[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by kjc

This is the label I was looking at, from a photo of a bag of Royal Canin Yorkshire Terrier Adult dry food on the chewy.com website:

Attachment 413519

This food is for adult Yorkies with no medical problems.

The problem that most stands out to me and my untrained mind is that there are around 6-7 ingredients on this label that are actually food, like what can be found in a grocery store, the rest are additives, meaning something that is added to the actual food, for whatever reason. The fact that their (RC) additive list is so much longer than the food list tells me that maybe if they used different food items they wouldn’t have to add so many additives. I don’t know, just using my common sense here.

There are certain things that I look for when I shop for me and/or my dogs. I tend to purchase foods that can provide the nutrients we need In the most natural form available, as in occurs by nature without any additives, if possible. I try to avoid foods with preservatives, when possible.

I choose products with natural additives over synthetic or man-made. I do this because our bodies cannot always use nor process synthetic additives. I believe this is called ‘bioavailability’ and is an important factor I look for when shopping.

Another thing I look at is protein. I believe that meat and eggs supply the closest ratio of amino acids that best matches what my body and my dogs’s bodies need. Plant proteins I think contain the same amino acids but in a different ratio. To end up with a more complete array of amino acids that our bodies need, I have to add proteins by eating different plants, like a salad mix.

Once a dog food meets my requirements, then I look at other factors, like where and how the food is made and who makes it, etc. Tufts University recommends not looking at the ingredients, you can go to their website to get more info and some free tools to use to help you decide.

If you ask your vet for recommendations, and he/she won’t tell you, ask what they feed their dog(s).

The added stuff is the same as if you were to home cook you have to buy the added supplements because just the food does not give the dog what they need. That is the science behind the food. That is stuff the dogs need and what makes it a great food because they have studied and everything else to make sure the dogs are getting what they need. Many of those dog foods that you are talking about that are what you think looks better on the ingredients label are foods that are on the list of foods causing heart disease, have multiple lawsuits against them for lying about what is in their food, have terrible quality control, have no vets on staff, and have no science behind them. I understand that food is a touchy subject with people and when I was younger I felt the same way you did but I took my classes and did my own research and things started to shift. I saw how these prescription foods saved dogs lives and I have seen dogs thrive including mine on their non prescription food. At the end of the day no matter what you think is the best food not all dogs are going thrive on that or even eat it. Just like us humans don’t thrive on just one type of diet neither do dogs. I wish my dogs would eat home cooked food but my boys really don’t like human food and Callie didn’t take well to it years ago when I tried. Last fall I found my dogs were not reacting well to the soy in Callie’s prescription food so I had to find something else and tried many foods and Ollie absolutely won’t eat any other food besides Royal Canin no joke either. They all eat Royal Canin Sensitive digestion small breed and they all love it and are thriving. One size doesn’t fit all.