To be honest, not long ago I was feeding them Alpo, Kibbles ‘N Bits, and the like. After reading some of the articles and ratings on this site, I began buying better quality brands like Merrick, Halo, and Dogswell. I did check out some of the links you included, but I’m not quite ready to go the Raw or Homemade route right now. (maybe someday). At least the knowledge I’ve gained so far from this site and people like yourself have helped improve doggies diets from the Alpo days.

If you’re wanting commercial kibble and canned, Nature’s Logic seems to be high-quality (although not organic). They also have raw formulas and whole-food supplements.

Paw Naturaw Organic (Raw) is USDA Certified Organic, although they use some chemically-synthesized vitamins/minerals; and they have customer service issues.

I am an advocate of REAL FOOD, species-appropriate nutrition, so I believe a balanced raw homemade diet is best for dogs, using ingredients that are organic. My dog just ate a whole organic raw chicken. I feed primarily raw meat, fat, bones and organs.

KNOW YOUR FARMER, KNOW YOUR FOOD – check out farms at the links below. Some farms even make dog food to your specifications from clean, organically raised/grown animals and plants:
http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html
http://www.pickyourown.org/statelist.htm#statelist
Or you can purchase your own bulk food through a co-op: http://www.dogaware.com/diet/rawgroups.html

Veterinarian Karen Becker has a video where she rates the Best to Worst Types of Dog Food.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/karen-becker-best-worst-dog-food/
According to Dr. Becker,
1st BEST is a balanced raw homemade diet (unadulterated, unprocessed)
2nd BEST is a commercial balanced raw diet
3rd BEST is a balanced cooked homemade diet
Further down her list – toward WORST – are canned foods and dry foods. Her ratings having nothing to do with source of ingredients. But I know I’d rather have a clean hunk of grass-fed, grass-finished beef that isn’t loaded with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and worse.

Pretty scary – it seems that no matter which brand we choose there will always be questionable ingredients or quality or origin…

Are there any brands you recommend that may be “less risky”?

I would also question the quality of the Beef, Salmon and Nutrient Supplements in the containers you purchased. Salmon is likely farm-raised in nasty conditions with inferior feed. Beef is likely full of antibiotic, hormone, and pesticide residue (at the very least). Chemically-synthesized vitamins/minerals have potential toxins.

I wouldn’t feed it to my dog.

I did read your recent article about ingredients from China (http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/dog-food-chin/)

Here’s another interesting article on the subject…
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/pet-food-customer-service-test.html