Rating: 
Dad’s Dog Food earns the Advisor’s lowest rating of 1 star.
The Dad’s Dog Food product line includes four dry kibbles, each meeting AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages.
- Dad’s Trail Mix Dog Food
- Dad’s Bite Size Meal Dog Food
- Dad’s Healthy Homestyle Dog Food
- Dad’s Natural Big Dog Chunx Dog Food
Dad’s Healthy Homestyle Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Dad's Trail Mix
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Ground yellow corn, soybean meal, beef meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA), chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, natural flavor (source of liver flavor), dicalcium phosphate, dried beet pulp, salt, calcium carbonate, dried cheese powder, iron oxide, artificial color (red #40, yellow #5 & #6, blue #2), vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), niacin, manganese sulfate, natural flavor (source of bacon flavor), copper sulfate, d-calcium pantothenate, biotin, sodium selenite, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), vitamin B12 supplement, potassium iodide, cobalt sulfate, folic acid
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4.5%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 21% | 10% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 24% | 11% | 57% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 22% | 26% | 52% |
The first ingredient in this dog food is corn. Corn is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain of only modest nutritional value to a dog.
For this reason, we do not consider corn a preferred component in any dog food.
The second ingredient soybean meal. Soybean meal is actually a useful by-product. It’s what remains of soybeans after all the oil has been removed.
Soybean meal contains 48% protein. However, compared to meat, this item is considered an inferior plant-based protein providing a lower biological value.
The third ingredient includes beef meal. Beef meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh beef.
The fourth item is animal fat. Animal fat is a generic by-product of rendering… the same high-temperature process used to make meat meals.
Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this item could come from almost anywhere… restaurant grease, slaughterhouse waste, diseased cattle… even euthanized pets.
And to make matters yet worse, this fat is preserved with BHA… a suspected carcinogen (cancer-causing agent).
We do not consider generic animal fat (especially when preserved in this way) a quality ingredient.
The fifth ingredient is chicken by-product meal… a dry rendered product of slaughterhouse waste. It’s made from what’s left of a slaughtered chicken after all the prime cuts have been removed.
In a nutshell, chicken by-products are those unsavory leftovers usually considered “unfit for human consumption”.
This stuff can contain almost anything — feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs — anything (that is) but skeletal muscle (real meat).
On the brighter side, by-product meals are meat concentrates with protein content similar to the beef meal previously mentioned.
The sixth ingredient is corn gluten meal. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once corn has had most of its starchy carbohydrate washed out of it.
Compared to meat, glutens are inferior grain-based proteins lower in many of the essential amino acids dogs need for life.
This inexpensive plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein content reported in this dog food.
After the natural flavor, we find dicalcium phosphate, likely used here as a dietary calcium supplement.
The ninth ingredient lists beet pulp. Beet pulp is a controversial ingredient, a high fiber by-product of sugar beet processing.
Some denounce beet pulp as an inexpensive filler while others cite its outstanding intestinal health and blood sugar benefits.
We only call your attention here to the controversy and believe the inclusion of beet pulp in reasonable amounts in most dog foods is entirely acceptable.
We’re always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any dog food.
Coloring is used to make the product more appealing to you… not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his food is?
From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.
But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.
With three notable exceptions…
First, we find no mention of probiotics, friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.
Next, the minerals here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.
And lastly, this Dad’s dog food recipe also contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
Dad’s Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Dad’s Dog Food looks to be a below-average kibble.
But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 24%, a fat level of 11% and estimated carbohydrates of about 57%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 25% and a mean fat level of 11%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 56% for the overall product line.
Below-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbohydrates when compared to a typical dry dog food.
In addition, when you consider the plant-based protein-boosting effect of the soy and corn gluten meals, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing only a limited amount of meat.
Bottom line?
Dad’s Dog Food is a plant-based dry kibble using only a modest amount of chicken by-product meal or beef meal as its main sources of animal protein, thus earning the brand 1 star.
Not recommended.
A Final Word
This review is designed to help you make a more informed decision when buying dog food. However, our rating system is not intended to suggest feeding a particular product will result in specific health benfits for your pet.
For a better understanding of how we analyzed this product, please be sure to read our article, “The Problem with Dog Food Reviews”
Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult a veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.
Notes and Updates
03/24/2010 Original review
10/24/2010 Review updated
10/24/2010 Last Update
The Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.