Rules of Thumb for choosing dog foods

Actually, I prefer a NAMED meat meal as the first ingredient.  I avoid corn, wheat and soy as well.  Oatmeal is a grain and NOT a bad grain at that.  I think your rules could use a bit of adjusting.

And, in response to Rule #1, Blue Buffalo does TV advertising, and it's what my dogs do BEST on.

JackieG

My rule of thumb is feed what works for your dog and fits your budget.  :)

Agreed.

 Here's my rules of thumb for selecting dog food:

1. Avoid foods that have been involved in several recalls, for example, anything made by merrick or diamond
2. If your dog does well on it and it provides the right number of calories, protein, fat, carbs and fiber to keep your dog fit, energized and healthy, then stick with it.
3. If it provides all of the above and doesn't break your bank, awesome

Jewlieee

 Here's my rules of thumb for selecting dog food:

1. Avoid foods that have been involved in several recalls, for example, anything made by merrick or diamond
2. If your dog does well on it and it provides the right number of calories, protein, fat, carbs and fiber to keep your dog fit, energized and healthy, then stick with it.
3. If it provides all of the above and doesn't break your bank, awesome

 

Everything Jewlieee said!  I've just finally let go of some of the "kibble is the devil" guilt I have had, as I found a food that Darby is completely healthy on!  It wouldn't be fair to switch her around to see if there is something "better" out there if she ends up tearing herself to bits again.

 Here are mine-

1. Nothing from a company with multiple recalls.

2. Meat meal as the first ingredient

3. No corn, no by products, nothing I can't pronounce (and I can pronounce a lot). 

4. Nothing sold in the grocery store. 

Aside from that , I pretty much start out with something grain free, and see which things work for the dog. If grain free works for the dog, I will use grain frees, and see which grain free brands work. For Luke, I can pretty much use any grain free. The only one I tried and didn't like for him was Evo. I rotate foods, and I usually don't even bother to gradually change his foods. For Callie, she didn't do  well on the grain free stuff, and her food does not get rotated. She tends to take a long time to adjust to a food change, so we just don't do it.

The issue may just be over thought. Most commercial foods are more than adequate to meet the dogs needs. At some point, I think the owners needs are dominating the decision.