advice needed about the ingredients of arden grange please.

hi. ive posted about arden grange before but have another question.

the ingredients are:

Chicken Meal (min 25%), rice flour, ground corn, beet pulp, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), whole dried egg, brewers yeast, fish meal, linseed, fish oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), lecithin, minerals and vitamins. Chondroitin, Glucosamine and MSM.

i read that if beet pulp comes before the main source of fat it could be either used as a filler or as fibre.
but im not too sure which one.

could someone help me with this and tell me if this dog food is high quality or not. im in the UK btw.

here are the other facts and figures:

Protein 25%
Ash 5%
Fibre 2.3%
Oil 15%
Moisture 8% Vitamin D 975 IU/kg
Vitamin A 13800 IU/kg
Vitamin E 97 IU/kg Phosphorus 0.68%
Calcium 0.98%
Copper 16 mg/kg

thanks.

if beet pulp is listed as one of the main ingredients (like here), it's basically used as a filler and stool conditioner. it's not a bad source of fiber, but there is no nutritional benefit for using so much of it.

this food has a very low meat content and a lot of grain, so the role of the beet pulp is to bind up what would otherwise be very soft, mushy stool.

if it weren't for the low meat content, it would be a pretty nice food, even tho the fish meal is generic. i can't comment on the supplements used since it just says "minerals and vitamins", but the low ash content and calcium and phosphorus percentages are telltale signs of too little animal protein in the food.

if you feed this, i'd definitely recommend mixing in some canned food (with as little grain as possible) or some fresh meat, either raw or cooked.

is this a better one?

Ingredients:

Lamb Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Ground Yellow Corn, Oatmeal, Chicken Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Citric Acid and Rosemary Extract), Corn Germ Meal (Dry Milled), Brewers Dried Yeast, Fish Meal, Flaxseed, Dried Egg Product, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Inulin (Chicory Extract), Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Beta-Carotene, DL-Methionine, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D3), Vitamin E Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, d-Pantothenic Acid, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Dehydrated Kelp, SQM (Poly-saccharide Complexes of Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper and Cobalt), Potassium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Enzymes; and DFMs (Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus acidophilus, B. Subtillus, B. Lichenformis).

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein min.
23.0%

Crude Fat min.
12.0%

Crude Fiber max.
3.5%

Moisture max.
10.0%

Calcium min.
1.5%

Phosphorus min.
1.0%

Vitamin A min.
22,000 IU/kg.

Vitamin E min.
300 IU/kg.

Glucosamine min.
400ppm

Omega 6 min.
1.6%

Omega 3 min.
0.17%*


thanks.

Thare are lots of different products, which one would you be feeding?

the second one isnt arden grange but the first one is classic large breed.

could someone tell me about the second ingredients please.
thanks.

first off i want one of those pups shown there in that signature secondly i didnt know beets are put in there for that... i thought it was just good lol... what about corn corn is a filler... well at least i was told it was. mordy can you tell me if i am correct in this..
and lets see here...the second ones sounds tastier but better ask mordy, mordy will know..

the second product is the eagle pack natural, isn't it? eagle makes good foods from high-quality ingredients, so that would definitely be a food to consider. they also do a lot of research specifically on large and giant breeds.

as for corn, it is not a bad ingredient per se, but it depends what it is used for. as a source of carbohydrates it is on par with other grains, but many low-quality foods use it as a source of cheap protein instead of including more meat - which is bad since it is more difficult for the dog to digest than animal protein. in brands like for example eagle pack it is used in reasonable amounts and combined with a high meat content in the kibble, so there is no objection unless an individual dog is specifically allergic to corn.

yep its eagle pack but im not sure if its natural, sorry.

right thanks for all your help everyone!

it looks like it's the "natural formula", see here:
http://www.mordanna.com/boards/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=202

ok so say i go with eagle pack, can i add for example some chicken (200grams-500grams) every other day or so? or would this unbalance the diet?

what would i need to give aswell as the meat to keep a balance, or would it be better to just stick to the eagle pack on its own,with no extra things?

ive read that if you unbalance the diet it can cause growth problems e.g. if theres too much calcuim or an certain ingredient, so are there any rules when it comes to adding things to a knibble?

thanks.

yes there are rules, and it's especially crucial not to make mistakes when feeding a growing puppy. you can add some canned food or raw meat but i do not recommend substituting more than 1/5 to 1/4 of the daily feeding amount.

the main thing is that you do not want to overfeed your puppy, since too high of a caloric intake will cause rapid growth, which can lead to orthopedic problems.

Can you get eagle pack where you are ? Because I cant here

http://postalpetsproducts.co.uk/

heres the site that ships to the UK.

Thanks but I cant aford to pay that with shipping, If I only had one dog then things would be different

the shipping for a 15-30kg bag is 3.50 pound. but you do have more dogs.