Helpful Information

Choosing the Best Food for Your Dog

At All About Dogs, we strongly believe there is a correlation between healthy eating and good behavior. While there is no single product that is perfect for all dogs, we can identify characteristics of a healthy diet.

The Whole Dog Journal (which is like Consumer Reports for dog lovers) recommends changing foods regularly and prefers wet food over dry. So far this year, the only update has been to the dry foods list. Some foods are made by multiple companies or locations. A list of dry, canned, AND grain-free foods approved by the Whole Dog Journal is included on this page.

Whole Dog Journal’s selection criteria (updated Feb 2010):

• Animal protein at the top of the ingredients list. (Ideally a food will have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients.)
• Named animal protein source-chicken, beef lamb etc, instead of saying “meat” or “meal”
• When a fresh meat appears high on the ingredients list, it should have an animal protein meal in a supporting role, to augment the total protein in the diet. Fresh or frozen meats to not contain enough protein to be used as the sole protein source in a DRY food (they contain as much as 65-75 % water and only 15-20 % protein. However, animal protein “meals” (meat, bone, skin and connective tissue that’s rendered and dried) contain only about 10 % moisture and as much as 65% protein.
• Foods should have whole meat, fish or poultry as the FIRST ingredient (and perhaps second and third too) on the label.
• If grains or vegetables are used, they should be whole grains and vegetables, rather than a series of reconstituted parts (i.e.; rice rather than rice flour, rice bran, brewer’s rice etc.)
• No meat by-products or poultry by-products
• Must not contain any artificial colors, flavors, or added preservatives (such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin). Since natural preservatives don’t preserve the food as long, be sure to check the “use by” date on the food.
• No fat or proteins unless they are identified by species (animal fat, meat proteins)
• No sugars or sweeteners (which are usually only added to food to entice them to eat food that are primarily made of grain fragments.
• Organic ingredients are preferred and they should be locally sourced.

These are just some of the CANNED foods recommended by the Whole Dog Journal (2007):

• Addiction Foods-Venison & Avocado
• Artimis-Beef Formula
• Avo-derm-Original Formula
• Blue Buffalo
• By Nature Organics-Original Turkey, Sweet Potato & Peas
• California Natural-Salmon & Sweet Potato
• Canidae-Chicken, Lamb & Fish
• Drs. Foster & Smith Lamb & Brown Rice
• Evolve-Turkey
• Fromm Four Star Nutritionals-Beef
• Innova Evo-Evo 95% Beef
• Lick your chops-Adult Maintenance
• Natural Balance-Beef formula
• Natural Balance Eatables for Dogs-Irish Stew
• Nutro Natural Choice-Chicken, Rice & Oatmeal
• Organix-Adult
• Pinnacle-Trout & Sweet Potato
• Showbound Naturals-Chicken
• Solid Gold-Turkey & Ocean Fish
• Wellness-Chicken & Sweet Potato

Complete updated list of DRY foods recommended by the Whole Dog Journal (Feb. 2010):

• Addiction Foods made by Taplow Ventures
• Artimis Pet Foods made by Diamond Pet Products
• Back to Basics Made by CJ Foods
• Bench & Field Pet Foods (Holistic Natural Canine) made by Wellpet
• Blue Buffalo Company Made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods
• Blue Seal Feeds made by Blue Seal’s plant, (Organic by Chenango Valley Pet Food)
• Breeder’s Choice Pet foods made by Breeder’s Choice’s plants
• Burns Pet Health made by CJ Foods
• Canidae Corp-Made by Diamond Pet Foods
• Canine Caviar Pet Foods-Made by Ohio Pet Foods
• Castor & Pollux Pet Works-made by CJ Foods and Crosswinds Petfoods Inc.
• Champion Petfoods made by Champion’s own plant
• Della Natura Commodities –Made by Erro
• Diamond Pet Products Made by Diamond’s own manufacturing plants
• Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance-made by CJ Foods
• Dogswell, LLC- made by Tuffy’s Pet Foods
• Drs. Fosters & Smith-Made by CJ Foods
• Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company-Made by Ohio Pet Foods and Fromm Family Foods
• FirstMate Pet Foods made by FirstMate’s own plant
• Fromm Family Foods Made by Fromm’s own plant
• Laughing Dog, Inc. Made by Taplow Feeds
• Llife4K9 Pet Food Corp made by Bio Biscuit
• Lincoln Biotech made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods
• Merrick Pet Care made by Merrick Pet Care
• Mulligan Stew Pet Food made by Mountain Country Foods
• Natura Pet Products-Made by Nature’s Own Plants
• Nature’s Variety Made by Pied Piper Mills
• Omnipro Pet Foods made by Diamond Pet Products
• Perfect Health Diet Products made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods
• Pet Chef Express-Made by Nutreco Canada Inc.
• Pet Valu made by Elmira Pet Products
• Petcurean Pet Nutrition made by Elmira Pet Products
• Precise Pet Products made by Texas Farm Products
• Smartpak Canine made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods
• Solid Gold-Health Products- made by Diamond Pet Products
• Tuffy’s Pet Foods Inc. made by Tuffy’s own plant
• Verus Pet Foods made by Ohio Pet Foods
• Wellpet made by Wellpet’s plant, Hagen Pet Foods, CJ Pet foods, American Nutrition and Diamond Pet Foods

Complete list of GRAIN-FREE DRY foods recommended by the Whole Dog Journal (2008):

• Artemis-Maximal Dog
• Canine Caviar-Venison & Split Pea Adult Dinner
• Champion-Orijen
• Diamond Pet Products Taste of the Wild-High Prairie, Pacific Stream, and Wetlands varieties.
• FirstMate Potato & Fish, FirstMate Potato & Fish with Blueberries
• Natura-Evo, Evo Red Meat, and Evo Reduced Fat (large and small bites)
• Natural Balance-Potato & Duck, Sweet Potato & Fish, and Sweet Potato & Venison varieties
• Nature’s Variety-Instinct- Chicken Meal Formula, Rabbit Meal Formula, and Duck Meal & Turkey Formula
• Petcurean Pet Nutrition-Now! (puppy, senior and adult), Go! Natural-Grain Free
• Solid Gold-Barking at the Moon

Books We Like

There are many excellent books about dog behavior available. Here are a few of our favorites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• For puppies: Puppy Primer, by Patricia McConnell and Brenda Scidmore
• For families: Living with Kids and Dogs, by Colleen Pelar
• For dog-to-dog interaction: Off-Leash Dog Play, by Robin Bennett
• For separation anxiety: I'll Be Home Soon, by Patricia McConnell
• For anxious dogs: Help for Your Fearful Dog, by Nicole Wilde
• For resource guarding: Mine: A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs, by Jean Donaldson