[Mike Sagman]

Hi Terry,

Sorry you’re having trouble. You cannot log into any website that uses Disqus unless you first create an account.

If you don’t already have a Disqus account, click on Disqus (or one of the other social media options).

Then, click on the link at the bottom of the “Log in” box that reads “Need an account?”. Then, fill in the form to create your log in credentials. And you should be good to go. Hope that helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone. Much appreciated.

[Mike Sagman]

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Please keep in mind that what we’re looking for are dog foods wrapped in packaging you feel could be misleading to unsuspecting consumers.

This would include packaging that shows whole chickens, whole vegetables, steaks, etc. on the outside when the ingredients list contains MEAL-based ingredients (chicken MEAL rather than the whole, plump chickens depicted on the bag), man-made preservatives (BHA and BHT), etc.

In other words, please think of average to below-average dog foods you’ve come across that are disguised by colorful yet misleading packaging.

Products that do not accurately depict the ingredients found on the FDA label.

Thanks again to everyone for all your help.

[Mike Sagman]

Beneful is an example of an attractive dog food package that could be potentially misleading to consumers. The product only gets 1-star at DFA.

https://www.beneful.com/products/dry-dog-food/

[Mike Sagman]

Rick D,

Thanks for sharing this information.

However, as we state in our Commenting Policy, “those with a vested interest in any product must publicly disclose this fact and post using their real names.”

In the future, please follow these guidelines when posting.

Thanks for your understanding.

[Mike Sagman]

Mary Susan S,

Not sure why you feel we should send readers on an inconvenient detour to some sort of “intermediary page” that “explains all this”.

Especially when all you’re asking about is already visible.

Please note that at the very top of every one of Chewy’s pages (including their home page), the company clearly states, “20% Off when you set up your first Autoship! Learn more”.

Like every other company, Chewy has the right to set the terms and conditions of the discount they offer their customers.

In addition, in “The Final Word” at the end of every one of the more than 900+ reviews on our website, we publicly state:

“In closing, we do not accept money, gifts or samples from pet food companies in exchange for special consideration in the preparation of our reviews or ratings.

“However, we do receive a fee from Chewy.com for each purchase made as a direct result of a referral from our website. This fee is a fixed dollar amount and has nothing to do with the size of an order or the brand selected for purchase.”

Not sure what else we could do to make these terms any clearer. Or what else we could do to avoid annoying readers with display advertising to cover the costs of making our website completely free to everyone who stops by for help.

[Mike Sagman]

This thread will remain open to allow you to post your comments and suggestions for a limited time. Thanks again for your help.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi September D,

Thanks for your suggestion. We’re planning to publish an article with specific advice on what to look for when choosing a dog food for senior pets. And we hope to post that article sometime during the current year.

Until then, you should be able to use the search box on our website and enter the search term “senior” or “mature” to help you get started — until we post our article.

However, please keep in mind that there’s more to think about when choosing a dog food for your senior pet than just seeing the words “senior” or “mature adult” in the name of the product.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Loreta,

You said that “Royal Canin changed its primary ingredient from Chicken meal to Chicken by-product meal several years ago and yet the review still states Chicken meal.”

That is not true. Not one of our Royal Canin reviews is over 18 months old. In fact, many of them have been updated in the last few months. You can see the “Last Update” information at the end of every one of our reviews.

By the way, we currently maintain 9 reviews for Royal Canin products on our website. And none of them are Editor’s Choice products.

So, it would be better for you to post your non-Editor’s Choice question at the end of the specific review you’re asking about. That way, others may be able to share what they know, too.

Keep in mind that there are over 900 reviews representing more than 4,300 different recipes on our website. And more are being added all the time.

With limited resources and only 3 staff members, it’s impossible for us (or any other website, for that matter) to update every review on a continuous basis.

Our policy is to update each review on a rotating schedule about once every 18 months or so — unless we receive a tip from one of our readers that a specific recipe has changed. Editor’s Choice company reports and puppy foods are updated much more frequently.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

The findings regarding green tea extract appear to have been based on a study published in 2009. In that early study, the dogs were fed green tea extract in a fasting state — without food and in varying doses.

Green tea extract is poorly absorbed. That is probably why the 2009 study was conducted on fasting animals — i.e. to increase bio-availability and absorption.

More importantly, a follow-up study published about 2 years later (2011) in the International Journal of Toxicology in 2011 concluded:

“Conduct of the study in nonfasted dogs under the same testing conditions and dose levels showed unremarkable results. Assuming both studies were valid, at the identified no observed adverse effect levels (NOAEL) of each study, systemic exposures (based on area under the curve [AUC]) were actually lower in fasted than nonfasted dogs, suggesting that fasting may have rendered the target organ systems potentially more vulnerable to the effects of green tea extract.”

The phrase “unremarkable results” implies the findings were within normal limits.

We’re always on the lookout for additional peer-reviewed information and commentary regarding any controversial ingredient

So, if you come across anything else (in a peer-reviewed journal, of course), please feel free to share it.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Dori,

As a matter of policy, I never publish any recall announcement unless it can be officially confirmed.

Since this particular event has not (yet) been posted by the FDA and cannot be verified by the company (over the weekend), I had to personally travel to a PetSmart retail store to capture a photograph of the announcement.

I then had to manually convert the photographic lot information to HTML text format, write and format the article, share it on Facebook and write and broadcast an email for our subscribers. So, sorry for the delay.

Here’s a link to our article:

/dog-food-recall/hills-science-diet-dog-food-market-withdrawal-november-2015/

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Scott,

I created the fat-to-protein ratio a few years ago to help get a better idea about the quality of the meat that was used to make a dog food.

The average range for FPR data is between 50% and 80%. In the right proportions, fat isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

In fact, unlike carbs, fat and protein are essential nutrients.

However, when the FPR begins to approach the extremes of that range (say 40% on the low end and over 80% on the upper end), my warning lights begin to flash.

Ultra low FPR can suggest a low meat content.

Higher FPR numbers (say greater than 80%) begin to suggest a food’s been made with fatty trimmings and slaughterhouse waste.

Hope that makes sense.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Red,

There is always a moderator here. However, “always” does not mean “all the time” (every minute).

Are you flagging inappropriate comments to alert the moderators?

This is a site where we welcome all kinds of open discussion. However, many regulars and guests believe it is their right to be rude. And to judge and brow-beat other well-meaning participants.

I see it all the time. And many times it is our “regulars” who make the most inappropriate remarks. I’m sure they believe they are actually “helping” the guest.

And it sickens Sandy and me every time we see this — as we observed many times over this past few weeks.

However, please keep in mind that being a moderator of ANY website can be a challenging job.

Every moderator walks a thin line between allowing every member of the community the freedom to openly express his/her opinion versus the invasive habit of micro-managing discussions.

Even worse, on a website where products are reviewed (as they are here), we’re also faced with appearing to be biased — by deleting certain posts about specific dog foods while allowing comments on competing products to remain.

Something we’ll NEVER do.

Unfortunately, there’s currently no way to flag comments in our Forums. This is because the software that enables these Forums does not provide a means for doing this effectively.

However, on the Disqus commenting areas located beneath every article and review on this site, users have the ability to “flag” a comment for moderation.

In any case, we’ll never remove comments simply because they are inaccurate or because we disagree with their content.

Thanks for your understanding and for being a member.

[Mike Sagman]

David T…

This thread and many of the other comments that you posted on other threads are clearly in violation of the “Word to Veterinary Professionals and Company Representatives” section of Our Commenting Policy. A link to that page can be found in the left navigation column of every page in our Forums.

Although it’s OK to mention your website, we also ask that (as a guest) you “not use this website as a means to distribute free samples or coupons, offer discounts or conduct product marketing operations.”

Thanks you.

[Mike Sagman]

From a purely analytical standpoint, the nutrient content of many dog food ingredients can be quite similar.

However, when also considering price value and the quality level of ingredient sources, there are a number of noteworthy differences.

For example, there’s a huge difference between anonymous (unidentified) “meat” by-product meals and (named) chicken by-product meals.

These and many other differences are discussed in numerous articles published throughout this website.

Here are few links to get you started:

/choosing-dog-food/animal-by-products/

/dog-food-industry-exposed/dog-food-corn/

For many others, please be sure to visit our article library and our FAQ pages.

/helpful-dog-food-articles/

/frequently-asked-questions/

[Mike Sagman]

The star rating found at the top of each review is based upon the average statistics and data for all the recipes within the same product line. We then select a representative “example” recipe of that particular line and describe each of its individual components and label data.

Whenever we identify one of the recipes that is notably different than the others found in that product line — something we refer to as an “outlier” — we give it its own star rating. We then make a note of that special rating on the list of products within the review — as we did with our 4 star rating here on the Chicken and Brown Rice recipe..

To make managing this vast amount of information possible, we do not typically write a separate review for each of the 4,100+ individual recipes found on our spreadsheets.

By the way, KLN Family Brands, the makers of PureVita, makes finding information about their products unnecessarily complicated because they have chosen to use 2 different spellings for this product — even on its own website.

Sometimes the company uses 2 words (Pure Vita) and other times they use one (PureVita). So, when you search, you need to use 2 different character string commands.

Very strange.

[Mike Sagman]

Merrick Whole Earth Farms (both dry and canned) has been on our Editor’s Choice Budget Friendly list since March 2014. You are probably looking at our “Other Budget Friendly Dog Foods List” found just below the Editor’s Choice section.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

To everyone who has contributed to this excellent thread, please be advised we have started a brand new Dog Food Coupons forum. That way, you’ll be able to include the name of the coupon brand in the title of your thread.

This will also keep future coupons grouped together under the appropriate brand — and make it much easier for each of us to save money on the cost of feeding our pets.

Please post news of all future coupons and discounts in the new Dog Food Coupons forum. Thanks for your help.

[Mike Sagman]

Hello Donna,

This is a frequently asked question. And Earthborn would make an excellent candidate. I agree.

However, there’s much more to choosing an Editor’s Choice brand than just star ratings. Even though there are currently more than 340 product lines here that have received 4 stars or higher, it took us a great deal of hard work to narrow this foods down to (currently) just 22 brands.

We answer this question and many others like it in our Editor’s Choice FAQ page. You can find it by clicking on the “FAQ” link in the red navigation bar at the top of every page. Here’s some of what we say regarding yur question:

There are many reasons a particular brand may not be included on our lists.

For example, a company may not have met all 9 of our rules for achieving this superior designation. Or its agents may have been unwilling to reveal important manufacturing information.

In some cases, we may be aware of unfavorable information about a company. Or we may have received tips from industry insiders that disqualify certain brands from inclusion on our lists.

And finally, we may simply be unfamiliar with a particular brand.

By the way, in some cases, many of these brands are still being considered and we’re awaiting clarification form the companies.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Dave,

Sure. A Dog Treats Advisor would be a great idea. It’s been under study for a while. Yet there are many challenges unique to treats. For example, and unlike dog food, there are no AAFCO nutritional profiles (standards) for dog treats. So, we’d have to establish our own. We’d also need some important parameters and guidelines for rating treats fairly.

That is why we launched these treats forums and topics over this last year. We’re using what our readers are asking for along with other articles we’ve collected from around the Internet to help guide us on our plans.

We’re also having an adapted version of our nutrient dashboard (the yellow box with the gauges found inside every dog food review we write. This tool would allow us to highlight controversial ingredients and analyze the dry matter nutrient in each product.

We continue to study how we would roll out this new service. In any case, this would most probably be added later this year.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

Mike Sagman, Editor
The Dog Food Advisor

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Weezerweeks,

I agree. Weruva is a great wet dog food. And it (along with a number of other nominees) remains a brand of interest.

Please forgive my inclusion of the following duplicate reply I just posted on a similar thread just moments ago. However, it will help me answer your question and to better understand some of our challenges.

There are over 335 dog food product lines currently rated 4 stars or higher on our website. And star ratings are only one of 9 criteria we use to make our Editor’s Choice selections.

We’re very proud of the fact we’ve been able to keep these lists as short and manageable as possible. This makes them far more useful to our members, too.

Quoted from our Editor’s Choice FAQ page:

There are many reasons a particular brand may not be included on our lists.

For example, a company may not have met all our guidelines. Or its agents may have been unwilling to reveal important manufacturing information.

In some cases, we may be aware of unfavorable information about a company. Or we may have received tips from industry insiders that disqualify certain brands from inclusion on our lists.

And finally, we may simply be unfamiliar with a particular brand. So, feel free to nominate a company you believe we’ve overlooked.

Please see our Editor’s Choice FAQ page as well as our 9 Rules for Finding Superior Dog Food Brands article for a better understanding of how we approach this challenging and ongoing project.

Hope this makes sense.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Lisa,

There are over 335 dog food product lines currently rated 4 stars or higher on our website. And star ratings are only one of 9 criteria we use to make our Editor’s Choice selections.

We’re very proud of the fact we’ve been able to keep these lists as short and manageable as possible. This makes them far more useful to our members, too.

Quoted from our Editor’s Choice FAQ page:

There are many reasons a particular brand may not be included on our lists.

For example, a company may not have met all our guidelines. Or its agents may have been unwilling to reveal important manufacturing information.

In some cases, we may be aware of unfavorable information about a company. Or we may have received tips from industry insiders that disqualify certain brands from inclusion on our lists.

And finally, we may simply be unfamiliar with a particular brand. So, feel free to nominate a company you believe we’ve overlooked.

Please see our Editor’s Choice FAQ page as well as our 9 Rules for Finding Superior Dog Food Brands article for a better understanding of how we approach this challenging and ongoing project.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Thanks for the good news, Bobby_dog. I appreciate your help.

[Mike Sagman]

Thanks, Akari_32. As long as you guys are getting your emails from the threads you are subscribed to, it looks like the new update might be working OK, now. Feel free to post a test message on any other thread you know that you are subscribed to. Thanks again for your help

[Mike Sagman]

Thanks, InkedMarie! Big help. Please feel free to post a test message to any thread you know that you are subscribed to. Thanks.

[Mike Sagman]

I am testing the new updated software version of the bbPress forums. In the last few minutes, are you guys receiving messages from threads you are subscribed to? Please post your responses here. I will delete all of these test messages once we are finished testing today. Thanks for your help.

[Mike Sagman]

Both Grandma Lucy’s reviews have now been tagged as “dry” — and due to server caching, it could take a few hours before you can observe these changes.

However, according to Dr. Harvey’s website, Oracle appears to use freeze-dried meats. And there’s no indication the food itself has been freeze-dried.

The reason we have (so far) not created a special category for freeze-dried dog foods is that there are other non-kibbles that would also need their own dedicated categories.

This would create categories with fewer than 10 competing products.

For example, some dog food companies claim their products are “baked” while others insist their foods are “dehydrated”. And yet others say their recipes are “air-dried”.

In any case, almost every one of these products share the common physical characteristics of other dry dog foods in that they each contain approximately 10% moisture.

So, we have chosen to lump them all together as “dry” dog foods — and then tag them for future custom search functions soon to be added to our website to allow users to create their own custom lists to find what they want.

Hope this makes sense.

[Mike Sagman]

Bioavailability is a term more commonly used in the science of pharmacology (drugs).

However, when used to discuss dietary supplements and nutrients, as long as the chemical structure and digestive environment of a particular nutrient is chemically identical to that of another, it would make no difference whether that nutrient is sourced from a plant or an animal.

The bioavailability of any mineral (like magnesium or selenium) would be expected to be nutritionally identical to any other pure form of the same mineral — whether or not it had been derived from a soybean or a chicken. It makes absolutely no difference from where it is sourced.

However, when that same mineral has been chelated — combined with an amino acid, for example — it would become more bio-available for the animal.

So, in our ratings, we do tend to slightly favor recipes that contain chelated minerals over their standard inorganic counterparts.

In the case of whole foods like eggs or corn — not individual nutrients — the biological value (or nutritional completeness) of a food can vary significantly for any particular species.

For clarification, it may help to read this article about biological value published elsewhere on our website.

Or the Wikipedia articles about biological value and bioavailability, too.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Mike T,

From a purely nutritional perspective, as long as the nutrient content of the ingredients is exactly the same, there would be no expected health advantage of plant based materials over animal based sources.

However, we include this important statement on every review as a way to convey to readers who are making a purchase of a product entitled “Chicken and Rice” to provide a more honest picture of the food itself.

Regarding GMO ingredients, the answer to your question depends on the opinion of the individual you ask. Because of the controversy associated with this topic, we currently make no distinction or any ratings adjustment for the presence or absence of GMO ingredients in any review on this website.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Yes, potatoes can contain pesticides and other environmental pollutants.

However, many pet (and human) food ingredients — especially corn and wheat — are also at even greater risk than potatoes for containing hidden and deadly “natural” carcinogenic mycotoxins — like aflatoxin and vomitoxin.

It’s difficult (almost impossible) to find pet foods that are 100% risk free of all carcinogens. That’s because the environment for all of us today (humans and pets alike) is filled with dangerous chemicals.

There’s simply no way to completely eliminate all the risks.

That’s why in addition to feeding organic foods, we recommend rotational feeding for most dogs. Here’s how we describe the reasoning behind this important concept in our FAQ about Diet Rotation:

“Since there’s no such thing as a perfect dog food, it’s reasonable to assume every product is deficient or excessive in some way.

“Too much of one nutrient or too little of another. Plus many foods can contain traces of dangerous toxins.

“So, built-in flaws tend to be magnified when the same food is fed continuously — day-in and day-out — for a lifetime.

“By periodically switching dog foods, the unhealthy consequences of serving the same imperfect products can be minimized.”

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Holly and Jeffrey,

Wellness dry food products do not appear to contain corn or soy — the 2 most likely dog food ingredients to contain GM materials. Yet due to cross contamination found in the supply chain of many pet (and human) foods, making a guarantee for any food product to be 100% GMO free would be technically misleading.

Unlike the European Union, the U.S. government does not yet address this topic from a regulatory standpoint.

When interviewing Wellpet, I found the representative to be completely transparent about this topic. And it was apparent to me the company was sensible in the way they address questions about the GMO nature of their products.

I found this FAQ question and answer posted publicly on the company’s website:

Why does the new packaging no longer say “GMO-Free”?

The Wellness Quality team has worked very hard to remove GMO ingredients from our Wellness dry dog and cat foods and nothing is changing in our recipes.

As the discussion about GMOs has continued in the pet community, we’ve made a conscious decision not to make a broad non-GMO statement until there are definitive regulatory standards to guide such claims in the pet food community.

So, I remain confident in our inclusion of Wellness dry dog foods on our non-GMO list.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Matt R.

The most common questions about membership are already answered on our About Editor’s Choice FAQ page.

They’re also mentioned in paragraph 8 of the Membership Agreement, too. Sorry for all the legal jargon.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Many pet food companies use our logo or our star ratings to promote their products on their packaging or their websites without our permission.

Occasionally, some manufacturers do ask for our consent to use these graphics — and in most cases, we will grant conditional permission.

However, as I mention in every review on this website: “We do not accept money, gifts or samples from pet food companies in exchange for special consideration in the preparation of our reviews or ratings.”

To learn how we support the cost of operating this website, please be sure to visit our public Disclaimer and Disclosure page.

[Mike Sagman]

Copper is an essential mineral for dogs, cats, humans — and all living things, for that matter.

So, you’ll almost always find some form of copper on a dog food label. That’s because in order to legally claim the product is “complete and balanced” for nutritional adequacy, a dog food must contain sufficient copper to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles.

According to the official 2015 AAFCO publication, a dog food must contain at least 7.5 mg of copper per each kilogram of dog food (on a dry matter basis, of course).

However, any mineral (even sodium) can be toxic in excessive amounts. The maximum for copper as published by AAFCO is currently 250 mg.

Because some compounds of copper have such poor bioavailability for dogs, AAFCO does not permit its oxide form (like copper oxide, cupric oxide, etc.) to be used to meet the association’s official nutrient profiles.

So, manufacturers must use copper sulfate or a chelated form of the mineral such as copper proteinate (or copper complexed with an amino acid or polysaccharide).

The personal interest (lay) article mentioned by Susan Thixton that was published in The Battle Creek (Michigan) Enquirer appears to base its warnings on a hypothesis proposed by one well-meaning veterinarian.

And his “theory” is certainly worthy of further investigation.

However, until a scientific study that addresses the specific topic of copper sulfate toxicity in dogs can be referenced, I would suggest to those concerned to avoid the hysteria about these recent claims.

Please read this pet food industry article about copper sulfate written by a respected animal nutritionist, Dr. Greg Aldrich of Kansas State University for a more enlightening and scientific explanation.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Ivchister,

Due to differences in labeling regulations from country to country, we only consider dog foods for Editor’s Choice that are widely distributed within the US or Canada. So, unfortunately, Brit Care is not eligible for consideration at this time. Thanks for your suggestion.

[Mike Sagman]

Hey Guys,

Cat Food Advisor is still in the planning and development stages. It’s a truly huge project that could be delayed for a good while longer until I can put together a team and all the content needed to make CFA a valuable resource.

However, DFA’s new Learning Center (including a number of helpful video tutorials) and many other new features you’ll see rolled out over the next 4-6 months are really keeping us from putting a lot of energy into CFA. Thanks for your patience.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Case,

We no longer offer an automatic renewal option. So, your credit card will not be charged.

However, you will receive an email notification once your membership expires — and you’ll be given an opportunity to manually renew, if you’d like.

To retrieve your original registration date, please contact Member Support and we’d be happy to look it up for you. Please be sure to let us know the email address you used when you signed up. Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi LD L,

Thanks for your suggestion. Lists like these would certainly be a valuable addition to our member’s area. So, I’ve added it to our To Do list for future consideration. Thanks again for taking the time to share this this idea.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Dave,

As you may already know, large breed puppies have special nutritional needs that are different from those of most other puppies. The following article may help point you in the right direction:

How to Choose the Best Large Breed Puppy Food and Lower Your Pet’s Risk of Hip Dysplasia

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Ron,

Just because a dog food gets a good review (based on its label), a high star rating alone doesn’t necessarily make any brand eligible for Editor’s Choice designation.

True, a high star rating can indeed make a product eligible for consideration. However, there are currently more than 330 dog foods rated 4 or 5 stars on our website. And fewer than 25 have made it onto our elite Editor’s Choice list.

Here’s an article that explains what we’re looking for:

/choosing-dog-food/brand-guidelines/

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Kaye K,

Thanks for your question.

As I explained in the video, we have reduced more than 950 reviews and 4,100 individual recipes to (currently) just 21 brands – including the dozens of product lines many of those brands make available. And for each of those selections, we also include much of the important detail that’s missing from the label.

This includes ingredient sources, country of origin, recall histories, product availability, quality control and safety practices of the company, test and hold methods and much more.

You can find all this information by simply clicking on the links to each Editor’s Choice brand whenever you’re logged in to the private member’s area.

Information like this is obtained via calls, interviews and data scraping. So, as you’d expect, it took our research team thousands of hours to collect and sort through all that data in order to make the recommended brands you find in Editor’s Choice available and updated on a routine cyclical nature.

However, it would be far beyond the scope of our service to provide this kind of in-depth analysis and tracking for each of the thousands of other products reviewed on our website for the small fee we charge for membership (about 1.00 per month).

Unfortunately, the only other way to get this information (for all the other non-Editor’s Choice brands, too) would be for you to make these calls to the relevant companies and ask these questions yourself. I realize this would be a lot of work. However, there’s just no easy way I’m aware of to do this.

That’s why we created Editor’s Choice, in the first place. We wanted to make it easy for our paid members find a great dog food quickly. So, if you simply choose one of our monthly recommendations, we’ve already done all this hard work for you.

In closing, let me again say thanks for being a member. It’s support from caring dog lovers like you that make it possible for us to make our website available without paid advertising from manufacturers — and the influence paid ads would almost certainly bring from the pet food industry.

If you have any other questions about what’s included in your membership, please feel free to contact Member Support.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

As stated in our Commenting Policy, “please do not use any article on this website as a place to post comments related to any topic that has been officially closed by the moderator.”

Due to the continued and unwelcome behavior of a chronic troll, the comments section of the dog food brand mentioned in this thread is currently closed.

To be consistent with our stated rules, this thread has also been closed.

[Mike Sagman]

USA Dog Treats,

AAFCO currently has NO nutritional profile specifically for large breed puppy foods. However, the National Research Council does indeed specify unique guidelines designed to address the energy content of these kinds of foods as those calories relate to each recipe’s calcium content.

HDM (on her own) generously posted a detailed list of some of her own recommendations for commercial large breed puppy foods. Her work was scientifically based and required a significant amount of personal effort. This completely voluntary project included the creation of spreadsheets, phone calls to manufacturers as well as online research.

That research even included reliable references posted for your benefit as well as the benefit of others. So, frankly, I find your criticism of her efforts here surprising and unwelcome.

In summary, a knowledgeable veterinary expert, HDM and I have been working diligently on an important project — including the development of costly software — to help our readers verify claims made by manufacturers regarding the nutritional adequacy of their products specifically for large breed puppies.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Nancy C,

My removal of our review for Big Dog Natural had nothing to do with the quality of the product. The article was removed simply because there were some inconsistencies between the information I had retrieved from the brand’s website and private communications I had had with the company’s owner — as well as blog discussions between the brand and some of our readers

Because I believed my review (that had been based upon the company’s posted label data) could be misleading to readers, I made the editorial decision to withdraw the article from our website.

As of this writing, I have no plans to review it again any time in the near future. Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Holly,

We’ve been asked to review Blue Ridge Beef products by others, too. However, when we visited the company’s website, we found retrieving complete label information unusually challenging.

For example, important product information was published as images that could not be readily copied and pasted into our spreadsheets. And entering data using manual methods is time consuming and prone to human error.

In addition, we also were unable to easily locate any AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements. So, we have no way of knowing if the recipes are “complete and balanced” or recommended “for supplemental feeding only”.

So, unfortunately, we cannot review Blue Ridge Beef products at this time. Thanks for your suggestion.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Renee,

Thanks for your question. Just because a dog food has a highly rated label doesn’t mean it qualifies to be an Editor’s Choice selection.

Please keep in mind there are currently more than 325 dog foods on this website rated 4 stars or higher. And nearly 100 of those are rated 5 stars.

That’s why we created Editor’s Choice. We (by design) reduced all those products and the 4,000 recipes they represent to just a few top brands to make it easier for you to choose a top dog food.

For a better understanding how we select brands for this special designation, you may wish to visit the Editor’s Choice FAQ page. Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Myra,

That’s great news. Dog foods with ample meat-based protein and also low in fat (like Annamaet Lean) are not typically easy to come by. Hope others find your experience and your report helpful, too. Thanks for taking the time to post your results.

Mike

[Mike Sagman]

Earthborn Holistic is certainly a fine product. And thanks to its nomination by others, this brand is currently under consideration for Editor’s Choice designation.

However, to find out why this or any other brand may (or may not) be included on our list, please visit our Editor’s Choice FAQ page. Hope this helps.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Sid M.,

Thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately, due to important differences in labeling standards with each country, our software and spreadsheets aren’t reliable with dog foods not sold within the USA or Canada. Wish I could be more help.

[Mike Sagman]

Hi Melinda W,

Thanks for suggesting Common Sense Raw. Unfortunately, we’re unable to locate any AAFCO Nutritional Adequacy Statement for Common Sense anywhere on the company’s website. So, it’s impossible for us to determine if these recipes are “complete and balanced” or “for supplemental feeding” only.

Without this important statement, customers cant’s know for which life stage profile these products should (or should not) be fed.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

[Author]

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