Blue Buffalo Life Protection questionable ingredients HELP

[Itty bitty Kitty]

I'm getting a dog next year and I've been spending weeks researching about dog nutrition and good/bad ingredients. I'm still new to this and I need help with those of you who have experience.

I am considering getting Blue Buffalo Life Protection for my dog. However there are some ingredients I'm concerned about.

The ingredients are: Deboned chicken, chicken meal, whole ground brown rice, whole ground barley, oatmeal, chicken fat (naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols), rye, tomato pomace (natural source of lycopene), natural chicken flavor, whole potatoes, peas, whole carrots, whole sweet potatoes, blueberries, cranberries, flaxseed(natural source of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids), barley grass, dried parsley, garlic, alfalfa meal, dried kelp, yucca schidigera extract, l-carnitine, l-lysine, glucosamine hydrochloride, turmeric, sunflower oil (natural source of omega 6 fatty acids), fish oil (natural source of omega 3 fatty acids), dried chicory root, oil of rosemary, beta carotene, vitamin a supplement, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), d-calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), biotin (vitamin B7), folic acid (vitamin B9), vitamin B12 supplement, calcium ascorbate (source of vitamin C), vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, iron amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, choline chloride, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, salt, caramel, potassium chloride, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium

* Red are the ingredients I am concerned about.

Tomato Pomace - I'm not so sure if this is something to be concerned about or not.

Garlic - The major ingredient I'm worried about. I've been doing research everywhere trying to find answers but I keep getting mixed results. To b fair, it's pretty far down the list so I would like to think any possible bad side-effects garlic has for your dog ( such as anemia) will be close to none?

Caramel - Concerned about the sugar content in this, but it seems too far down the list to be a threat.

Salt - It's so far down the list I'm pretty sure it's not a problem. However isn't salt generally bad for your dog?

Please give me your input on these ingredients and your experience with this particular product of Blue.

I'm thinking to help counter-balance any of the possible negative ingredients (In this or any other dog-food ) I can add/ make healthy home-cooked food for my dog like:

-Cooked, lean chicken
-Scrambled eggs
-Peanut butter
-Carrots
-Oats
-Apples
-Pumpkin

I want to do my best to take care of my future dog while still being able to budget everything. Thoughts?

[whiteleo]

I'd be more concerned with rice, barley and oatmeal..

[Itty bitty Kitty]

I'd be more concerned with rice, barley and oatmeal..

I was pretty sure Oats were actually good for a dog. Would you be so kind to elaborate on what the dangers are in the ingredients you've mentioned? I would very much appreciate it! :)

[whiteleo]

I am one who believe that dogs do not need grains as they are carnivores...I'm surprised that with all your research in looking at dog food that grain free was not an option and some of the better quality foods that are out there like Orijen, Acana, Fromm4 Starr etc.

[Unosmom]

Those dont seem like particularly red flags to me. Garlic is fine in small quantities and a lot of people use it as a flea repellent. I think caramel is for natural color only, pretty common in pet food. Salt is usually a source of iodine. And tomato pomace is usually just tomato skin/pulp and pretty harmless.

Theres no need to add extra grains to the kibble, especially if you plan on feeding a grain inclusive kibble, just stick with meat, eggs and you can also add some canned fish oil water like sardines or salmon.

[xellil]

"deboned chicken" - that's the raw weight. Once cooked down, it will be about 10% of that weight and would go waaaaaay down on the list of ingredients.

For dry dog food, it's not bad. Of course, I believe all dry dog food is bad. So I'm probably not one to give advice on it. rice, barley, oatmeal - not horrible if you don't mind feeding your dog grains their body isn't build to digest.

[whiteleo]

When you go grain free you may spend more money for the food but in the long run you feed less food...When feeding a grain inclusive food you feed more to fill up the dog as they will not utilize all the food (grains will just pass through) meaning they have much bigger poops on a grain inclusive food versus a grain free food. There are a ton of post here regarding this very subject about food and quality..

By the way welcome to the forum!

[xellil]

Here's a page you can look at that tell you the things that you should really never get in a dog food -
The Dog Food Project - Ingredients to avoid

i don't really see anything on that list that's in the Blue buffalo. Except the amount of chicken is misleading, which pretty much ticks me off. So you have to wonder in what other ways they are being deceitful.

[Itty bitty Kitty]

When you go grain free you may spend more money for the food but in the long run you feed less food...When feeding a grain inclusive food you feed more to fill up the dog as they will not utilize all the food (grains will just pass through) meaning they have much bigger poops on a grain inclusive food versus a grain free food. There are a ton of post here regarding this very subject about food and quality..

By the way welcome to the forum!

Thank you so much for your input. I'm still browsing forum topics and other information I can find. Unfortunately I have noticed the grain-free brands are hard to find ( I don't think I've ever seen Arcana at any store yet). However I will keep my eyes open for the ones you've recommended, thank you :)

[whiteleo]

Where are you from, we are always willing to help people find good food....These brands won't be found at Petsmart or Petco they are unique and can be found at boutique pet stores.