What kind of dog food should I feed my Manor Lake Australian Labradoodle? Is a common question we’re asked, below is some information on how to grade dog food, it provides a detailed list of how many dog food brands scored. Remember feeding your pet a high quality dog food is very important to their health and well being. This information is from Play Dog Excellent’s Website- click here to see the article on their site.

How to grade your dog’s kibble (dry food): Start with a grade of 100, then:

• For every listing of “by-product“, subtract 10 points
• For every non-specific animal source (“meat” or “poultry”, meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
• If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
• For every grain “mill run” or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
• If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. “ground brown rice”, “brewers rice”, “rice flour” are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
• If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
• If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
• If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3points
• If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
• If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
• If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
• If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
• If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
• If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
• If it contains salt (sodium chloride), subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

• If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
• If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
• If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
• If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
• If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
• If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
• If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
• If the food contains barley, add 2 points
• If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
• If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
• If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
• For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count “chicken” and “chicken meal” as only one protein source, but “chicken” and “” as 2 different sources), add 1 point
• If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
• If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

Scoring:

• 94-100+ = A
• 86-93 = B
• 78-85 = C
• 70-77 = D
• 69 and below = F

Here are some foods that have already been scored.

Brand/Formula	Score	Grade
Merrick Wilderness Blend	127	A+
Nature’s Variety Raw Instinct	122	A+
Innova Large Breed Puppy	122	A+
Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Ultra Premium	122	A+
Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry	120	A+
Nature’s Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice	116	A+
Authority Harvest Baked	116	A+
Chicken Soup Senior	115	A+
Innova Evo	114	A+
Innova Dog	114	A+
Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy	114	A+
Canidae	112	A+
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken	110	A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables	110	A+
Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry	109	A+
Burns Chicken and Brown Rice	107	A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult	106	A+
Foundations	106	A+
Dick Van Patten’s Duck and Potato	106	A+
Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice	106	A+
Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice	106	A+
Nutro Ultra Adult	104	A+
Royal Canin Boxer	103	A+
ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley	103	A+
EaglePack Holistic	102	A+
Nutro Natural Choice Oatmeal	101	A+
Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy	101	A+
Flint River Senior	101	A+
Beowulf Back to Basics	101	A+
Royal Canin Bulldog	100	A+
Nature’s Recipe	100	A
Summit	99	A
Solid Gold	99	A
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula	99	A
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Lamb and Rice Puppy	98	A
Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice	98	A
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold	97	A
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice	97	A
Nutro Natural Choice Senior	95	A
Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach	94	A
Nutro Max Adult	93	B
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold	93	B
Authority Harvest Baked Less Active	93	B
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice	92	B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy	87	B
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice	87	B
Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free	86	B
Diamond Performance	85	C
Member’Mark Chicken and Rice	84	C
Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice	83	C
Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice	81	C
Eukanuba Adult	81	C
Alpo Prime Cuts	81	C
Pro Nature Puppy	80	C
Eukanuba Puppy	79	C
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium	73	D
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies	69	F
Bil-Jac Select	68	F
Diamond Maintenance	64	F
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+	63	F
Purina One Large Breed Puppy	62	F
Purina Dog	62	F
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice	23	F
Purina Beneful	17	F
Purina Come-n-Get It	16	F

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 at 10:24 am and is filed under Advice, Australian Labradoodles, Labradoodle Health, Manor Lake, Purchasing A Labradoodle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.