Sadly, even some brands with meat as the first ingredient have grains as the next three or four. So if they put in a few different types of grains they can list them separately and by volume the meat ends up first but if you add all the grians together there is much more grain than meat.

I just go by the final analysis and make my choice that way because I don't mind grains but I know some people do.

I hope it's okay for a newbie to speak up.

My dogs ate things like Gaines Burgers (talk about artificial colors, this stuff was like playdough) when I was a kid, more recently Purina, Eukanuba, Royal Canin and Nutro Ultra Holistic. I always wanted to try homemade or raw but just don't understand it all.

My French bulldog was having terrible ear troubles, her skin was dry, her fur was so thin you could see to her skin and she was obviously itchy. I decided to take a hard look at her "holistic" dog kibble and found some things I wasn't nuts about for her.

I used this website to read dog food reviews:
Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

Then I found a website that sells some of the 5 and 6 star foods and ordered some samples. (Won't post their link because they seriously messed up my order that followed.)

From that site, I found Untitled Document
They have a few different recipes including grain/gluten free. It's a dehydrate raw that you reconstitute with hot water for 10 minutes and feed like a stew. The ingredients are supposedly human grade and the product is supposedly manufactured in a human food factory. All I know is that my Frenchie did so well on it, I got the rest of my gang converted to it too.

I use the Honest Kitchen in the morning and Wellness Core (also grain/gluten free) in the evening.

If you go to the Old Mother Hubbard website (maker of Wellness) and find their customer service email form, you can ask them for a sample of Core to try before you buy. I had used Super5 Chicken and my Chin wouldn't eat it, for some reason they like the Core. Go figure. It is a BIG kibble size but my smallest kids can handle it. Not sure yet if it's out in small kibble size.

I have no affiliation with either product, but they worked so well here that I thought I'd mention them. The Honest Kitchen was a life saver and perfect for me because it was the raw diet I wanted without worrying I was missing something.

Has anyone checked out these foods at Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble ?

I know it's not the only source out there, but it's a good site to check & compare the ingredients of the different foods available on the market. Some YT'ers don't agree with their ratings system, so be your own judge. A 6 star food is too rich for yorkies-it's meant for a large working breed dog, but anything in the 4-5 star categories are probably great places to start.

I homecook now, (But feed meats raw), and I got started about a year ago. It doesn't take that much time-probably about 1-2 hours a month (as much time as it would take me to get to/from and through Petsmart anyway), and I can buy their food right alongside ours in any grocery store. I feed meats, legumes, and some grains-the legumes boost protein and are fairly inexpensive as are grains and veggies. The meat & the supplements are the most expensive part, but when you realize how little a yorkie actually eats per day, it's not that bad.

Has anyone got any input from their vet?

that's a great question. My vet recommends Royal Canine and Science Diet (:thumbdown) but is more than open to my home cooking for Layla as long as I get a blood panel done yearly... and we do it twice yearly.

IMO, dog food companies 'spend so much' primarily to ensure that their profit keeps coming in and to ensure that the public is comfortable that they can buy their products without fear that their product will be recalled and ruled 'the cause of death' down the road. It's supply and demand and their 'creating only the best' is their way of meeting what the public is calling for at the present time.

It goes without saying that we all have our own opinions. It is just my personal belief that alot of the demand--a "craze" if you will-- for 'a perfect food' these days are fueled by clever marketing... (Which is what companies do.) I think we all do what we feel is best for our pets individually. :)

Yes:)
One of the last times Ellie was at the vet she asked if I was still cooking. I told her I was and she said great.:)

She doesn't have a problem with it as long as it is balanced (especially calcium and phosphorus) and she wouldn't mind doing it for her own dog if she had time.

When I first talked to her about it she said I could get information online because vets are taught so little about nutrition in school and she recommended a nutritionist (which I ended up using).

Because the recipe was given to me by a veterinary nutritionist and it meets AAFCO requirements, it isn't really any different nutritionally (as in vitamins and minerals) than dog food except feeding trials haven't been done on the recipes...

Crystal, is there a special test you ask for at the vet to get her calc/phos checked beyond just a blood panel?

Why buy a beautiful , highly priced , high quality dog, and not spend the money in providing good, wholesome, highly natural food ? It does not make sense! You love your dog like a member of the family, then the animal deserves thebest kind of food possible. :thumbup:

that's a great post!

Actually, 6 star foods are NOT too rich for Yorkies! :) We feed Wellness CORE and I know others feed Orijen. The myth is that Yorkies cannot handle the higher levels of protein, but actually, unless you have a liver compromised dog, that is absolutely not true. Protein is good for them! If you're feeding raw meat, that's about as high in protein as you can get - if it were rated, it would without a doubt be a 6 star food.

Just wanted to clear that up. :)

Again, thank you for saying exactly what I was trying to say in a more eloquent, well spoken manner. :thumbup:

Yes!!!! My vet highly recommends a raw diet and is thrilled with the results we've seen using The Honest Kitchen. This was not a food she was familiar with until I brought it in to show her. She is also a big advocate of feeding a quality yogurt for probiotics rather than using a chemically produced medication.

Not that I know of.
While blood tests do show calcium levels, the problem is if the body is low it will start to pull it out of the bones. The test might come back normal because it is a measure of what is in the blood, not the bones, but the bones could be being depleted the whole time (if I understand this right).

Michigan State University does some kind of extra blood testing having to do with minerals but it probably isn't even worth it for an average, healthy dog.

If a food meeting AAFCO requirements is being fed, the dog is at a good weight and pretty much healthy, their eyes look good (Ellie's nutritionist's notes said something about having the vet check her eyes...maybe the iris...probably something about the way it looks and poor nutrition could give it a different look???:confused:) and blood panels are normal, I would be happy with that.

I trust the recipe that Ellie is on, so we don't do any special or extra testing because of diet. Ellie has started to get a blood panel once a year though and I do look at calcium, phosphorus... because it comes with the package...

Marci, MSU does a vitamin/mineral analysis to check if your dog is low or high on any vitamins...I think it doesn't currently include vitamin b's, but others like vitamin A, zinc, etc are included.