# Better Than Iams??



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

It doesn't have a very good rating, probably similar to Iam's or a little lower :

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/members-mark-dog-food-2/

Iam's isn't a very good choice either. You could do much better than that.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I agree with Dechi. There are too many ingredients and too many of them aren't protein sources. I know this isn't practical for many people but I home cook for our dogs. Each of them was having some relatively minor, but really chronic health issues. On my vet's recommendation I had NutriScan testing done on all three of them. I had to make an Excel spreadsheet to score the results in a way that made sense to me. After having done so I came up with a nutritionally complete but limited ingredient diet that all three of them could eat (each had intolerances to overlapping sets of things). The recipe includes: chicken muscle meat (legs, thighs, hearts), chicken livers, whole wheat pasta, kale and spinach put through the nutribullet, canned pumpkin and a few supplements (krill oil, sea kelp powder, vitamin D and expeller pressed safflower oil). They all have had great vet checks since then and the chronic things are just a memory. I think a simple diet that is calorically adequate and nutritionally complete is what I would aim for.


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

The honest kitchen is very reasonably priced if you get the grained, subscribe and save on amazon. It cost $49 for 40lbs. This is very reasonably priced and the ingredient list is quite good. 
https://www.amazon.com/Honest-Kitch...1504754261&sr=8-3&keywords=the+honest+kitchen


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## HeritageHills (Sep 4, 2017)

snow0160 said:


> The honest kitchen is very reasonably priced if you get the grained, subscribe and save on amazon. It cost $49 for 40lbs. This is very reasonably priced and the ingredient list is quite good.
> https://www.amazon.com/Honest-Kitch...1504754261&sr=8-3&keywords=the+honest+kitchen


Thanks  . You're right, it's not a bad price at all.


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## HeritageHills (Sep 4, 2017)

lily cd re said:


> I agree with Dechi. There are too many ingredients and too many of them aren't protein sources. I know this isn't practical for many people but I home cook for our dogs. Each of them was having some relatively minor, but really chronic health issues. On my vet's recommendation I had NutriScan testing done on all three of them. I had to make an Excel spreadsheet to score the results in a way that made sense to me. After having done so I came up with a nutritionally complete but limited ingredient diet that all three of them could eat (each had intolerances to overlapping sets of things). The recipe includes: chicken muscle meat (legs, thighs, hearts), chicken livers, whole wheat pasta, kale and spinach put through the nutribullet, canned pumpkin and a few supplements (krill oil, sea kelp powder, vitamin D and expeller pressed safflower oil). They all have had great vet checks since then and the chronic things are just a memory. I think a simple diet that is calorically adequate and nutritionally complete is what I would aim for.


If I had a good recipe I could do that since I try to make our own meals from scratch (like I've made my own butter before scratch, lol). I just wouldn't want to miscalculate and have them lacking something important. I'd also like to go in the raw food direction, but I've kinda been waiting for us to harvest a beef cow first. Lots of good stuff there for them and us too.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Member's Mark scores really low.......and Iams is just a bit better actually(depending on which one) Tractor Supply's '4 Health' Petsmart's 'Authority' and Walmart's 'Pure Balance' score better and are economic type kibbles...... but homemade and raw are best!! Do go to dogfoodadvisor.com to check out kibble ratings to help you pick out the very best you can afford.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I feed home cooked/raw. I started with a spreadsheet and considerable research into food values, micronutrients, calories, etc, etc. Bit by bit, with the help of numerous websites (I particularly recommend DogAware.com: Diet & Health Info for Man's Best Friend for well researched information), I came back to the basic principles:
Feed a wide range of high quality proteins if your dog can tolerate them: different meats, fish, eggs, etc
Balance muscle/offal (organs)/bone in the approximate ratio of 80/10/10 by weight; add calcium if not feeding bone. Most meaty bones contain more than 10% bone, so balance out several meat only meals.
Make protein the main calorie source - for my tinies I rarely add carbohydrate.
Some fat is good; too much fat is not. If the meat I am cooking produces a lot of fat I skim some off.
Vegetables are much debated, but I feel that in moderation they do no harm, they add some bulk and fibre, and if cooked in with the meat provide some essential nutrients.
Avoid the known dangers: onion, macadamia nuts, etc, etc

Using just one recipe makes it difficult to cover all their needs without adding supplements, and I am rather wary of those - it is so easy to overdo it. I feed practically everything except turkey, which Sophy cannot tolerate, but it is mainly chicken, beef, a little lamb, rabbit when I can get it, salmon, and very occasionally pork, plus eggs, a bit of cheese now and then, and vegetables (green beans because they love them, a few leaves of whatever is available in the garden, something orange, a bit of sweetcorn to aid in poop spotting!). My two have been thriving on this for seven or eight years now - the cats get much the same but with just the stock from the vegetables.


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## Muggles (Mar 14, 2015)

I bought software recommended by a member here (can't remember who!) to calculate required nutrition levels for home cooked. It's called pet diet designed and only costs $20. I find it really helpful. You put in all the details of your dog (breed, age, activity levels etc) and it helps you customise recipes for them. I make and freeze a big batch every few weeks and rotate between recipes. My boy also gets kibble and yoghurt for breakfast and alternates with home cooked and commercial freeze and air dried for dinner.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

HeritageHills said:


> If I had a good recipe I could do that since I try to make our own meals from scratch (like I've made my own butter before scratch, lol). I just wouldn't want to miscalculate and have them lacking something important. I'd also like to go in the raw food direction, but I've kinda been waiting for us to harvest a beef cow first. Lots of good stuff there for them and us too.


Here is the specific recipe. It is from post 41 at the top of page 5 in this thread. http://www.poodleforum.com/29-poodle-health/220722-nutriscan-summary-interpretation-5.html If you look through the whole thread you will see all sorts of ideas about good diets.

From Firestorm:

Ok, here is the original chicken and pasta recipe, balanced according to the software I have:

8oz ground chicken
0.75 cup macaroni 
4 chicken livers
3 teaspoons bone meal
2 scoops kelp powder
0.5 teaspoon fish oil
3 cups spinach
0.5 teaspoon canola oil
0.5 tsp cod liver oil

For changes, if you eliminate the cod liver oil, the recipe provides 0% of the daily recommended serving of Vitamin D. You could replace it with a vitamin D supplement.

Eliminating the liver and replacing it with chicken meat makes the recipe low in Copper, Zinc, Selenium, B5, B12, and Choline. I have not found a replacement yet, but you might be able to.

Of course, you can replace the fish oil with another omega 3 source.

The recipe is for 1083 calories of food, it's one days food for a hypothetical 45lb dog.


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## LizzysMom (Sep 27, 2016)

Just want to point out - if you decide you need to stay with dry kibble - that the price difference between a high quality kibble and a lower quality kibble shrinks substantially when you consider that you generally need to feed LESS of the good stuff.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

LizzysMom said:


> Just want to point out - if you decide you need to stay with dry kibble - that the price difference between a high quality kibble and a lower quality kibble shrinks substantially when you consider that you generally need to feed LESS of the good stuff.


Oh yes, very true.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

snow0160 said:


> The honest kitchen is very reasonably priced if you get the grained, subscribe and save on amazon. It cost $49 for 40lbs. This is very reasonably priced and the ingredient list is quite good.
> https://www.amazon.com/Honest-Kitch...1504754261&sr=8-3&keywords=the+honest+kitchen


It sells for 198$ CAD !!!! Wow, never seen such a difference in price, they sure don't want to sell in Canada.


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## Beautiful Blue (Apr 24, 2017)

The information in this article of independent review
is what I am going to use henceforth in purchasing kibble
for Rio. 

They also have a section on raw, dehydrated etc. for those who prefer that.

Best Dog Food of 2017 | Expert Ratings | Reviews.com


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## HeritageHills (Sep 4, 2017)

fjm said:


> I feed home cooked/raw. I started with a spreadsheet and considerable research into food values, micronutrients, calories, etc, etc. Bit by bit, with the help of numerous websites (I particularly recommend DogAware.com: Diet & Health Info for Man's Best Friend for well researched information), I came back to the basic principles:
> Feed a wide range of high quality proteins if your dog can tolerate them: different meats, fish, eggs, etc
> Balance muscle/offal (organs)/bone in the approximate ratio of 80/10/10 by weight; add calcium if not feeding bone. Most meaty bones contain more than 10% bone, so balance out several meat only meals.
> Make protein the main calorie source - for my tinies I rarely add carbohydrate.
> ...


Thanks! That was really helpful


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## HeritageHills (Sep 4, 2017)

LizzysMom said:


> Just want to point out - if you decide you need to stay with dry kibble - that the price difference between a high quality kibble and a lower quality kibble shrinks substantially when you consider that you generally need to feed LESS of the good stuff.


True, and that means less poop sooo maybe I need to reevaluate, lol!


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## HeritageHills (Sep 4, 2017)

Muggles said:


> I bought software recommended by a member here (can't remember who!) to calculate required nutrition levels for home cooked. It's called pet diet designed and only costs $20. I find it really helpful. You put in all the details of your dog (breed, age, activity levels etc) and it helps you customise recipes for them. I make and freeze a big batch every few weeks and rotate between recipes. My boy also gets kibble and yoghurt for breakfast and alternates with home cooked and commercial freeze and air dried for dinner.


Thanks for the tip


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## HeritageHills (Sep 4, 2017)

lily cd re said:


> HeritageHills said:
> 
> 
> > If I had a good recipe I could do that since I try to make our own meals from scratch (like I've made my own butter before scratch, lol). I just wouldn't want to miscalculate and have them lacking something important. I'd also like to go in the raw food direction, but I've kinda been waiting for us to harvest a beef cow first. Lots of good stuff there for them and us too.
> ...



Awesome! Thank you. This is why I joined Poodle Forum, it's so nice to be able to find this info.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

You can also try websites like chewy.com that offer more variety and discounts, in case it's an issue of what's available in your area. They ship the food right to you.


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

lily cd re said:


> Oh yes, very true.


I agree. When Poppy was a growing pup I had her on Orijen, which is a very good quality food. She free feeds and was eating 4 cups, sometimes more, per day and always seemed hungry. I changed her to EVO which is a five star rated food that I had fed to Iris for 14 years. It is a much higher protein percentage than Origen. Poppy reduced her intake to between 1 3/4 a 2 cups per day. It costs me much less to feed EVO because the quantity she eats is much less.....and she is no longer ravenous all the time. And I have less poo to pick up in the back yard! 

VQ

My local store has just raised prices on EVO, by quite a lot. By ordering through Chewy on their automatic reorder system I will now save $10 per bag on my EVO food and it comes directly to my door too!


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