If you could choose
 

These are ingredients to a food I may switch them to


Chicken, Broccoli, Carrots, Cooked Rice, Flax Seed [Flax, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride)], Caramel Liquid, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin & Mineral Supplements



Wheat flour, chicken, chicken meal, fine ground oats, chicken fat, dicalcium phosphate, dried eggs, potassium chloride, flaxseed, wheat bran, calcium carbonate, mineral premix, L-lysine, choline chloride, vitamin premix, naturox, blueberries, cranberries, garlic, sage


These are ingredientd from what I am currently feeding them


Chicken, Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Oatmeal, Barley, Duck Meal, Potatoes, Carrots, Chicken Fat (preserved with natural mixed tocopherols), Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavor, Canola Oil, Brewers Yeast, Salmon Meal, Salmon Oil, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Spinach, Parsley Flakes, Cranberries, L-Lysine, L-Carnitine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Folic Acid.



Chicken, Chicken Broth, Chicken Liver, Carrots, Oat Bran, Brown Rice, Potatoes, Dehydrated Potatoes, Chicken Meal, Canola Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Guar Gum, Dried Kelp, Sodium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor, Carrageenan, Zinc Sulfate, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Ferrous Sulfate, Parsley, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Sodium Selenite, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Vitamin D3




Now after reading these ingredients which one would you choose to feed your dogs?

I like what you are currently feeding..

Not sure what the purpose of Caramel liquid is in the first one and sometimes Flax seed can cause itching- espeically when it is so high up there in the ingredient list.

and i don't like that wheat flour is the #1 ingredient in the other one- some dogs are allergic to wheat- My pup included.

Also- i'm assuming you are not giving the names so our judgement is not clouded by brands- but sometimes it is good to know the brands- as many people on YT are VERY knowledgeable on the plants that various foods are made in and what the conditions are.

The first set of ingredients is from a food that is not manufactured in a factory.

I am assuming that the carmel liquid is used for coloring seeing as the first ingredient list is from a wet food.


The reasoning by now mentioning the brand names is because I believe people need to make their own choices about what they want to feed their dogs by the ingredient lists and not by what someone else says is better.
Like you said Your dog is allergic to wheat flour and that flax seed can to cause itching. But that would be something the consumer had to find out through trial and error. I for one don't really trust commercially made food so I look for food that is made by people that care about their pets like I do.

Just out of curiosity I looke up Copper sulfate in wikipedia . These are some other uses for Copper Sulfate. Personally I wouldn't want my dog eating something that has a common ingredient as hair dye. But that's just me.


Other applications include hair dyes, coloring glass, processing of leather and textiles and in pyrotechnics as a green colorant. It is used by some organic cattle farmers in solution as a footbath as a way of increasing the hardness of hoof, thereby reducing incidence of lameness.[10] It also can change the color of a flame if added to it in its dry state, making it green.[11]Copper(II) Sulfate is also used by stained glass artists as a patina, and is painted over solder lines in the stained glass piece in order to protect the lead solder from oxidizing, and also to change the silver solder lines to a bright copper color.

My first choice wouldn't be #2 because there is just too much evidence that garlic can cause problems. A small amount occasionally shouldn't hurt but small amounts over long periods even if not proven to be a bad thing is just not worth the risk to me.

The first food looks okay but broccoli is a bit high on the list. That may be okay but can cause GI upset in large amounts. Depends on the dog but it wouldn't be my first choice either. I would have to see the list of vitamins and minerals to know if I would consider feeding it.

The other foods look okay but on all of them I would look at the guaranteed analysis because it's extremely important. It's just as important as the ingredients if not more so. I also wouldn't agree to feed any of these foods without knowing companies and manufacturers. There are plenty of foods with good ingredients out there but if I don't know or question their processing practices, I would probably not feed them.

Thank you for you feedback. I decided to go with Artemis small breed mix. I checked the dog food analysis website and it got a good review plus it's a five star food.
Just in case anyone is interested the first 2 ingredient list are from a food produced by three dog bakery and the second two ingredient lists are from natural balance.

Although I have been feeding mine natural balance for a couple years I decided to do my own research into the ingredients. I looked up the copper sulfate and found it is used in hair dyes, for processing leather and textiles among other things. So for me it's not just the main ingredients that I want to know about it's the little things like copper sulfate and garlic that make me want to feed my 3 something better.

Neither. I make my own raw so I know exactly what she's eating. You almost need a Phd. to figure out what some of those ingredients are!