ORIGINAL: glenmar
Gracious, must we beat folks bloody because we don't agree with their food choices?
Eclipse, I too eat store brands, BUT, in most cases it's the same stuff as the brand name with a different lable. When I lived in CA I learned that the canneries who did tomatoes for the really pricey brands ALSO did the tomatoes for the cheaper store brands. The tomatoes came from the same fields and were presumeably the same quality, altho I'm sure the pricier ones probably got the first run or whatever.
However, you can't compare Walmart brand to Innova, or Canidae or EP Holistique. There is very likely a feed store (oats, hay, etc) in your area that carries a decent quality food for not much more money, and when you factor in the higher kcals (which equals smaller feeding amounts) it balances out. A meat based diet, low in grains is far better for any dog.
That said, we all need to do what we can do, what we feel is best for our dogs, but if you want some suggestions, feel free to email me.
Thank you Glenda. Well put.
First we should ask her if she feeds Ol'Roy. Walmart Brand could also mean that she feeds Walmart's new sort of natural, okay dog food.
Also, I am a pet product sales representative. I drive around alot. There are some areas that are pretty well populated that have no pet stores or feed stores. I know because I drive through them wondering why there are none.
On the other hand there are feed stores that most people, unless they also have horses or live stock, would never know existed. Alot of feed stores carry Exclusive, which is much, much better than Ol'Roy and very well priced.
This is in no way meant to offend you, but think about it this way...it's cheap for a reason. Dogs need meat. They are carnivors. Meat is somewhat expensive, so if a 50lb bag of dog food is less than 5lbs of hamburger meat...it probably doesn't have much meat in it.
You may be asking...well why would they sell it if it wasn't good for my dog? Well, on paper and in a laboratory it meets nutritional standards, but in actuallity it is not anything close to what your dog should be eating. Here's why. Some veggies and grains do have protien. Dogs, being carnivors, can not readily digest protien from vegitable and grains sources, but in a laboratory that food does technically have 14% protien, the minimum for dog food. Can your dog digest all of that protien? - no. Basically Ol' Roy is a giant bag of corn with vitamins in it. Your dog is not digesting much of it, that's why he poohs so much. Or, at least compared to if he was eating a higher quality food, he wouldn't poop as much and he wouldn't have to eat as much to get the nutrients he needs.
The other "problem" with Ol' Roy is it uses cheap and potentially dangerous preservatives (BHA,BHT) and colors to make the food that isn't meaty - look meaty (carmal color). They also have to use alot of salt and gross greases (animal digest, which is whatever type of left over meat fat that was cheapest at the time) to "flavor" the food.
Also, any time a dog food says "meat" and not chicken or beef - or anything specific. It usually means horse meat comming from a rendering plant. Or horse meat that wasn't fit for human consumption. And if you've ever been to a horse slaughter auction, you'd know how bad it is if it isn't good for human consumption (worms, drugs in the horses system etc)
Ingredients of Ol' Roy
Ground yellow corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA and citric acid), chicken by product meal, animal digest (source of beef flavor), brewers rice, salt, caramel color calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, chlorine chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, vitamin E supplement, niacin, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine monontrate, menadione sodium bisulfate complex (source of vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, cobalt carbonate, folic acid and sodium selenite.