Happy Tails Standard Poodles

~ Nutrition For Your Standard Poodle  ~

What food is best for our puppy?
We have been concerned about dog foods for some time now. Many times dog food companies are bought out and ingredients can change without the consumer having any idea they are using cheaper ingredients. My clients invest a lot of money to own a well bred Standard and one thing I have known for years is no dog food sold in the normal grocery stores had enough of the right ingredients to properly nourish a growing or large dog. Look at the scores of some of the better known dog foods, you will be amazed how lacking they are.

Should we cook it ourselves?
Many people are thinking now, that cooking your dog's food at home is a good alternative. I have to tell you that I know unless you have a degree in nutrition and do extensive research it is almost impossible to successfully feed your dog properly. Plus you would need an extra 3-4 hours a day to do this job.

Also a lot of people are now touting the value of a raw diet. I am not one to follow the latest fads as so often we find out these things were not as good as some originally thought. Feeding raw meat to dogs is risky as we all have been warned time and time again about bacteria that can cause illnesses and even death from meat sources that are not cooked to proper temperatures. Yes, I know that if they lived in the wild they would be eating raw meat. But, consider how many wild animals die early deaths from improper nutrition, diseases and injury. Your dog is no longer a wild animal, the dog has been domesticated for hundreds of years and depends on us to provide for him. And how many of us are willing for at least 50-75% of our dogs to not survive their first year? That is the outcome in the wild.

No, the answer lies somewhere in between all these ideas. We need to do our research and stop believing the advertising campaigns that put on the television commercials. The answer to that is simple, they want to sell us something. Who do we believe? I am not selling you any dog food, I just want you to be as informed as possible so you can make the right choices for your dog to have a long and healthy life. Look over the information and decide for yourself. But this gives you an idea of how dog foods rank and a place to start.

GRADE YOUR DOG'S FOOD

Looking at the ingredients of your dog's food, find the ingredient listed on the table below.  Starting with 100 points, add or subract the points given for each ingredient and total the points.  Print this sheet to total your points for each item & then grade scale is listed at the end of the table.  At the bottom of this page you can also see the Grading Results for Major or Popular dog foods listed below by Brand and by Score.  Check it out, I was quite surprised by the results. Print Table Here

Grade Scale

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

SEE THE DOG FOODS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN SCORED. 
For convenience we have listed the dog foods Alphabetically by Brand & then by Numerically by Score

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(417) 246-1055     spoodles@htpoodles.com

Happy Tails' Standard Poodles is Owned By Professional AKC Registered Standard Poodle Breeder, Linda Zimmerman.
~ Operated by Linda Zimmerman & Julie Miller ~ Carthage, Missouri

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