Dog Food (Kibble) Grading Chart

[mimimomo]

This is widely circulated on the web...the original author somehow has been lost. If you know who came up with it, or if you have scores to add, please post it here! Thanks.


How to grade your dog's food:

Start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer's rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points 8) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

94-100+ = A 86-93 = B 78-85 = C 70-77 = D <70 = F

Dog Food scores:

Alpo Prime Cuts / Score 81 C
Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy / Score 114 A+
Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Authority Harvest Baked Less Active / Score 93 B
Beowulf Back to Basics / Score 101 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice / Score 83 C
Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice / Score 106 A+
Burns Chicken and Brown Rice / Score 107 A+
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Diamond Performance / Score 85 C
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice / Score 106 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
EaglePack Holistic / Score 102 A+
Eukanuba Adult / Score 81 C
Eukanuba Puppy / Score 79 C
Flint River Senior / Score 101 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Innova Large Breed Puppy / Score 122 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Member's Mark Chicken and Rice / Score 84 C
Merrick Wilderness Blend / Score 127 A+
Nature's Recipe / Score 100 A
Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice / Score 116 A+
Nature's Variety Raw Instinct / Score 122 A+
Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice / Score 81 C
Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy / Score 101 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Max Adult / Score 93 B
Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice / Score 98 A
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Oatmeal / Score 101 A+
Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free / Score 86 B
Nutro Natural Choice Senior / Score 95 A
Nutro Ultra Adult / Score 104 A+
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry / Score 109 A+
Pro Nature Puppy / Score 80 C
Pro Plan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+
Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach / Score 94 A
Purina Beneful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Purina One Large Breed Puppy / Score 62 F
Royal Canin Boxer / Score 103 A+
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Solid Gold / Score 99 A
Summit / Score 99 A
Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry / Score 120 A+
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

[kcchevalier3]

thanks for putting up this list! my pup eats innova, but it makes her breath smell SO bad afterwards, but she LOVES it!! Trying to solve the bad breath part now...pretty difficult! ahaha

[dogluvr]

Wow, that is a tremendous amount of work. Thank you for posting. Unfortunately, my dog food is not on the list. Life's Abundance. If I have a spare hour I will try and do the math. I think it will be way up there as it is human grade and full of antioxidants and omega 3's. Check out Welcome to TrilogyOnline Pets

[nanahas3]

Thanks for this list. I am feeding Royal Canine for Yorkshire Terriers. Its not on the list but I see they get excellent grades in other breeds food. Hopefully the Yorkie food ranks the same. They love it.

[toby120]

I am Actually visiting this link because I am having seious problems with getting my pup to eat- i hate to have to change his diet I have him on WELLNESS CARE for puppies, Had him on Science diet before.I didn't want to feed hm human food but someone suggestedtogive him Chicken breast & rice..... Don't know what to do.

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by toby120

I am Actually visiting this link because I am having seious problems with getting my pup to eat- i hate to have to change his diet I have him on WELLNESS CARE for puppies, Had him on Science diet before.I didn't want to feed hm human food but someone suggestedtogive him Chicken breast & rice..... Don't know what to do.

It's perfectly safe to feed him plain boiled chicken breast & white rice mixed w/kibble. It's a bland diet, plus mixed w/his kibble, he's getting all his vitamins & nutrients. You can also mix in some thawed frozen green beans, cottage cheese, anything to entice him to eat. If you're worried about him not eating his kibble & only wanting human food, eventually they'll eat it. I've had to switch foods gradually several times to finally find one that they really enjoy. You can request samples of premium foods here: Super Premium Pet Foods List - Ask for FREE samples

[marcerella02]

Originally Posted by toby120

I am Actually visiting this link because I am having seious problems with getting my pup to eat- i hate to have to change his diet I have him on WELLNESS CARE for puppies, Had him on Science diet before.I didn't want to feed hm human food but someone suggestedtogive him Chicken breast & rice..... Don't know what to do.

as long as the chicken/rice combo is not more than 10% of his diet- it should be fine. You might want to try a low fat cottage cheese on his food- or even a canned food. Wellness makes canned food- you can try mixing the two together.

[FlDebra]

Thanks for posting that! I had looked for that recently and not found it. Maybe it should be a stickie?

[mimimomo]

Hey Deb, what should be a stickie? Cuz the sample thread is a stickie.

[FlDebra]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

Hey Deb, what should be a stickie? Cuz the sample thread is a stickie.

Your post should be a stickie and I see that Admin was johnny-on-the-spot and already made it one! Now you are famous, or infamous whichever you choose Seriously -- it will be nice to refer people to this thread when they ask about dog foods. Good job!

[mimimomo]

Aww, thanks! I was super happy to be contributing to YT somehow...

[CherokeeKitten]

This is great , thank you, I am feeding Iams Smart Puppy (I was so surprised at their score ) and will today switch brands. I am also going to share this with my famiy and friends.

[CherokeeKitten]

Went out and bought Royal Canin Yorkshire 28 for dogs 10 months and over (Hiro is 11 months), and he just loves it. I am so glad you posted this thread. I don't have alot of choices where I live and am so happy to have found something that truly will make a differnce for my lttle guy!

[Javathon]

Awesome post. Good to see that all the foods I have fed my babies are in the A+ category.

[nesha]

this is great and i am in the process of changing Denzel over to another brand thanx so much