Finding the Best Dog Food

I recently embarked on a journey to find a better dog food for my dogs, Peanut and Biscuit. I've spent a lot of time researching, and because I am a nerd, I felt I had to write a paper about my research...or at least a blog. I hope it can be a helpful summary to anyone interested in exploring canine dietary options.

**Disclaimer: I'm just a dog owner with a computer, not a dog nutritionist.**

I've tried to make this blog really thorough with all the information I'd been seeking when I began my research project. The downside is, that made it really long. Feel free to navigate to just sections that interest you. For the short version, skip down to "In Summary."

MY HISTORY

My journey began when the news broke about the class-action lawsuit against Beneful dog food. I was feeding Peanut and Biscuit Beneful at the time, it was what they'd eaten their whole lives, and they were doing just fine.

Or were they?

Because they were vomiting at least once a week, last July I started mixing a spoonful of chicken or turkey Beechnut baby food in with their food. This had reduced their vomiting down to practically nothing. Chicken and turkey baby food can help aid digestion, and while not good for the whole diet, mixing it in seemed to do the trick. But the Beneful alone wasn't all that digestible.

And then I thought back to March 2011. Peanut started throwing up a LOT. Within the span of a couple hours, she threw up four times. I took her to the ER vet around 10 pm, and they did an x-ray of her stomach. There wasn't really any food left in there, so she shouldn't be throwing up anymore. They inserted this fluid pack under her skin to keep her hydrated, and we went back home. But by the middle of the night she'd thrown up 17 times. And it was starting to come out both ends. I took her back to the vet. And there she stayed, on an IV to prevent de-hydration and to try to calm her stomach, continually throwing up even though there was nothing left to throw up.

I spent as much time as I could with her there on the couch in a room at the vet's. Piddle pad under her because sometimes even in her sleep stuff would start coming out. At one point stuff leaked out on my pants but I just stayed there comforting her. They thought there must be a blockage in her stomach, and if she didn't have surgery it could kill her. So $2500 later, they'd cut her stomach open to determine no blockage. It must be a reaction to food.

Despite the surgery not really accomplishing anything, she did start to get better and was able to come home. I started her off with rice and baby food, gradually mixing Beneful back in. And she was fine, until I started giving her treats again (I was using Petsmart brand treats, I'm not sure of the name). So I stopped giving her those treats. Compared the ingredients list between that and Beneful, and narrowed it down to likely an allergy or intolerance to garlic. I've avoided garlic since, and she's been fine.

And then there was Buttercup. 

Buttercup was my dog who died about three weeks after Peanut got really sick. She was 12 years old, but a miniature poodle's average lifespan is 15-17 years, so she wasn't that old. Still, she'd had ongoing health problems that were being treated effectively with medication. And then one day, I woke up at 5 am to find her straining to breathe...really bad. The vet said her heart was pumping blood into her lungs. She couldn't eat, couldn't drink. We had to put her down that day.

But as I reviewed the symptoms on that list of Beneful concerns, I realized Buttercup had had a lot of them. One of the medications she was on was to help her breathe, because even before that day she would pant really hard. She had always thrown up a lot, which I attributed to her just having a "sensitive stomach." But was it her food? If I'd fed her something higher quality, would she have lived longer? Not been so sick? After all, Beneful only has a 1-star rating on dogfoodadvisor.com.

And one time I mixed it with some water and put it in the microwave to soften it, and it was shooting off sparks in the microwave. Does it have metal pieces in it?

Beneful denies their food has any problems. Maybe they're right. But I decided I wasn't going to take a chance with my dogs' health anymore.

EXPLORING THE OPTIONS

When I found out about Beneful's issues, I decided to switch the dogs. But I didn't want to spend an exorbitant amount of money on dog food. A 15 lb bag of Beneful ($16 with tax) was lasting me about 60 days, plus .50 a day for the baby food. That broke down to about $23 a month to feed both dogs. I said I'd be willing to double that, but not much more.

When I first googled "natural dog foods" I found The Honest Kitchen website. The costs were astronomical. If that's what it took to feed my dog fancy not-off-the-shelf stuff, it was out. So I gave up looking at those and just tried to find the best quality off-the-shelf kibble.

A friend recommended Blue Buffalo. Blue gets 4 stars on dogfoodadvisor.com. It boasts that its first ingredient is always meat, never grains. It's human-grade. And I found a deal on the Healthy Weight Small Breed kibble for $31 for a 15 lb bag with Amazon Prime. I figured if they could actually digest it I wouldn't need the baby food, and my monthly cost would actually go DOWN to $15.50. Additionally, I found a site indicating that the FDA received half as many complaints for Blue Buffalo in a YEAR as Beneful got in a MONTH.

Between the high-rating, the quality, and the cost, I was sold. I started the switch.

But then Biscuit had a vet appointment. And the vet asked what I was feeding him. I told her I was in the process of switching from Beneful to Blue Buffalo. She wasn't a fan of Blue Buffalo. She said it's too expensive for the level of quality it offers, and it hasn't been tested as much as a brand like Purina or Science Diet (2.5 on dogfoodadvisor).

I was frustrated. I'd just switched them FROM Purina. She said Purina has better kinds than Beneful, like Pro Plan (2.5 on dogfoodadvisor). She also recommended Royal Canin (2.5) or Iams (3). Blue Buffalo also offers grain-free food (though I wasn't getting that kind), and she said the whole grain-free movement is unnecessary. So I started to question Blue Buffalo, but I still wasn't sold on typical-brand kibble, so I didn't evaluate those. Though I did see many comments online speculating that vets are paid to promote Science Diet.

My vet also noted that Blue Buffalo's proud claim that it has no animal by-product is a bit inflated. Animal by-product doesn't necessarily mean beaks and claws, it generally means hearts and livers - good protein sources for dogs. Plus, I found this article about a lawsuit against Blue Buffalo for false advertising on that. And this one, too.

So I headed out to Doggy Dips & Chips, a local mom-and-pop that sells more holistic kibbles, none of the mainstream brands. I asked for recommendations, and they gave me a few samples: Fromm, and three flavors of Pulsar (fish, chicken, turkey). However, Pulsar is grain-free...which my vet had railed against not 15 minutes earlier.

I took home the samples and got out some paper plates. Divided them into six sections and labeled each one: Beneful, Blue Buffalo, Fromm, Pulsar Fish, Pulsar Chicken, Pulsar Turkey. And I decided to do a massive taste test.

THE GRAND EXPERIMENT

Peanut was my first test subject. She has this idea that I am slowly starving her to death. She's always hungry. So her test lasted about one minute, and I'm not totally sure there was any method to the order in which she ate the kibbles or if she was just gobbling up whatever she saw first. But her preference order was: Pulsar fish, Pulsar turkey, Pulsar chicken, Fromm/Beneful (she ate those at the same time before finishing one or the other), Blue Buffalo. Interesting to me that Blue was her last choice.

Then came Biscuit's turn. Biscuit is my picky eater. He has a history of picking out the "reject" kibbles that don't meet his standards, as you can see above. His test took almost 30 minutes. He carefully sniffed each option and was very intentional about his choices. First, he chose the Pulsar fish, just as Peanut had chosen. But he spit out every piece. Then he chose a piece of Fromm, spit that out, and returned to the Pulsar fish, which he ate all four pieces of (with a lot of spitting out and picking back up along the way). Next he finished up the Fromm, with minimal spitting out. Then he went for the Pulsar turkey, spit all those out, Pulsar chicken, spit all those out, and went back to the Pulsar turkey and ate it. After he finished up the Pulsar chicken, he wouldn't even touch Beneful or Blue Buffalo.

Pulsar doesn't come in small breed/small bite, and I think that's why he kept spitting them out. He liked the flavor but the kibble size was hard for him to handle. 

GRAIN-FREE PROS AND CONS

Now knowing the dogs both had a preference for Pulsar Fish (which has a 4.5 star rating on dogfoodadvisor), I decided to do more digging into this whole grain-free movement my vet wasn't so fond of. And let me tell you, it is controversial. There are a lot of opinions about it. But this is the article that really struck me. (Also of note: dogfoodadvisor.com is pro-grain-free, so take that into account in the way they rate grain-free foods.)

In all my reading, most of which was in support of grain-free, several cons stood out with grain-free food.

• Grain-free does NOT mean carb-free. Often the replacement carbs are not very good for dogs and can cause health issues (however, Pulsar did not have this problem).
• Dogs lose weight too rapidly, you end up having to feed them much more than the bag recommends. (I'd priced out Pulsar at $18 per 8.8 lb bag at Doggy Dips & Chips, which ends up being $15/month, but it seemed like that could double based on some of the reviews.)
• It can cause an unhealthy increase in bowel movements.
• It is not as good for joints & muscles...and Biscuit is already a rather floppy dog prone to back injury.

Grain-free is trendy right now (in human food too!), but many people think it's good because of potential dog allergies. In fact, my vet said dog allergies are more often to certain types of meats than they are to grains. This article says the same thing.

I should mention that also in this research, I found out there had been a recall on Blue Buffalo food in 2010 and another in 2013. Plus, I saw that consumer affairs listed 979 complaints for Blue Buffalo, and fewer (838) for Beneful. This definitely concerned me and took that one off the table. But Pulsar didn't seem to be a valid option either due to my concerns about grain-free. I kept digging.

HOMEMADE DOG FOOD

What I'd really wanted all along was to find something like the food guide pyramid, but for dogs. In my head there'd be a pyramid for each size range of dogs. I'd pick the 10-20 lb. pyramid and it would say, feed your dog 1-2 servings of grains, 3-4 servings of meat, 2-3 servings of veggies, or whatever the ratio should be. Then, it would have a list of things that fit into each category and what a serving was for that size dog. So it would tell me 1 serving of brown rice is 1/4 cup (if it is). I thought I'd like to make my own dog food, but I didn't know how to balance it, and a tool like that would help me do it and offer variety to my dogs.

After all, at one point Buttercup or Peanut had done this:

My dogs wanted real meat!

The blog I referred to above in my grain-free research was on drharveys.com, which sells dog food mixes. This sounded interesting. 

Dr. Harvey's Oracle was too expensive, right off the bat. (It includes meat.) So I didn't look into that too much. But the Canine Health sounded a lot like what I was looking for with that food guide pyramid.

Basically, it's everything a dog needs in a balanced diet except meat. You add your own meat, either raw or cooked depending on your preference. (I'm in camp "Cooked" because of the bacteria risks. But note that if you are using meat with bones, cooked bone can be dangerous.) It tells you exactly how much meat to add (along with water and oil) to balance out the mix. It was make-your-own but even easier!

So, to evaluate costs, I headed out to price out meat. (As you explore meat, it may be a good idea to be mindful of humanely-raised meat issues.) This is what I found for prices in my area:

- Steaks (pretty expensive, a rare treat): $6.50-$7 per pound

- Ground beef: $5.98/pound

- Chicken thighs: $2.83/pound/Chicken hearts, gizzards, and livers: $1.27/pound. These are good protein sources and much cheaper. My plan is for chicken week to have a combination of thighs, hearts, gizzards, and livers, bringing the cost per pound to $1.79.

- Ground turkey: $3.18/pound

- Frozen salmon: $3.97/pound

              (Side note on fish: I read some things about tuna having too high a mercury content to be a main meat source in a dog's diet. I give them the occasional tuna treat, but do not recommend it for these purposes. For salmon, it should never be fed raw.)

- Eggs: $1.45/pound

- Tofu: $1.98/pound

- Kidney beans, pinto beans, and lentils: averages out to $1.38/pound

(Other protein options include duck, lamb, venison, rabbit, but I didn't include those because of cost and/or lack of availability at my regular grocery store.  Some people feed their dogs vegan diets, avoiding the meat altogether, but I am a firm believer that meat is important for dogs. That's why I plan to rotate in some of the non-meat proteins but not use them exclusively or rely on them too heavily.)

Dr. Harvey's requires 6 oz of meat per 1 lb serving. My dogs would each need 1/4 lb serving per day, so that 1 lb serving would last me two days. Based on that I calculated I'd need 1.3 lbs of meat per week. Taking an average of all those meat costs besides steak (since I'm planning to rotate the other seven), I calculated .52 per day for meat costs for both dogs. Additionally, there'd be a .15 cost per day for flax seed oil, which has its own share of awesome health benefits including blood pressure and metabolism regulation, kidney and arterial health, better skin and coat, and improved immune system - with speculation it helps prevent cancer. It's also a good anti-inflammatory if you have older dogs prone to arthritis (or floppy Biscuits prone to back injury). The mix itself would be .58 per day. All this adds up to $1.26 per day or $37.69 per month. Now remember, I'd originally been willing to spend up to double of my $23/month on Beneful and baby food. So I was under that mark, AND it was an opportunity to feed my dogs a truly natural and varied diet.

I should also note, Dr. Harvey's Canine Health isn't rated on dogfoodadvisor, but his Oracle is and receives a 5 star rating. And while I was on his website, Biscuit stepped on my computer and added it to cart 9 times. So it seems he thinks highly of it. :)

Also of note, Dr. Harvey is reportedly a chiropractor, not a veterinarian, but his website boasts 30 years of research in dog nutrition. He did get in trouble in 1998 for illegal practice of veterinary medicine. So take that as you wish. To me it doesn't trump the 30 years of research, nor the rave reviews.

Now knowing dog food mixes existed, I found some other ones. U-Stew came out to $85.77 a month, and Furoshnikov's was $58.11. Both well over the anticipated cost for Dr. Harvey's. Plus, Furoshnikov's doesn't contain as many of the ingredients other than meat - you have to add your own rice and vegetables, which I had factored into the cost but that's also more work.

IN SUMMARY

Because of my inner-nerdiness and love of spreadsheets, all of this math, along with the pros and cons, is reflected in a spreadsheet.

Remember, my cost estimates are based on feeding two 12-15 pound dogs. If you're using this to gauge your approximate costs, please bear in mind that they would be accurate for two of that size dog or one 25-30 lb dog. Otherwise, multiply or divide as needed.

BENEFUL

Beneful pros: My dogs were already on it

Beneful cons: Under scrutiny as possibly killing dogs and making others very sick. May have contributed to Buttercup's sickness and death. Not digestible on its own, needed to be combined with baby food. 1 star on dogfoodadvisor.

Monthly cost with baby food: $23

Tested to meet AAFCO guidelines? Yes, per dogfoodadvisor and packaging.

Verdict: Not worth considering

BLUE BUFFALO

Blue Buffalo pros: Among highest rated of standard-brand dry kibble. Mostly good reviews. 4 stars on dogfoodadvisor. Easy to get and scoop.

Blue Buffalo cons: Vet did not approve, not well-tested, had recalls in 2010 and 2013. Contains garlic which is controversial, especially in light of Peanut's issues.

Tested to meet AAFCO guidelines? Yes, per dogfoodadvisor and packaging.

Monthly cost: $15.50

Verdict: A better choice than Beneful for sure, but not as good as other choices

FROMM

Fromm pros: I didn't talk about Fromm a lot here, but let me say that it was Biscuit's second choice. Although it doesn't come in small bite, the kibbles are reasonably-sized for small dogs. Rating of 4 on dogfoodadvisor. Holistic, natural food. Not grain-free.

Fromm cons: Not as highly rated as Pulsar, more expensive per bag, and bigger portions needed. 

Tested to meet AAFCO guidelines? Yes, per dogfoodadvisor.

Monthly cost: Did not calculate

Verdict: Seems to be a reasonable choice, but it didn't satisfy me for the price per bag.

PULSAR

Pulsar pros: Dogs' top choice in my kibble taste test, all-natural, uses healthy carb sources even though it is grain-free. 4.5 on dogfoodadvisor.

Pulsar cons: I still have other concerns with grain-free, doesn't come in small bite, hard for Biscuit to manage. Single-source protein is not as good for the overall diet.

Tested to meet AAFCO guidelines? Yes, per dogfoodadvisor.

Monthly cost: $15 (if the recommended serving size is actually enough)

Verdict: If I didn't have the concerns about the grain-free, I'd be more inclined to get this one. Although it's probably the best among the four options discussed so far, it ends up being the cheapest cost. But the grain-free left me unsatisfied.

DR. HARVEY'S

Dr. Harvey's pros: Truly natural diet, allows for variety, well-balanced. 5 stars on dogfoodadvisor. Most affordable of all dog-food mixes.

Dr. Harvey's cons: It's the most work (though still pretty easy for make-your-own). I can freeze portions ahead if I'm out of town, but it's still more work for sitters to remember to thaw it as opposed to scooping kibbles. It's far more expensive than any kibble options pursued.

Tested to meet AAFCO guidelines? Yes, per dogfoodadvisor.

Monthly cost: $43.63

Verdict: It's the direction I've tentatively decided to go, got my first pack on order to confirm the dogs like it and it digests well. I can't imagine they won't like it since it's basically people food!

Note: Dr. Harvey's is available on amazon.com as well as directly from drharveys.com. On Amazon it is about the same cost (only .71 cheaper for the 5 lb bag), but you get free shipping with Prime.

OTHER

Other mixes explored: U-Stew, Furoshnikov's, The Honest Kitchen

Reason didn't pursue: Too expensive

For more reviews, check out this link.

ALSO CHECK OUT

Also, if you're interested in purely homemade with no mixes, I did end up finding something kind of like what I wanted for the doggy food guide pyramid, here. Though now that I know about Dr. Harvey's, my hunch is that the cost wouldn't be that much less to totally make your own - and a lot more work.

Pet MD has an article on things to consider when choosing dog food. This article also notes some things I've mentioned about grains and by-products.

One last article, ranking the different types of dog diets from 1-13. Please note that an unbalanced homemade diet is the WORST, so don't do it unless you're committed to balancing it right.

DR. HARVEY'S RECEPTION

I've read all the reviews on Amazon (for all sizes of bag), and not one of the less-than-five-star reviews expresses health concerns. (And there are very few non-five-star reviews anyway.) Mostly it's dogs who won't eat it (which is quickly determined) or difficulty of prep (which I'm committed to). A lot of reviewers had dogs that had major health problems before switching to Dr. Harvey's, and were totally fine on Dr. Harvey's.

For my dogs, their immediate reaction was great! They couldn't believe this food I cooked up was for THEM! The only problem I encountered was that I mixed in half kibbles and did a half portion, to try to transition them. Biscuit was picking out his kibbles and making a mess everywhere. He didn't want anything but the good stuff! (I was afraid of that...) Biscuit's fur around his mouth did not turn pink like one reviewer had said happened to her dog.

Here are some pictures of them enjoying their first Dr. Harvey's meal (chicken is the protein I used). You can see Biscuit's rejected kibbles on the floor, and Peanut trying to snarfle them up.

Since my dogs weren't deathly ill even before Dr. Harvey's, I knew I wouldn't have some of the dramatic testimonies other people did about the difference Dr. Harvey's made. But here are some things I've noticed:

1) LESS SMELLY. HUGE decrease in Peanut's stink bombs - and let me tell you she had a way of letting them rip before! On Day 4 I realized I hadn't smelled a single one since I started the switch! Also, Biscuit's fur continues to remain white. 

2) MORE ENERGY. They've had an increase in energy (healthy eating will do that for you). They've always had their "crazy time" in the evening but the night I switched them it lasted extra long and they were still kind of restless afterwards. So I've started taking them on 1-2 15-minute walks a day. Which isn't THAT much time to invest and, let's face it, will help all three of our health. 

3) COUGH IMPROVEMENT. Peanut had had this hacking cough for several months, and 6 days into the food I realized while she still coughed occasionally, it was decreasing in frequency. My hope is that it will go away all together.

4) LESS SNORING. Peanut had also been a bit stuffy for several months, but not so much the vet was concerned. However, it did lead to some snoring that at times actually woke me up in the middle of the night! Now she hardly snores at all.

5) THEY FEEL FULL. On their old food, Peanut was often trying to scavenge for more food. She was just so hungry, she felt like I was starving her to death (I was not underfeeding her). I think it was all the empty calories. Around 9 pm every night she'd start whining uncontrollably at her empty dish. Now, she is VERY excited about meal times but doesn't feel the need to look for food when it's not meal time.

My only complaint is that after the switch, Peanut started eating grass a lot. Since I live in a rental and can't control the kind of fertilizer they use, I was concerned about the possibility of this continuing into Spring. So now I add some canned pumpkin (1 oz per pound of mixed food) to get them more fiber.

MY SYSTEM

I love being organized, and I also want to make this as little work as possible. So I bought all 7 of the protein sources I plan to rotate through. When I use one up, I'll replace it, and that way I'll never run short or have to make a last-minute shopping trip. For those that need to be frozen, I packaged them in 1 lb. and .5 lb increments, since it will take 1.5 lbs to make an 8-day serving. (8 days is easier to mix up than 7.) Every weekend I'll mix up a new batch using my 1.5 lbs of protein. I also bought this meat scale for $13 to help measure meat.

I bought these containers to store the servings in, 1 container per day:

They're BPA-free and freezer-safe, so I can safely store the food in the freezer. I plan to keep one container in the fridge and when it's gone, move another down from the freezer so it's thawed out by the next meal. The containers were $1.84 per set of 4, and they're dishwasher safe so it's a cheap, one-time purchase.

Also, so that I don't have to rely on my memory too much to rotate through my protein sources, I created this menu. I can just move the arrow every week, and put it back at the top when I get down to the bottom. (The gourmet options, again, would be rare treats and are not part of the rotation.)

TREATS

I already buy homemade dog treats from a lady I work with, so I'm pretty happy with the natural, preservative-free treats I feed my dogs. But in all the dog food research I did, I stumbled across some great treat ideas to add into the mix. Blueberries and strawberries are both super good for dogs with all the anti-oxidants and such, but my dogs didn't like them. Some sites had said they can prevent cancer and slow down aging! Coconut or coconut oil was another really good one, which my dogs do like. Dr. Harvey's has Coconut Smiles dog treats, but you can also just buy coconut flakes. Just make sure you get it with no sulfites or added sugar. Just plain coconut as the only ingredient! 

Yogurt is another goodie because it is full of probiotics, which I'd already known but the problem I found is that you can only buy plain, non-fat yogurt in a giant tub, which went bad before I was through even a quarter of it! But I found out that you can freeze it without losing nutritional value, so I got some ice cube trays so I could easily freeze puppy portions.

As with any treat, these are best in moderation - too much of any of these things will NOT have healthy effects on your dogs! Before I knew my dogs didn't like blueberries, my plan was to give each dog one blueberry every other day, and on the off days they'd get their regular treat. Now my plan is to do the same thing but with the coconut. Yogurt is a nightly treat.

THOUGHTS?

Please comment with any questions or additional research you've found! I'm certainly no expert on this, but if you have questions that I did find in my research I'd be happy to answer.