[Akari_32]

I emailed Wellness the other day looking for a low carb kibble to use as treats for Bentley, and they, awesomely, sent me the as fed and dry matter carb values of their entire dog line! Decided I’d post it here, and possibly help someone out in the future 🙂

Wellness® Dry Dog Foods: Carbohydrates

Wellness® Dry Dog
Complete Health Deboned Chicken & Oatmeal Recipe:
As Fed: 49.58%
Dry Matter: 53.89%

Complete Health Whitefish & Sweet Potato Recipe:
As Fed: 45.89%
Dry Matter: 49.84%

Complete Health Lamb & Barley Recipe:
As Fed: 48.15%
Dry Matter: 52.34%

Complete Health Healthy Weight Deboned Chicken & Peas Recipe:
As Fed: 53.11%
Dry Matter: 57.73%

Complete Health Senior Deboned Chicken & Barley Recipe:
As Fed: 52.42%
Dry Matter: 56.98%

Complete Health Puppy Deboned Chicken, Oatmeal & Salmon Meal Recipe:
As Fed: 36.72%
Dry Matter: 39.91%

Large Breed Complete Health Adult Deboned Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe:
As Fed: 44.58%
Dry Matter: 48.46%

Large Breed Complete Health Puppy Deboned Chicken, Brown Rice & Salmon Meal Recipe:
As Fed: 43.56%
Dry Matter: 47.35%

Small Breed Complete Health Adult Turkey & Oatmeal Recipe:
As Fed: 37.67%
Dry Matter: 40.94%

Small Breed Complete Health Adult Whitefish, Salmon Meal, & Peas Recipe:
As Fed: 35.43%
Dry Matter: 38.51%

Small Breed Complete Health Puppy Turkey, Oatmeal & Salmon Meal Recipe:
As Fed: 36.36%
Dry Matter: 39.52%

Small Breed Complete Health Senior:
As Fed: 44.16%
Dry Matter: 48.00%

Small Breed Complete Health Healthy Weight Turkey & Brown Rice Recipe:
As Fed: 43.38%
Dry Matter: 47.16%

Toy Breed Complete Health Adult Deboned Chicken, Brown Rice & Peas Recipe:
As Fed: 32.48%
Dry Matter: 35.30%

Toy Breed Complete Health Healthy Weight Deboned Chicken & Barley Recipe:
As Fed: 41.71%
Dry Matter: 45.34%

Toy Breed Complete Health Senior Deboned Chicken & Oatmeal Recipe:
As Fed: 42.43%
Dry Matter: 46.12%

Wellness® CORE® Dry Dog
CORE® Grain-Free Original:
As Fed: 29.47%
Dry Matter: 32.03%

CORE® Grain-Free Ocean:
As Fed: 28.52%
Dry Matter: 31.00%

CORE® Grain-Free Reduced Fat:
As Fed: 34.19%
Dry Matter: 37.16%

CORE® Grain-Free Puppy:
As Fed: 23.58%
Dry Matter: 25.63%

CORE® Grain-Free Small Breed:
As Fed: 23.79%
Dry Matter: 25.86%

CORE® Grain-Free Large Breed:
As Fed: 31.29%
Dry Matter: 34.01%

CORE® Grain-Free Wild Game:
As Fed: 28.18%
Dry Matter: 30.63%

Simple Limited Ingredient Diet Dry Dog Recipes:
Simple Grain-Free Salmon & Potato Formula:
As Fed: 43.20%
Dry Matter: 46.96%

Simple Grain-Free Turkey & Potato Formula:
As Fed: 41.99%
Dry Matter: 45.64%

Simple Lamb & Oatmeal Formula:
As Fed: 48.11%
Dry Matter: 52.59%

Simple Duck & Oatmeal Formula:
As Fed: 49.26%
Dry Matter: 53.54%

Simple Grain -Free Small Breed Salmon & Potato Formula:
As Fed: 35.13%
Dry Matter: 38.18%

Simple Grain – Free Healthy Weight Salmon & Peas Formula:
As Fed: 42.76%
Dry Matter: 46.48%

[crazy4cats]

Wow! Thanks, Akari.

[Akari_32]

Sure thing! I was surprised to see how low the CORE recipes are, and how high the Simple and some of the Complete Health recipes are. Looks like I’ll me using the small breed CORE for his treats. They’re just what I wanted! A little high calorie, but they’re small, low carb, and grain free. Best of all, they aren’t smelly, so I’ll go for it lol Coupon time!

[Bobby dog]

Thanks for posting Akari:
Perfect timing! I think Bobby is having a little relapse with yeasty skin. I suppose my line-up had a little too much food with potato as the carb in my line-up. He is shaking his head a little, scratching, and every now and then spending a little too much time biting his front paws. I already had a kibble in storage that is GF, potato free, and low carb, but need another option for his next bag! I am pretty sure I am stocked up on canned food that fits this criteria, I am going to check it out later on today. 😉

[crazy4cats]

Yes, Akari, that is an eye opener, isn’t it? Funny thing is that some of the limited ingredient and “simple” type foods have the least amount of ingredients, the highest carbs and cost the most!!!!

[Kathleen C]

Thank you, Akari: This is exactly what I wanted to know. I need the amount for Wellness Core Reduced Fat dog food and now I’m wondering if “As Fed: 34.19 and Dry Matter: 37.16” is high or low. Does anyone know if this could be keeping Jack from losing weight? Thank you.

[Akari_32]

The As Fed values are just that, they include the 10% or whatever moisture the food has. The Dry Matter values mathematically remove all moisture from the food.

[Kathleen C]

Thank you. Do you know if the carb amount in the Wellness Core Reduced Fat is OK or should I look for something with lower amount? Getting that list from Wellness was a fantastic help, thanks for your work on it.

[Akari_32]

If your dog doesn’t need a lower fat food, I’d look at the CORE Puppy, actually. I often use this for my 11 year old lab mix.

[Kathleen C]

Akari32, I’m trying to get him to lose weight so I’m afraid to get anything with more fat. I checked the online Wellness site and going by your report the Core Reduced has lower fat and carbs with 33% protein. I’m going to try getting him more exercise and some different lower fat treats. So far I think joining the Adviser’s site has already been worth the money. Thank you.

[Kathleen C]

OK, I’m back with something I forgot to mention yesterday for some reason: Earlier when I was trying to find out the carbs in the Wellness Core I’m feeding Jack, my 4 year old Boston, I forgot to say he’s been eating poop. I believe it’s because he’s only getting 1/4 cup twice a day of the Reduced Fat diet plus some carrots and green beans so probably not enough and I don’t know how much more I can feed him without him gaining more weight. The Adviser’s calculator says I can feed him a bit less than a cup of this food which has 360 cal. per cup. I tried 3/4 of a cup spread out over the day and he gained a bit so that’s when I went down to 1/4 2X a day. Am I being too careful and that’s why he’s eating his poop and should I take a chance and give him more of the kibble and fewer extras?

[Debra B]

Well this might explain why my 9 year old Lab was having trouble with her energy levels on the Core Grain-Free Dry Dog Food. She needed more carbs! She’s doing much better on Merrick Grain-Free. Thanks!

[Kathleen C]

Debra B, that’s very interesting. How much higher did you need to go? The Reduced Fat seems to have 34%. I’ve always heard Merrick is a very good brand.

[Kathleen C]

According to the new report the Adviser did on the CORE Reduced Fat, 10/9/14, he shows the carbs are 44% by his figures and not 34% as Wellness says. Hopefully Wellness knows the correct number???

[Akari_32]

I’d sooner go by what Wellness says the carb contents are rather than DFA. The way Mike comes up with it is by math, and it’s estimated. Not that Wellness doesn’t estimate it, because of maximum and minimum values, but I can assure you theirs are much closer than anyone can get off their website or bags. I do use the values Mike comes up with when I don’t feel like doing any math myself. I also like how he does the dry matter values on the dashboard.

[Kathleen C]

This is encouraging since the new numbers surprised me. Thank you Akari. Saturday when talking to my dogs trainer she said she had a dog that wouldn’t lose weight on a low fat grain free dog food but did when changed to something not grain free and thought maybe Jack would do better with that. Any ideas about this idea?

[pugmomsandy]

I always use mod/high protein and moderate fat for diet food for the pugs and they lose weight. I’ve had a couple lose 10 lbs without adding green beans or other filler.

[Susan]

Hi Kathleen,There’s the Wellness complete health Healthy Weight Deboned Chicken not grain free or the Wellness Simple Healthy Weight but its grainfree..all I know my boy has been on the low protein kibble, the Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal & he lost weight when he first went on this kibble within 1 month he lost 1 & 1/2 kilos, everyone says he looks good but I dont like the bottom rib bone showing, he’s just all muscle.. Ive had to increase the his feed by 1/2cup & see if he gains some weight….the only thing different was that the protein was lower in the Simple the protein was higher in his old kibble..

[Kathleen C]

pugsmom, thank you. I had Jack on Nature’s Variety Instinct Healthy Weight and that’s where the problem first started. Higher fat at 12-16%, but not really that much more. 34% protein and after figuring the carbs using the Adviser’s method the carbs were 36%, again not that much higher. I figured the fat at the mid rage, 14%. I tried using the Vet’s diet from Purina (horrible stuff: wheat, and by product meal, ugh) but that didn’t help either even though the vet assured me it would (?).

Sue66b, it looks as though both of those foods are listed with higher carbs which I’m trying to get away from. Actually the CORE foods seem to have the lowest carbs listed, but a little higher fat at 16-17% and I’m wondering if the much lower carbs would be better and not worry so much about the little bit more fat? How does that sound? Also, he seems to be getting a little tired of what I’m feeding him now so switching might be a good idea, even if for the same brand.

[Kristin C]

Kathleen-re: your dog eating poop, I have read that the natural flavors added to kibble don’t digest so the poop appeals to the dog because it still tastes like kibble. My older dog used to eat her poop religiously. Then I switched her to eating raw and I have not seen her eat poop at all. I know this reply doesn’t have anything to do with his weight issue but just wanted to mention it.

[Susan]

I thought that a bit higher carbs would fill him up more, then he’d need less food, like ur dog trainer did & gave a kibble with some gains..the only way is to buy a small bag & u’ll know within 2-3 weeks, I go to Pet barn every week & weigh Patch, I went today & he’s gained 1 kilo, back up to 17.15kilos just by adding that 1/2 cup, the thing was when he lost 1 & 1/2 kilos he wasnt acting hungry & hanging around the kitchen like he does when he’s been on other foods or eating the cats poo..so the oats must fill him more then when he’s been on the rice kibbles..

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by Susan.

[Kathleen C]

That’s OK, I’ve actually wondered about feeding raw. My idea of raw, though, is the ready to eat you can find at higher end pet stores, or feed stores like we have here…Olsen’s Feed and Grain carry things like that. If it had everything added the dog needs it would be a consideration. However, I don’t even cook for myself so probably wouldn’t do it for Jack either. The vet recommended Forbid, but I’ve read reviews and many people say it doesn’t work. Thanks for the information.

[Kathleen C]

sue, I never considered that…it makes sense though. Maybe I’ve been going at it all wrong. It seems all of their healthy weight foods have high carbs. That must be to fill the dog up so it doesn’t want more and will lose weight. He’s a Small Breed so I’ll think about getting a small bag and see what happens. If I’m careful it could work. Thank you.

[theBCnut]

Carbs don’t help a dog feel full. Volume of food helps a dog to feel physically full and fiber can be used to bulk up a ration. But fat and protein trigger the hormones that tell a dog or a person that they have eaten enough. And protein stays with them longer. Glucose spikes from carbs cause the body to dump insulin into the bloodstream, which clears the glucose out pretty quickly, causing the dog or human to be in search of food again soon. Protein and fat do not cause this reaction, so the need to eat again is delayed. Carbs have the same calorie count as protein.

[Kathleen C]

Than what I was thinking last night is not a good idea. Giving him something with high protein and fat, like maybe the Core Small Breed with 36% protein and 16% fat would work better? The Wellness list says it has about 24% carbs. Since what I’m doing now isn’t working should point to doing something differently. He’s definitely not getting enough to eat with the 1/2 cup a day with a few low fat treats. I’m getting to the point of giving up. You have to take a course in nutrition these days just to feed your dog let alone yourself.

[Akari_32]

You may try something like EVO. I feed my 60 and 130 pound dogs about a cup and quarter each of EVO Red Meat. They seem to feel full on it as well.

[Kathleen C]

Thank you. The holistic vet I took the dogs to used that last time I talked to him, but that’s IAMs isn’t it? P&G? I don’t like what they did to Eukanuba when I was feeding that to my dog. The Whole Dog Journal knew when P&G bought the company but I don’t remember them telling their readers. Made me angry at the time but they could have cleaned their act up.

[Akari_32]

It is. Actually now, it’s Mars, I believe. It sucks that Natura sold out (twice!!). I really liked them. The EVO I have is from the last stretch of P&G bags, right before they came out with the new ones. Paid a dollar a pound for it! I keep it portioned out in the freezer lol The only thing I notice between the old Natura lots and the P&G lots I bought is slightly less protein, and some more lentils. I haven’t looked at it sice Mars took over. I’m not sure if they’re under contract or not.

[Kathleen C]

Another problem is, according to The Whole Dog Journal, you can’t always go by what they say on the bag is in your dog food. They did an article in one issue on that problem. Can’t remember which one though.

[Akari_32]

Diamond is actually in big trouble with Purina (of all things!) about that. Makes me laugh! In all seriousness, though, it really should be more strictly monitored. If a human is allergic to something not listed on the package and has some sort of serious reaction from it, it would really look terrible on that company.

[theBCnut]

Fat has more than twice the calories of carbs or protein, so staying low fat will help reduce the number of calories. A lot of the reduced calorie foods are high carb for 2 reasons 1)they use cheap cuts of meat that are high fat, so to reduce calories they use less meat 2) fiber is considered a carb even though it is an undigestible carb. Look for a food that is lowish in fat, but does not skimp on meat. And look for one that some of the carbs are from fiber. After that, build exercise into your dogs day. Several short sessions of fetch or hide and seek or any other activity are enough to boost metabolism and actually work better than one longer session. But if you can do both, that’s even better.

[Kathleen C]

BC, Do you believe then that the Wellness I’m feeding him now is the best thing I can give him? The Adviser says it’s a high protein low fat low carb food and we all know what the meat situation is as listed. I don’t know how to figure fiber to carbs, but this has 8.5% fiber. We’re playing more at home and he’s now in an obedience class where she lets them play afterward. Also, I took him to the dog park yesterday and he ran with the big dogs..although that makes me nervous since there is a Great Dane and a rather young female Dobie at times. No little dogs there until much later in the day. I will have to change my schedule to go then, but I think it might be worth it. He’s not much of a player though, can do fine without doggie friends. He was supposed to be a show dog, but wound up with a genetic problem so can’t be bred.

[theBCnut]

It’s one of the only diet foods I would recommend. As far as best, that is definitely an individual dog thing, so I really can’t say.

If you take him to one side of the house and throw a piece of kibble, will he go run and get it? Then call him back to you for the next, then throw the one after that? Sometimes, that’s the only exercise some people can get for their dogs, but it’s actually really good. You don’t have to do that for the whole meal, but the more you can just get him moving for even a couple minutes the better off he will be. Several short sessions helps to keep their metabolism revved up, so they burn more calories throughout the day.

[Kathleen C]

LOL! That’s probably the best idea I’ve heard so far. I do throw his squeaky or anything I can find and he’s good about letting me have it back to throw again. Loves tug-a-war too. Thank you. You have been very helpful…as has everyone who’s tried to help. This $14.99 was definitely worth every penny.

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve seen on youtube where people put kibble in an IQ Ball and the dog has to push it around to get the pieces out. Helps with fast eaters, too.

[Kathleen C]

Very cute! I’ve never heard of an IQ Ball. I put kibble in Jack’s Kong and he’s learned what to do pretty quickly. I’d put peanut butter too, but that’s messy for the house. I’ve tossed his kibble around the living room a couple of times since BC suggested it and he’s very interested in that exercise. 🙂

[Kathleen C]

I’m thinking seriously about doing rotation for Jack using the Core Reduced Fat and now switching him to the Core Small Dog which has 10% fewer carbs, 16% fat and 36% protein. Will the extra fat with the about the same protein maybe fill him up more? The Reduced Fat food is not working and he begs incessantly for more anything. I know he’s a dog and this is to be expected, but would this change help or just cause an increase in weight? I would try the small bag to see.

[theBCnut]

Fat does affect a dog’s feeling of fullness/satisfaction, so it might help. Switch slowly since changing fat levels is one of the main things that causes stomach upset.

[Kathleen C]

We do not need that. Thank you. BTW, how often should I give the Kefir, just as needed or several times a week?

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