Working hard on Dog Food Reviews...

[claybuster]

Well Ladies and Gents. I have been working hard on a format to present my dog food reviews. I think I have finally come to something I like.

You can check it out at: Abady dog food

Let me know what you think. I am not so much worried about the review at the moment as I am about presentation.

I think the presentation is fine, it is some the content that would bother me,
simply because it is not true. Therefore IMO I would have to give the a review a thumbs down for inaccurate information.

I have been feeding my Zoe for the past six years a steady diet of Abady Classic granular, with no mixing of other feeds. I have had nothing but great results with the feed.

Here is what the review stated:

We feel that this formula does not meet our standards of a qaulity dog food brand. I would not recommend this dog food brand. IF, the company disclosed what is in their Chicken By-Products it would make this a better choice of dog food.

The company does indeed disclose and defends it use of Chicken By-Product meal, both from a standpoint of economics and nutrition! Abady dosen't hold back when it comes to their ingredients, they put it all out there for everyone to read.

Here you go:

NUTRITION

By-Products (internal organs) play a central role in the feeding of carnivores, as do muscle meat, fat and bone.
Poultry by-products meal is an economical and nutritious source of high quality animal protein.
It is composed of lungs, heads, gizzards, necks, feet, intestines (without their contents) and other clean parts of the carcass.
Nutritionally it is equal to superior to the ingredients discussed earlier and it costs many multiples less.

It is not true that heads or even feet (which represent only a small component of poultry by-products meal) are undesirable as components of dog food.
While they have little aesthetic appeal to humans, heads contain valuable brain, tongue and ocular tissue, and feet are 20% protein & 16% fat.
Both are rich in various amino acids and fatty acids of the most important varieties.Among these can be found Arginine (essential for fertility and immune system support) Glycine (a potent free-radical scavenger and a component of glucose tolerance factor which regulates insulin metabolism) and Aspartic acid (which helps with the synthesis of glycoprotein and with the detoxification of ammonia).
Feathers are NOT a component of poultry by-products meal, unless it is of very low quality.

quote from here: Robert Abady writes article, which diet is best for your dog,

ECONOMICS
this quote is in regards to by-products

When ingredients are selected for the production of dog food, there are many different factors that enter into the equation. An ingredient's nutritional yield versus its cost is central to sound dietary construction.
For example -- If ingredient A is nutritionally equivalent to ingredient B, but B costs 3 times as much for the same quantity of A, then the manufacturer who uses ingredient A can include 3 times more of it in his ration than the manufacturer using ingredient B and therefore can offer three times more nutrition at no greater cost.
Ultimately, what a manufacturer spends on ingredients is a major determinant of the selling price of nutritional products, therefore the manufacturer who uses ingredient A can offer a significantly better product than the manufacturer who uses ingredient B, for the same cost to the consumer if all other factors are equal.

Robert Abady writes article, which diet is best for your dog,

So, knowing that Abady dosen't having any qualms about disclosure of its liberal inclusion of by-products in and the reasons why, I'll have to go with the thumbs down for the content of the review. But, the presentation is looking good. I would strive for more accuracy in the content.

[rannmiller]

True, they make a good point. Though AAFCO definition doesn't necessarily say that by-products include all the tasty organs, it simply says: Chicken By-Product Meal - consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice. AAFCO DEFINITIONS OF DOG FOOD INGREDIENTS

I just wish they'd be more specific. That and I believe that while organ meats and almost all parts of the chicken are important for proper dog nutrition, I also think that muscle meat should be a main component of their diets, not organs.

That being said: holy sweet dear Lord is that food ever expensive! $80 - $89 for a 35 lbs bag?! And $120 for a 48 lbs bag?! I mean, it's got a high linoleic acid content, but my goodness. I guess feeding one medium sized dog that food wouldn't be too painful, but still the initial shock of it is a little intense. No wonder the woman in the store who feeds it to her two German Shepherds said she'd probably have to change soon cuz it's so expensive. She wasn't even close to kidding.

Kudos to you for being willing to spend so much on your dog food though. If I loved 'em that much I'd feed 'em raw... but I do already, and cheaper. Good thing eh?

Sorry if that sounded mean but I don't even spend that much on myself for food. Believe me, as soon as I start spending more on myself, I start spending more on my dogs. Actually it's usually them who get the money spent on them first.

Anyway, none of this was meant to be offensive, so please don't take it that way.

[Apdfranklin]

Poultry by-products meal is an economical and nutritious source of high quality animal protein.
It is composed of lungs, heads, gizzards, necks, feet, intestines (without their contents) and other clean parts of the carcass.

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your feedback and its ALWAYS welcome.

When it comes to By-Products you start getting into a lot of gray area. If I was to feed my dog By-Products I want to know EXACTLY what is included. The quote you gave states:
"It is composed of lungs, heads, gizzards, necks, feet, intestines (without their contents) and other clean parts of the carcass."

What are the "other" clean parts they are referring to?

When you say "other" clean parts of the carcass... I want to know what the other parts are. By saying "other" you are telling me that you don't want me to know.

Your thoughts?

[rannmiller]

I'm guessing it refers to anything else that doesn't include the bladder and stomach contents, or feathers. Probably including the frame and connective tissue. But who the heck knows?

[claybuster]

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your feedback and its ALWAYS welcome. ...
When you say "other" clean parts of the carcass... I want to know what the other parts are. By saying "other" you are telling me that you don't want me to know. Your thoughts?

I wrote about this in the by-products thread in nutrition forum. Yea, I know it's all the nasty stuff wrapped up in one nutritious ingredient. We know what it is, whatever is leftover from the bird after the meat is stripped off for the human consumption market. All nasty stuff we don't eat.