[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Maxman

Wow!I remember when I first got Max,I joined this site, and, most people could not say enough good things about Acana,and Orijen.I have been gone for a while,I have been feeding Max Acana all this time,I have to drive a little out of my way for it, which is not a big deal,I have no problem doing it,but,I bought Max Easter brunch wet food,( made by Merrick) as a special treat for Easter, and I thought,hmmm, Maybe I'll try Merrick dry food.I was under the impression Acana was the absolute best, so I wasnt sure I should switch. Now,nk one seems to have a clear cut favorite.I can't cook for him,so I have to rely on store bought food,I don't care what it costs, he's my buddy,I want the best for him, just not sure what the best is anymore, so confused!

I had many questions about food because of all of the posts on various forums and also I was worried about recalls. I was just not comfortable taking pet owners' opinions on dog food because I quickly saw that everyone had such varied ideas about what was good. What I decided, in the end, was to speak with my vet about it and she suggested that I speak with a vet nutritionist. Here is what he advised me to do when looking for a food for my pups. He did not recommend ANY food...just sent me this which told me a LOT when I started looking at all of the companies.


I would recommend looking for the following statement on the label of whatever you feed for best assurance of performance of the product. Here is an example:

"Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that Brand X Dog Food provides complete and balanced nutrition for maintenance of adult dogs." (or "all life stages" which would be in the case of puppies or breeding animals etc.)

Here is some additional info on the difference.

Nutritional Adequacy Statement or "AAFCO Statement"

Every pet food label must contain a statement and validation of nutritional adequacy. AAFCO regulations allow two basic methods for pet food manufacturers to substantiate claims.

Formulation Method — Requires the manufacturer to formulate the food to meet the AAFCO nutrient profiles for dogs and cats.
This method is less time consuming and less expensive because feeding trials with pets are not required, only a calculation of the nutrient levels.
An example of an AAFCO statement using the formulation method would be: "Brand ABC Cat Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO Cat Food Profiles for maintenance of adult cats."

Feeding Trial Method — Requires the manufacturer perform an AAFCO-protocol feeding trial using the food as the sole source of nutrition.
Gold Standard or preferred method.
Documents the pets' performance when fed the food.
An example of an AAFCO statement using the feeding trial method would be: "Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that Brand X Dog Food provides complete and balanced nutrition for maintenance of adult dogs."