Comparing dog foods: Questions about caloric intake

[Yukihana]

I'm hoping someone on here can explain this to me.

I've been comparing a few different brands and can't figure out why you can have one with such a high calorie content, the other having low, and yet both recommend nearly the same amount of cups of food per pound of your dogs weight.

Here are the brands in question.

By Nature: Active Formula

Calorie Content:

440 kcal/cup** (calculated)

Feeding guildlines: 30 – 50 lbs Adult feed 1 to 2 1â„4 cups per day

Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Ground Barley, Chicken Fat (Stabilized with Mixed Tocopherols), Ground Oats, Lamb Meal, Chicken, Flaxseed Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavors, Alfalfa Meal, Yeast Culture, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Fish Oil, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Dried Chicory Root, Raspberries, Turmeric, Niacin Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Selenium Yeast, Sodium Selenite, Dried Yeast Fermentation Solubles.

Crude Protein (minimum)28.00%

Crude Fiber (maximum)4.00%

Taurine (minimum)*0.03%

Crude Fat (minimum)18.00%

Moisture (maximum)10.00%

Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural

5184 kilo-calories per kg | 717 kilo-calories per cup

Feeding Guidlines: 35-50 lbs feed 1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups per day.

INGREDIENTS: Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Whitefish Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), Dried Egg Product, Tomato Pomace, Apples, Blueberries, Carrots, Peas, Spinach, Garlic, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Taurine, Cottage Cheese, L-Lysine, DL-Methionine, Beta-Carotene, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Oxide, Magnesium Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, L-Carnitine, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Ferrous Sulfate, Biotin, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Manganese Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Products.

Crude Protein, not less than 38.00%

Crude Fat, not less than 20.00%

Crude Fiber, not more than 2.50%

Moisture, not more than 10.00%

Vitamin E, not less than 200 IU/kg

Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), not less than 0.10%*

Omega-6 Fatty Acids, not less than 3.30%*

Omega-3 Fatty Acids, not less than 0.55%*

L-Carnitine, not less than 15 mg/kg*

Professional: Active Dog Chicken & Rice Formula

Calories: 4,019 kcal/kg (376 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

Feeding Guidlines 30 - 40 lbs feed 1 2/3 to 2 cups per day

40 - 60 lbs feed 2 to 2 1/2 cups per day

Ingredients

Chicken, chicken meal, ground rice, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), egg product, beet pulp, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, fish meal, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, yucca schidigera extract, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Crude Protein 30.0% Minimum

Crude Fat 20.0% Minimum

Crude Fiber 3.0% Maximum

Moisture 10.0% Maximum

Zinc 150 mg/kg Minimum

Selenium 0.4 mg/kg Minimum

Vitamin E 150 IU/kg Minimum

Omega-6 Fatty Acids * 3.3% Minimum

Omega-3 Fatty Acids * 0.5% Minimum

Glucosamine Hydrochloride * 600 mg/kg Minimum

Chondroitin Sulfate * 200 mg/kg Minimum

Thanks,

Jon

[Dunc]

One of the main reasons for this is the high protein content, you don't want to give a dog that is not worked a high protein food it will make them hyper and will give them the sh+ts.

Sure others will explain it better but you get the jist.....

[Mazz]

I recommend this site a lot: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com You can research the various foods, read reviews, and do comparisons.

The reason the recommended amount for feeding varies, is because the companies making the food, have their own nutritionists and chemists that determine from a broad spectrum of breeds, what the average intake should be. It's not much more complicated than that. My wife has a cousing that works as a chemist and nutrisionist for Purina (Zoya says "YUK"). He explained all this to us one time and looked at what we were feeding our dog at the time, and then came up with a revised recommendation from what was printed on the bag.

The things that I look for first in a food, are the first three ingredients listed. I like to see the first three ingredients to be protein sources from meat. I also look to see if there's any corn. If there is, I don't want to feed that to my dog, because corn simply goes through them. Also, corn is a cheap filler, and if not stored and handled properly during and before processing, can become tainted. I also look to see if there are other grains. Whole grains, like barley are fine. Wheat I shy away from due to potential for alergies. Rice is OK, if it's listed once or twice, but too many forms of rice tells me the maker is just filling out the bag.

Here's what we feed Zoya. She weighs 60 pounds. She gets two cups per day, one in the morning, and one in the evening. You can see by the feeding guidelines, she is not being fed as much as is recommended. Well, that's because our vet recommended a maximum daily intake of 1000 k/cals for Zoya, based on frame, weight, and activity. By keeping her food intake to two cups, that gives us the leeway to also provide reward treats during the day for her. I've left off the name of the product, so as not to influence the information.

Feeding guideline:

A 50lb adult dog should be fed 2 1/3 - 3 cups

Metabolizable Energy:

Calorie Content: 3,719 kcal/kg (370 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

Ingredients:

Bison, venison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted venison, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Saccharomyces cerevesiae fermentation solubles, dried Aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein 32.0% Minimum

Crude Fat 18.0 Minimum

Crude Fiber 3.0% Maximum

Moisture 10.0% Maximum

Sodium 0.3% Maximum

Zinc 150 mg/kg Minimum

Selenium 0.4 mg/kg Minimum

Vitamin E 150 IU/kg Minimum

Omega-6 Fatty Acids * 2.8% Minimum

Omega-3 Fatty Acids * 0.3% Minimum

* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profile.