But I'm not here to preach a raw diet; instead I'm writing this to preach about what I think is the best KIBBLE on the market since that's what people predominantly feed their dogs.
The answer: ORIJEN and ACANA.
Orijen and Acana are actually sister companies owned by Champion Petfoods out of Canada. Simply describing the benefits about the superiority of these foods isn't enough. No, these things need a damn list:
1) As close to a natural diet as you're going to get from any kibble
Both of these brands pride themselves on being "biologically appropriate", which Champion trademarked as "MIRROR THE QUANTITY, FRESHNESS AND VARIETY OF MEATS THAT NATURE EVOLVED DOGS AND CATS TO EAT." Translation: if a dog (i.e. wolf) is out in the wild, what are they gonna be eating? Will it be the corn or wheat that Purina tries to convince you are part of a healthy canine diet? No, it'll be meat because dogs are frickin' carnivores.
2) A wide variety of healthy and natural ingredients
First I'm going to introduce you to the ingredients panel of a dog food called "Prize" that was found in the fabled Haggen (soon to be Albertsons, hopefully) down the street:
Crap dog foods pride themselves on convincing you that corn, soy, and wheat are part of a "balanced" canine diet when, in fact, a lot of dogs actually exhibit allergies because of it. Does your dog neurotically lick its paws? Does your dog get a lot of ear infections or staph infections? How about excess shedding and hot spots? These could all be the result of a food allergy. Let's go through the "Prize" panel piece by piece: GROUND YELLOW CORN is the main ingredient. Bad. MEAT AND BONE MEAL. What the hell does that mean? When you see "meat and bone" without an animal attached to it, that means it's mystery meat. It's basically the leftovers of slaughterhouse waste that wasn't used for human consumption. Think hot dogs for dogs. Sure, I love a good hot dog but eating them everyday would probably make me pretty damn unhealthy. Continuing on we get CORN GLUTEN MEAL, GROUND MEAT, and WHEAT MILL RUN. Corn, wheat, wheat. So far in this food we have a ton of corn, a ton of wheat, and mystery meat.
But that's not all, as we've got MORE mystery ingredients in the form of ANIMAL FAT and ANIMAL DIGEST. Again, if you don't know what animal it's coming from then you should stay away.
Now, let's move onto the ingredients panel for the Duck and Bartlett Pear formula of Acana:
I think the big difference between the two panels, other than "Prize" being crap, is that with Acana (and its sister brand Orijen) you can actually READ and UNDERSTAND the ingredients. DUCK is the first and second ingredient. Notice also the use of DUCK FAT as opposed to ANIMAL FAT. They're telling you exactly what you're getting. When you read an ingredient you should ask yourself why it's being used. WHY is the first ingredient in "Prize" corn? WHY is there mystery meat? WHY is there so much corn and wheat instead of meat?
By now you may be asking what the difference is between Orijen and Acana and it pretty much comes down to a slightly different selection of flavors and Orijen having more protein. In fact, it's pretty much the richest kibble you're gonna find on the market, with Orijen's Regional Red formula leading the way with 38% crude protein, almost twice as much as that "Prize" crap up there. Here are the ingredients for Regional Red, as taken from Orijen's website. Prepare to be blown away:
Boneless Angus beef*, boneless wild boar*, boneless lamb*, beef liver*, boneless pork*, pork liver*, whole herring*, lamb liver*, beef meal, lamb meal, herring meal, salmon meal, Pollock meal, beef tripe*, bison*, lamb fat, whole egg*, red lentils, chickpeas, green peas, yellow peas, green lentils, herring oil, pea fibre, yams*, sun-cured alfalfa, pumpkin, butternut squash*, spinach greens*, carrots*, Red Delicious apples*, Bartlett pears*, cranberries*, blueberries*, kelp, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, Enterococcus faecium.
* FRESH AND PRESERVATIVE-FREE
The first FIFTEEN ingredients are MEAT. FIFTEEN!!! You've also got fruit and veggies in here, not to mention an abundance of super foods (i.e. blueberries and kelp). With Orijen and Acana you do pay more, but you get more, and on a rich diet like this you'll actually be feeding your dog less than you would with some crap food that's loaded with fillers.
3) Champion Petfoods is extremely transparent:
There aren't any sourcing mysteries here: everything that Champion uses is locally sourced, and they openly list the companies they work with on their bags of dog food. There's nothing from China. You're not going to get more transparent than that.
4) Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. Their bodies respond well to meat-based diets, not grain-based diets:
Believe it or not I actually like Purina. They put a ton of effort into their marketing and it's almost like they're blatantly proud of how disgusting their food is. You gotta respect that. They also like to pretend that dogs have evolved into omnivores, i.e. they eat both meat and plants. This is the reason they market "the power of grain" because as an omnivore their systems can easily handle the excess plant protein. But that's not true, and you need to look no further than this simple graphic that, conveniently, was PROVIDED BY PURINA:
Alright, guys, look at the molars on the damn omnivore skull. Those things are for grinding meat. In fact, they're MORE pronounced than the carnivore's and look NOTHING like the herbivore's! AND THIS WAS ON PURINA'S WEBSITE!!! Just look at your dog's teeth. Those are teeth are built for meat, meaning dogs are still carnivores. They may all evolve one day to be plant eaters but today that's simply not the case. This is why a corn diet is not healthy for your dog.
5) My dogs are the only proof I need:
I've had golden retrievers my whole life. My second golden, Cara, was diagnosed with an aggressive (and becoming all too common) cancer called hemangiosarcoma when she was only 7. She passed away 3 months later. Cara's diet was Blue Buffalo's chicken and rice formula, which was packed with grain and wheat. Her treats consisted of Milk Bones and Blue Bakery, which are also loaded with wheat and grains (Milk Bones also contain the mystery MEAT AND BONE MEAL). For much of her life she would neurotically lick her paws, routinely get ear and staph infections, and shed excessively, even for a golden's standards. Vets gave her steroids and other antibiotics but no one ever suggested all of this could be a food allergy. I don't blame anyone for this because the vets didn't know and we didn't know. Simple as that. During her post-diagnosis stage, she went on a raw diet of fresh meat and veggies. For those last 3 months ALL of these problems went away. You'd think during a time when her body was more compromised (especially after surgery) she'd be more susceptible to allergies but nope. Nothing.
Fast forward to today. Her successor, Jenny, another golden, is 2. She has been on Orijen and Acana for most of her life. Her diet is supplemented with fresh fruits and veggies (blueberries, carrots, radishes, etc.) and her treats contain minimal ingredients, some being purely raw meat. She's healthy as a clam and has never had the issues Cara had on Blue Buffalo. She barely sheds, which is unusual, especially for a golden. Ears are good. Doesn't lick paws. No skin or staph infections. See a pattern here?
The only real "power of grain" is how sick it can get your dog. Canine cancer is on the rise. The life expectancy of purebred canines is going down. Why? Well, poor breeding is one reason, but how about the fact that the dog food market has exploded over the last half century? Kibble is convenient and most are affordable, sure, but a lot of these big brands are sacrificing healthy nutrition for garbage. That's why it's important to KNOW WHAT YOU'RE FEEDING YOUR DOG! Do your research, ask questions, and think about the ingredients.
Jenny approves of Orijen and Acana
Orijen and Acana: Greg's Gourmet (and Jenny) Approved.