Does anybody know how good beneful dog food is. I used pedigree, but switched when my dogs started to get picky about it. I have never heard anybody complain about it but I was just curious. I have wanted to do some research into nutrition, but I am still an undergrad and barley have time for all my other classes
IMO Beneful is not that great of a food. I always try to advocate for foods that are based on a non by-product protein source (so the FIRST ingredient at very least should be meat). I also recommend staying away from any foods that have colored kibble. It is just unnecessary dye and appeals to the owner more than the dog. Most any food you find at Walmart or a grocery store are not that great of quality. BUT do feed the best that you can afford...good food doesn't necessarily have to be the most expensive bag!
Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, sugar, propylene glycol, meat and bone meal, tricalcium phosphate, phosphoric acid, salt, water, animal digest, sorbic acid (a preservative), potassium chloride, dried carrots, dried peas, calcium propionate (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride,
added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.
My family has bred trained/showed Australian Shepherds in conformation, herding, and obedience for 27 years now and most of that time we have fed Eagle Pack. We had them on Taste of the Wild and Chicken Soup (love the ingredients, hate the name, and wasn't impressed by the stool) at points but are now back on Eagle. Eagle does have corn as a second ingredient, which I was not initially thrilled with, but I have done some subsequent research and think there are some benefits. We have very minimal health issues and amazing longevity in our dogs so we are going to stick with what works I guess.
On the other end of the spectrum...word of caution for grain free/ very high protein dog foods...feeding them to young puppies (esp large breeds) can affect bone growth and cause some serious issues. While we were feeding TOW we had a puppy go undershot at 4 months old...we switched her back to a lower protein feed and over the next few months her bite went to a crossbite, then to even, and then FINALLY back to the correct scissors bite an Aussie should have! We had our breath held the whole time as we could not find ANY breeders that had an undershot bite go back to normal. There is no history of that in her lines and all siblings (on lower protein diets the whole time) maintained scissor bites throughout their growth process. Since then, we have heard of multiple people that had puppies go undershot on similar foods but didn't realize the problem in time for it to correct itself. We got lucky with "Quil" and she just took her first 5pt major for her Championship this past weekend.
