The Premium Performance seemed to work some magic, just like my vet expected. It is REALLY high in calories though.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Ljilly28 said:


> I learned a huge lesson from my vet about all this. After arguing with him the merits of Eagle Pack Hollistic while struggling to get Tally's CBC normal for red blood cells/platlets after a bout of tick borne stuff, my vet finally demanded that I feed Eukanuba Premium Performance Sporting Dog for 6 weeks and then retest blood. Low and behold, Tally's first EVER normal blood test in his life. There were no other variables, so now I question if the Eagle Pack had enough iron for an active dog??? Finn has had normal CBCs all his life, but on the last one his red blood cells too were lower than normal, though still passing. The Premium Performance seemed to work some magic, just like my vet expected. It is REALLY high in calories though.


 
Very interesting Jill. It's too bad that Euk. doesn't list the iron values (that I can see anyway) It would be interesting to compare to some other foods. I would venture a guess that the difference is the 30% protein. I think ( from memory as I can't access the website now) that the Euk has ~420 cals/ cup which is less than the Innova adult of 504.... which again has me thinking protein level. Again, I find this fascinating and thinking about my AIHA boy. His CBC's have been normal on a lesser protein level but always stuffing info on that ole back burner.


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## Pudden (Dec 28, 2008)

Jenna - cute pup! 
When you feed him a whole chicken, I assume it's raw? And how about the bones? Do you worry about him swallowing whole bones or bone splinters? 

I give the Pud raw meat as well, but because she is such a gobbler, I'm always worried about bones...


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

I just take it out of the freezer, let it thaw for about half an hour or so, and throw it on the deck still cold and with some slightly frozen patches! He LOVES it and it keeps him busy! Yes, raw of course  I don't worry about raw bones. 

Holiday is obsessed with frozen turkey necks and frozen brussel's sprouts (weird dog! lol)


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