Eukanuba Dog Food (Dry)

by Mike Sagman
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Rating: ★★★☆☆

Eukanuba Dry Dog Food receives the Advisor’s mid-tier rating of three stars.

The Eukanuba dry dog food product line includes 14 kibbles, each designed to match an animal’s physical size or life stage.

Although each product name does identify a specific life stage, we found no AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for these products on the Eukanuba website.

  • Eukanuba Puppy Growth
  • Eukanuba Puppy Weaning
  • Eukanuba Small Breed Puppy
  • Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy
  • Eukanuba Small Breed Adult
  • Eukanuba Large Breed Adult
  • Eukanuba Large Breed Senior
  • Eukanuba Small Breed Senior
  • Eukanuba Adult Maintenance
  • Eukanuba Senior Maintenance
  • Eukanuba Small Breed Weight Control
  • Eukanuba Large Breed Weight Control
  • Eukanuba Adult Maintenance Small Bite
  • Eukanuba Adult Maintenance Weight Control (2 stars)

Eukanuba Adult Maintenance Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.

Eukanuba Adult Maintenance Formula

Dry Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Protein = 28% | Fat = 18% | Carbs = 46%

Ingredients: Chicken, chicken by-product meal, corn meal, ground whole grain sorghum, brewers rice, dried beet pulp, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), chicken flavor, ground whole grain barley, dried egg product, fish oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), potassium chloride, salt, flax meal, sodium hexametaphosphate, Fructooligosaccharides, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, potassium iodide, cobalt carbonate), dl-methionine, choline chloride, vitamins (ascorbic acid, vitamin A acetate, calcium pantothenate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), vitamin B12 supplement, niacin, riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), inositol, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid), calcium carbonate, vitamin e supplement, brewers dried yeast, beta-carotene, rosemary extract

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 5.6%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients

The first ingredient in this dog food lists chicken. Although it is a quality item, raw chicken contains about 80% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.

Which brings us to chicken by-product meal, the second and (more likely) the dominant meat ingredient in this dog food.

Chicken by-product meal is 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”.

In addition to organs (the nourishing part), this stuff can contain almost anything — feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs — anything except quality skeletal muscle (real meat).

On the brighter side, by-product meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.

The third ingredient is corn meal, a coarsely ground flour made from dried 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 fourth ingredient lists sorghum. Sorghum (milo) is a starchy cereal grain with a nutrient profile similar to corn.

Since it is gluten-free and boasts a smoother blood sugar behavior than other grains, sorghum may be considered an acceptable non-meat ingredient.

The fifth ingredient lists brewers rice. Brewers rice represents the small grain fragments left over after milling whole rice.

This is an inexpensive cereal grain by-product and not considered a quality ingredient.

The sixth ingredient is brewers rice. Brewers rice represents the small grain fragments left over after milling whole rice.

This is a cheap cereal grain by-product and not a quality ingredient.

The seventh ingredient is 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.

The eighth ingredient is chicken fat. Chicken fat is obtained from rendering chicken, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality ingredient.

After the chicken flavor, we find barley. Barley is a starchy carbohydrate supplying fiber and other healthy nutrients. Unlike grains with a higher glycemic index (like rice), barley can help support stable blood sugar levels in dogs.

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 four notable exceptions…

First, the minerals listed 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.

Next, we note the inclusion of sodium hexametaphosphate, a man-made industrial polymer with no known nutritive value.

HMP is used in making soap, detergents, water treatment, metal finishing and most likely here to decrease tartar build-up on the teeth.

Although some might disagree, we’re of the opinion that food is not the place for tartar control chemicals or any other non-nutritive substances.

Thirdly, we find no mention of probiotics, friendly microorganisms applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.

And lastly, this recipe contains fish oil. Fish oil is naturally rich in the prized EPA and DHA type of omega-3 fatty acids. These two high quality fats boast the highest bio-availability to dogs and humans.

Depending on its level of freshness and purity, fish oil should be considered a commendable addition.

Eukanuba Dry Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by the quality of its ingredients alone, Eukanuba Dry Dog Food looks like an average kibble.

But ingredient quality alone does not tell the whole story. It’s still important to estimate the food’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 28%, a fat level of 18% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 46%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 29% and a mean fat level of 16%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 47% for the overall product line.

Average protein. Average fat. And average carbohydrates when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Free of any plant-based protein boosters, this is the profile of a kibble containing a moderate amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Eukanuba Dry Dog Food is a grain-based kibble using a moderate amount of chicken by-product meals as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 3 stars.

Recommended.

Those looking for a better kibble from the same company may want to check out our review of Eukanuba Natural Dog Food.

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 benefits 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 brand… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.

Other spellings: Eukenuba, Eucanuba

Notes and Updates

11/16/2009 Original review
11/04/2011 New recipes, upgraded to 3 stars

Dog Food Advisor IconThe Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.


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  • Winfred W.

    Ed is correct By product does contain the same protein that meal does, the only part Ed fails to talk about is ash content. Ash in lame-man’s term is the filler, the no value volume in food that has 0 nutritional value or could potentially have negative value. The higher the ash content the lesser the quality of the food. Many people are instructed to stay away from by products because the ability to tell the % of ash used is almost impossible from reading the ingredient label on food. If you see by product as the #1 ingredient than I would stay away from it. Ed would probably not, he is welcome to feed his animals however he like. I would like to point out that Hillary Watson does sell her own products and has a stake in dog food distribution as does Aldrich. When reading articles or studies written by stake holders automatically should produce a red flag. Not to say their studies are inaccurate, but more often than not these studies will leave out important details.

    — Just because by product contains about the same protein level as meal does not mean it is just as good. in fact the Department Agricultural Food and the Marine (http://www.agriculture.gov.ie) State that
    A: Epidemiological studies carried out on BSE and animal diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease and Classical Swine Fever have all identified ABP as the source.
    B: It is believed that the outbreaks in the UK in recent years of both Foot and Mouth and Classical Swine Fever were caused by contaminated catering waste.
    They always say you are what you eat.

    Ed when you have knowledge to share try not to be so harsh to people, on reading this thread it appears that people were ready and open to hear your argument , but instead of trying to inform people on what you know you attacked them. This makes me believe that you just read a few websites and dubbed yourself an expert so when people started asking you questions you just attacked instead of being calm and responding with facts.

    and FYI – I personally use Innova dog food for my dogs. this Eukanuba stuff is probably OK , but I want better than acceptable or just OK for my dogs.

  • melissa

    Bridget R-

    Please let us know how it works for your dog : ) I fed Euk many years ago, and my dogs did great on it. Some grains in food do not bother me, so I tend to use a large variety of products. If it doesn’t work, may I suggest looking into some of the products such as Pro Pac, or Hi Tek Naturals . The two listed above do not have the by products nor the sodium hexametaphosphate and are very reasonable in pricing-

  • Bridget R.

    This is my first time using this brand. We were on a really expensive dog food, I think it was Orijin. I’m hoping this will be good enough. Unfortunately, not all of us have money to afford the high quality dog food. The ingredients still sound reasonable and it was at a decent price. I agree with the rating. I will further update. :)

  • Ray G

    My boxer pup was pretty unhappy with Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy. The breeder had them on the Sam’s Club stuff and as I eased him over, his feed dropped WAY off. I finally surrendered, gave away the rest of the 40lb. bag to a shelter and cut him over to Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice Large Breed Puppy. He woofed it down with gusto from the first feeding on and no need to soften it with water. I’ve always fed Eukenuba in the past with my dachshunds and my Weimaraner, but it’s time I leave the Iams company in the past and migrate to slightly more expensive holistic feed. Your mileage may vary.

  • mercedes hicks

    I am not satisfied with Eukanuba dry food for ROTTWEILERS it is awful and they hate it . I have two german rotties and I thought they would like the food ,but they don,t ,chunks are way to big and not enough protein. That was the first and last time I’ll buy that food and damn sure won’t recommend it. EUKANUBA YOUR DOG FOOD SUCKS. TAYLA AND BEAR HICKS.

  • SHIRLEY

    i WAS RAISING MY OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG PUPPIES ON EUK RECOMMENDED BY THE BREEDER AND MY VET TOOK THEM OFF AND SAID IN SOME CASES THE FOOD WAS NOT GOOD FOR THE LIVER.

  • http://pawsitivemethods.com Dog Lover

    Hillary Watson website says: PhD level courses, nothing about a PhD. I took a few graduate courses myself, still do not have a PhD.

  • melissa

    Ed-

    First, I would suggest that you google the term “poultry” where you will discover that the term is used to describe “any domestic fowl that is raised or caught for human consumption or of which the feathers are used for human “consumption”. Therefore “fowl” can be chicken, duck, pheasant, turkey etc etc. Its not proclaiming to be an expert, but I do proclaim to be able to use Google and a dictionary. You ask which fowl are produced in quanity..Why would the birds have to be produced in quantity” There is a dish called Squab-google it. It is considered a delicacy amongst certain groups, however, you would never find me eating pidgeon. But, by definition, it is classified as “fowl” when raised for this purpose and is prepared similiar to chicken.

    If a company is using a poultry by product of known contents, why not say “chicken/duck/turkey by product”?? Refusing to name the specific ingrediants tells me, as a consumer, they just are not sure what type of “poultry” it contains.
    Ms Watson clearly indicates on her own website that she has been involved in formulating dog foods. I have to assume, therefore, that she has been paid for her services, and probably by a dog food company.

    Not sure why you are trying to jam by products down our throats as a quality ingrediant, but I would say that you would not by other products without knowing exactly what was contained in it. Not all by product meals are of the same quality.

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Ed… Since when does someone have to be an animal scientist or possess a PhD to understand the meaning of animal by-products? Are you a credentialed animal nutritionist yourself?

    In my articles, I’ve always made a distinction between named by-products (like “chicken” or “beef” by-products) and anonymous “meat” or “animal” by-products. And I can assure you that, by many US state laws, road kill and euthanized pets from animal shelters routinely make their way into rendered generic by-products.

    In the nearly 600 articles I’ve written here, show me where I’ve ever said by-products are “swept off the slaughterhouse floor” as you quote me in your comment. Your claim is a blatant lie… a self-serving fabrication intentionally designed by you to mislead my readers.

    You also erroneously assume in your “lecture” to our group that consumers should routinely trust the words “poultry by-products” on a pet food label to automatically mean (without question) that the manufacturer uses the “pet grade” version of that ingredient and not the ones classified as “feed grade”.

    Much of the information you reference here is either sourced from the pet food industry or is based upon a single article you read by a nutritional fundamentalist… someone who is strictly a scientist and surely not a conscientious canine caretaker.

    There are many more things you should know about meat by-products that are not addressed in that article. The fact that by-products can be stored in huge trailers outside the plant and not refrigerated for up to 24 hours after slaughter. The fact that they are (currently, this week) about 30-35% cheaper for the pet food manufacturer to buy than regular meat.

    At the very least, by-products (like corn and wheat) are always a tip-off to value-minded consumers that a dog food product is more cheaply made. And that is a fact.

    By the way, in this review, I clearly state, “Brewers rice represents the small grain fragments left over after milling whole rice. This is a cheap cereal grain by-product and not a quality ingredient.”

    And nowhere on this website do I ever describe brewers rice as being “waste from a brewery”. You are again intentionally attempting to misrepresent me and to deceitfully mislead my readers.

    Thankfully, most of our well-meaning readers (who you refer to here as “idiots”) are intelligent enough to see you and your angry, condescending attitude as rude and mean-spirited. And unwelcome in these discussions.

  • Bob K

    Ed – I did not see any of the Euk foods on this site rated 4 stars – Where did you see Euk as 4 stars?

    Like I said before Hillary does not appear to be a PhD. She has had PhD courses. “human grade” is fit for human consumption, you are correct, it might not be at your local grocery store but may be in some cheap factory produced chile, lasagna, cheap sausages, specialty food products or for 3rd. world countries. Euk does not use human grade from the label.

    What exactly is quality by-product meal and where is that writen on the label? You like to use talk about grades, what grade is “quality” grade?

    Mike only evaluates the ingredients on the label.

  • Mike P

    Ed with all due respect , why not ban yourself ? You seem to think most of us are idiots . Why bother yourself ? It must be painful for you to read all of our idiotic comments, because you are THE expert in animal nutrition . It’s not the info you put out to us , it’s the way you put it out . Always combative and talking down to the posters . Do yourself a favor and go bye bye unless you just like being an ass to the rest of us idiots . If that’s the case your doing it for all the wrong reasons . Melissa ,Jonathan,Bob K ,Doc Mike and a few others you attack have never proclaimed to being experts like you have . They are here to give opinions and life experience on dog food nutrition, and try to help one another in a polite decent matter . Sorry ED

  • ed

    You are all idiots and I really don’t care if you ban me.

  • ed

    Dr. Sagman is a human dentist not an animal scientist, and if you look this website as well, he assumes that “by-products” are all from road kills or “swept of the slaughterhouse floor”. He does not even mention the different grades of meal. He assumes that when some boutique pet food comapny says “human grade” its the same quality meat that is available at the supermarket.

    No fool would believe that.

    As for ratings, why would Pro Pac (which I like) be rated higher than Eukanuba, which has fresh chicken, quality by-product meal, fish oil & prebiotics that Pro Pac does not have?

    Eukanuba is superior food than Pro Pac and some grades of Eukanuba are 4 stars foods, the Performance grades.

    By the way, Brewer’s Rice is just broken pieces of rice not fermented waste from a brewery.

    There is nothing in Eukanuba that is low quality like gluten meals.

  • ed

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    B.Sc. (AGR) with a major in Animal Science
    Graduate (PhD) level courses in comparative animal nutrition, protein and amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, nutrition and immune function, and veterinary pathology

    20+ years experience in veterinary nutrition, including

    new product development, recipe formulation, product evaluation, palatability enhancement
    quality assurance improvement for pet food ingredients and manufacturing
    technical support and training of pet food sales representatives (pet specialty and veterinary channels)
    copy writing of sales support materials, brochures, technical presentations
    marketing and business management, including new product launches, business planning, budgets, sales forecasting, management of distributors and sales team
    nutrition columnist for Dogs in Canada Magazine, the publication of the Canadian Kennel Club (more than 30 published articles)
    lecturer in pet nutrition – invited speaker in Eastern Europe (Latvia, Hungary, Czech Republic) in 2005, speaker at 10 Canadian veterinary conferences (1997-2005), lecturer at the Ontario Veterinary College, the Atlantic Veterinary College and many Animal Health Technology colleges in Canada

    You or Melissa know zero about dogs foods. Admit it. From what I can gather your read the Truth About Petfood website and believe that guy knows what he is talking about. Nutritionally pet grade by-product meal is virtually identical when it comes to amino acids and better when it comes to ash. You have this fantasy that the food you and I eat are put in pet foods. No dry meal is “fit for human consumption” and you would not eat any “human grade” chicken that goes into pet food. Trust me you wouldn’t eat spent egg layers that are technically “human grade”

    Euk is fine food.

  • Bob K

    Ed – Does Hillary really have a PhD? I don’t think so, please read her website. Please read the article from Hillary Watson both pages. Please note the wording about rendering, freshness, unavoidable in good processing practices, so some feathers and beaks are ok, oops a little slipped in and the mention of “grade”. This food is not exactly cheap. Also who says they get all their ingredients from the US? Its a 2 Star food and for the money you can get 4 Star foods.

  • Jonathan

    Ed, not every by-product meal is made as your links would suggest. I have no delusions about chicken meal. I know much of it is made with necks and backs. The point you are missing is that the three sources you have found do not speak for the ENTIRE INDUSTRY. They just don’t. If Eukanuba is using this high-tech perfectly blended intestine mixture you suggest is superior, and, apparently, the only “true” definition of chicken by-products, then why is it twice the price of Dog Chow? Dog Chow’s main protein source is Chicken By-Products. That’s the same “pet-grade” ingredient, is it not? I have not found anywhere, (outside of your link) anything that suggests that there are “pet grade” by-products versus non pet-grade by-products. Do you suggest there is no difference in by-product meals? You accuse others of “pretending” to be experts. Well who are you? I think we would all love to know who you are and what this vested interest you seem to have for “base” dog foods is that leads you to spend your time on a website telling people that they shouldn’t buy the foods that the website recommends. I, personally, have no monetary interest. My pet store makes money whether someone is buying Purina or Blue. I just care about people’s animals. And why do you think your internet research is any more valid than anyone else’s? Why do better, smaller food companies spend much more money on their ingredients and next to nothing on advertising? Do you think that McDonald’s has your best interest at heart because they are a big corporation that pays to throw a bunch of pseudo-science in the face of under-funded nutritionists that attack them? And has the money to mass advertise? A dog is an animal just like you and I. They evolved eating certain things, just like you and I. This is a fact. Corn was not a big part of canine diet until the kibble was created last century. Corn, in it’s current state, did not exist until we tampered with a barely viable food source during the agricultural revolution, just 8,000 years ago. My dog, when she was a puppy, would snatch birds out of the air and eat them. The entire bird… except the head and feet. Weird, huh? Not really. Any group of dogs left to their own devices will start to hunt game and eat dead animals. They will eat the entire animal when they can. They will not seek out a corn field. And they will not eat game animal’s intestines only at the expense of their muscle tissue. Please stop your absurd disinformation routine. Why do you care if people want to give their dogs healthier foods? Why does feeding a dog well seem to offend you so? The wealth of information available agrees with the stances of Dr. Sagman’s website, and with the beliefs of most of the other posters here. the only real detractors with “science” to back them are the industry monsters that have a monetary interest in convincing people of why they should continue to feed their dogs over-priced chicken-flavored corn pellets.

  • ed

    Melissa,

    You don’t know what you are talking about. I say that with the utmost respect. You really don’t know one thing about dog food. Hillary Watson is a famous Phd & independent expert.

    Please stop parading around as an expert.

    What birds besides chickens are raised commercially in the United States in any quantity? Turkey & Ducks, right?

    Those links show you clearly there are several grades of by-products, and “pet grade” is what is used.

    Please stop acting like some kind of expert. You don’t have one stitch of evidence is this. You just read websites that say by-products are cleaned up from the floor.

    Have you ever seen what you believe is “chicken meat” or “chicken meal” for pet food? Well it is almost always frozen blocks of chicken backs or chicken frames from spent egg layers. It is not the breast meat from a young free range chicken.

    It is for dog food, right?

  • melissa

    Sorry Ed, I will have to disagree. Your three links provided are 1) A person who apparently worked formulating dog foods(and marketing according to her resume) 2) A dog food company with lots of by product meal in their foods and 3) a company that Makes and sells by product meal. It would seem to me that all three have or had some benefit from touting the wonders of by products.

    IF owners are paying a premium price, why would they want by product meal as a main ingrediant -which clearly can and does(at a best case scenario) contain heads(yes, the beak is part of the head) and feet, when they can pay the same price and get quality chicken meal? I have a problem when reading an article that says, clearly, that by product meal(when/if made from whole chicken) is from chicken rejected and marked as unfit for human consumption? I would not feed my dogs food that was rejected(for whatever reason) for humans to eat if I can avoid it.

    Now, if they want to be honest in the ingrediants and say “contains unfit for human consumption poultry by product meal-of which heads and feet may be a part of”, charge me $15 for a 50lb bag, at least I could give them “kudos” for being honest ; )(still wouldn;t feed it though! lol)

    The term “poultry” refers to ANY domestic or wild bird that is raised or harvested for human consumption. It is in way limited to turkey & chicken as you state. Did you find somethign somewhere that requires that the term “poultry” only be used to describe these two species? I may have missed that somewhere.

  • ed

    Bob K,

    The grade of chicken by-product meal used in Euk and other dog foods is called “pet grade” by-product meal. This grade is made from skin, organs, meat and bones. Also “poultry” just means it is a mix of turkey & chicken. Nothing to be concerned about. I know people like to think “by-product” meal is made of feathers & beaks but it is simply not the case.

    “By-Product” Meal is actually better because it has much lower ash than Meat Meal. Below are three links explaining it:

    http://www.hilarywatson.com/chicken.pdf
    http://www.loyallpetfood.com/loyall/wcm/groups/public/@canweb/@loyall/@all/documents/document/na3025066.pdf
    http://www.griffinind.com/65_low_ash_poultry_by-product_meal.php

    My point about the goose is that dogs naturally crave “by-products” like organ meat.

  • Bob K

    Ed – You never answered my question. Where do you get your information on what “by-products” they actually use? What does attacking a wild goose and eating its intestines have to do with this dog food? Like I said before – just because a dog eats something doesn’t mean it’s healthy or nutritious.

  • Mike P

    Since I’m a dumb guy , I would not know how to feed raw correctly . Some raw feeders kinda creep me out because they sound so superior .

  • Antonio

    Although my dad did have a particular pack of deer dogs growing up that would start on the butt of a downed deer anytime there was a kill LOL

  • Antonio

    Ed actually has a valid point growing up in rural Arkansas you see many times growing up when a stray dog or coyote gets in the chicken house and dismember a few birds. Many times they eat the entire chicken, head, beak, feathers, and all, but you can also see many times they will eat the insides only.

  • Mike P

    My dog has killed rabbits and never ate anything . She gobbles her topped merricks before grain food . weird

  • ed

    Bob K,

    You don’t sound very well informed. Have you ever seen a dog attack a goose? I have. They eat the organ meat and chew the head up and then walk away. Coyotes disembowel animals, eat the liver, heart & lungs and walk away. The organs are way more nutritious than the muscle meat.

    Have you ever seen a nature show where the lions rip the body cavity open first? Most raw feeders don’t realize this but they feed almost exclusively “by products”.

  • Bob K

    Ed – Where do you get your information on what “by-products” they actually use? Do you work in their standards and purchasing departments? I am sure they would like you to believe that. Maybe its true, maybe it isn’t. What about, intestines, eyeballs, beaks, toenials, feathers, etc… they are all by-products. I had a dog that ate his crap and others including deer and coyote – that does not make it quality food. Just because a dog eats something does not mean its nutritional or healthy.

  • ed

    Janet,

    Listen, the grade of by-product in that food is organ, skin, back meat and bone. If your dog caught a chicken the first thing it would eat is the organ meat, not the breast meat.

  • Janet Hellebuyck

    We were always happy that Chicken was the number one ingredient. Never realized it was a by-product after the good stuff is gone. Sad!

    However, we had two Toy Poodles eating this 3/4 ‘s of their life one living 18 years and one 17 years.

    We currently have two Standard Poodles. One is 13.5 and thriving and the other 12 years old. So, the food must be doing something right! This is ALL our Standards ever eat besides Dog Bisquits made by them too.

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Hi Andy… After reading your comment, I visited the Eukanuba website and found all the nutritional data and ingredient lists are all still there. But the link to that information is not so easy to find. On each product, look for the links inside the gray-shaded box just to the right of the “Nutrition Summary” below most of the marketing material. Hope this helps.

  • Andy

    Hi Mike,

    I was looking at the Eukanuba website but could not find the ingredients for their food?

    Did they stop publishing it?

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    The actual Wikipedia definition of brewers rice:

    “Brewers rice is the small milled fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice. [Association of American Feed Control Officials, 2008 Edition, Ingredient Definition 75.4, p. 338]

    “Brewers rice is a processed rice product that is missing many of the nutrients contained in whole ground rice and brown rice thus reducing the quality [S Contreras, Animal Nutritionist]

    “Brewers rice and second heads are one of the many by-products that rice milling creates. Second heads are milled rice kernels that are one half to three quarters of the original kernel. Brewers rice is a milled rice kernel that is one quarter to half the size of a full kernel. Second heads, depending on their quality are used to make rice flour.

    “If the quality of the second heads are poor, they will be sold for pet food or dairy feed. Brewers rice is sold for pet food and dairy feed exclusively. [Pacifica Ag Commodities]“

    Hmmmmmm.

  • Dr Hopkins

    Definition: Brewer’s Rice: The dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not to exceed 3 percent.
    Also Known As: “broken rice”

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Hi Warren… I’d love to be able to review and rate Exceed Dog Food. But I’m unable to locate a company-maintained website dedicated to that product. Unfortunately, until the company makes available a publicly accessible web page, I won’t be able to review Exceed.

    Strangely enough, I’ve never been able to find any of the WalMart or Sam’s Club store brands described and detailed on a company-operated public website.

  • Warren Johnson

    Sam’s Club’s Exceed dry dog food claims to be equivalent to Eukanuba. What would be the review on the Exceed chicken dry food?

  • Carolyn Steed

    Looking for results of Euk. lamb & rice…

    Was shocked to see how LOW in general Eukanuba rated.

    Carolyn