Ol Roy Dog Food
October 3, 2008
Filed under Dog Food Reviews, Ol Roy Dog Food Recall, Ol' Roy
Thinking about feeding your dog Ol’ Roy dog food? If so please think again. Ol’ Roy dog food and treats have been involved in numerous dog food recalls. Ol’ Roy Dog Food is manufactured by Wal-Mart. The brand is named after the dog of Wal-Mart’s owner, Sam Walton. The Ol’ Roy Dog Food formulas are well-known among dog owners in the United States because it’s quite inexpensive compared to other popular brands. However, the dog food brand has received a lot of negative feedback because of its low quality ingredients as well as the controversy when it tested positive to the presence of Pentobarbital. We do not recommend this dog food brand and believe it is in the lowest tier in terms of quality.
The Ol’ Roy Dog product lines now include six kibbles and each formula has been designed to meet the AAFCO nutrient profiles required for all life stages.
First five Ol’ Roy dog food Ingredients:
- Ground yellow corn
- soybean meal
- ground whole wheat
- corn syrup
- poultry fat
Although there are different product formulas, they share the same low-quality and controversial basal ingredients. The first five ingredients include ground yellow corn, soybean meal, ground whole meat or meat and bone meal, corn syrup, and poultry fat or chicken by-product meal.
Corn is a common first ingredient among the different Ol’ Roy dog food formulas. Dogs do not need corn as their main source of nutrients. Although it is a rich carbohydrate source, corn which is used for dog food are usually of the livestock feed grade. Another reason to be wary about having corn in the top five ingredients is that corn has been linked to food allergies in dogs.
Meat and bone meal is a good source of meat concentrates, in fact much better than raw meat, but there is a question regarding the source of the components of the meal. The usual practice in feed industries is to make meat and bone meal from animal tissues which have been deemed unsuitable for human food. The meal is actually made of rendered animal products including stomach contents, bones, skin, manure, hair, hoof or horns. Compared to other meat-based meals, meat and bone meal has a lower digestibility and thus cannot be fully metabolized and used by the dog’s body.
Soybean meal is a by-product when extracting soybean oil. Although it contains 48% protein, it is still a plant-based protein, one which is not efficiently assimilated and utilized thus it is considered of low biological value.
Chicken by-product meal is also another ingredient made from dry rendered products of slaughterhouse waste. Once the prime cuts of dressed chicken have been removed, what’s left are made into an unsavory chicken by-product meal, which, just like any by-product meal uses ingredients declared unfit for human consumption.
Animal fat is another by-product of rendering. Since it does not specify what animal the fat is from, it could come from any source including slaughterhouse waste or even restaurant grease.
As though using meat by-products is not bad enough, preserving fat with BHA further brings the quality of the dog food formulas to a much lower level. BHA has been identified as a carcinogen not only in people but in animals as well. Another controversial ingredient is the addition of artificial food color which is another suspected carcinogen.
There is no mention of the incorporation of probiotics or beneficial microorganisms which have been associated with boosting the process of digestion.
Customer Reviews
Any Ol’ Roy dog food formula often receives praise when it comes to its price. However, the high rating stops there. Many dog owners are not satisfied with the questionable and low-fat ingredients which are incorporated in their dog foods.
There are reports of digestive upsets including vomiting and diarrhea as well as of dogs having rough and dry hair coats.
A lot of people decide to buy Ol Roy dog food based on the fact that it is cheap. Thinking like this will catch up to you in vet bills. Your going to take your dog to the vet twice as much as you would if you fed your dog a healthier brand of food.
When looking for dog food, look for a brand that has at least two sources of meat in the first five ingredients, and contains no corn or grains.
Hill’s (Science Diet)Prescription is a HUGE money maker with the vets. They make several formulas for specific health issues. One example is their RD formula for overweight dogs. The price is around $75.00 for 40lbs. Cellulose is one of the main ingredients. Cellulose is commonly known as saw dust. Now, who wants to feed their dog sawdust? And @ that price?
So, it’s not hard to see who is making the money. It’s full of by-products and corn also. Whoever thinks corn should be a dog’s #1 food source should do better research. It causes allergies and diabetes.
Sorry, Andrea. Please stop listening to the Hill’s reps. They are just selling dog food.
I have two pitbulls. They are very muscular and energetic. I ‘ve had them since they were born,and since they started to eat food, the only food I give them is Ol’roy. they wont eat any other brand. It’s all about if the dogs like it(whooose there it is)
dogs only like ol’ roy because it’s like giving them fast food every day! this food is garbage!! it is recalled for salmonella poisoning at least once a year!! if you want your dog to have cancer, thyroid issues and diabetes, then feed it ol’ roy and alpo
People ask my opinion on this somewhat often… My reply is always “I would chew off my own arm and feed it to my dogs before I fed them Ol’ Roy”
This is crazy!
I am also a veterinary technician and I am SO tired of hearing everyone say that a dog food is acceptable if “their dogs LOVE it”. Sorry, that is ridiculous. Your dog isn’t thriving on this disgusting junk…its dying…slowly. Actually, you are killing it slowly…educate yourself on what is the BEST nutrition for your pet…and then provide that because it is your RESPONSIBILTY to do so.
We took dogs out of their natural environment, domesticated them into our world and now are providing crap nutrition for them. They are designed to eat raw meat and bones. So many of the pet foods have almost NO MEAT…digestive systems and nutritional requirements don’t evolve to subsisting on corn and nasty byproducts in a couple thousand years people…we are KILLING OUR DOGS…and so many of you love your pets sooo much. If you can’t afford a high quality, SPECIES APPROPRIATE diet, don’t get a dog. Would you feed your children a bunch of rancid meat or floor sweepings? Why is the pet you made a commitment to love and take care of any different?
That being said there are a few companies out there striving to provide superior nutrition for our dogs. Kibble isn’t ideal for any dogs but most of us are entirely too lazy to make the small amount of effort it takes to feed a raw, natural diet…myself included. So, I get the best kibble I can find to supplement with.
Everyone needs to be watching the perservatives as well. Most brands use BHA/BHT or Ethoxyquin….all banned in the human food industry because they are CARCINOGENIC! So, why are we feeding it to our dogs?? Oh, thats right…because our dogs LOVE the taste and are doing JUST GREAT on this food, right?
Autumn
Oh and BTW, vets do not get any ‘kickbacks’ for selling prescription Science Diet foods. Instead of blaming veterinarians for not being know-it-alls about nutrition, why not focus on the fact that they are in school to be able to perform life saving surgery on your dog. Education is sorely lacking in the nutrition department of vet school…but in the scheme of things, they do have many more important things to be learning!
well i had bought ol roy dinner rounds (yellow bag) and i had put it into a plastic box with a lid for easy use……i have a small dog and he eats table meat and his treats so he don’t eat the dinner rounds all the time.
when i opened the box, i found out the the whole thing was moving…yes moving and i had to get my glasses to see what was in the food making it move.
i saw nothing like a bug or many of them it was the granulars in the food that had been scraped off the rounds and i think that it might have been mealie mites…….i didn’t look any more,,,,,,i threw the whole thing out for the birds or squirlles didn’t want it in the house or to give it to my dog. and upon reading all these complaints i don’t think that i will ever buy ol roy any thing any more.
i want to thank all the people who helped change my mind.
Well Autumn,
if should not be blamed for absolutely no knowledge of foods, why should they sell them. Last time i checked, my Doctor could write a prescription for them products but they cannot sell them. Vets are like a judge and a jury all in one, they tell you what your dog needs and then can sell them. In my opinion that is wrong, so very very wrong. People go to a vet and think that they know what they are talking about when it comes to nutrition. I would take the opinion of someone who actually knows pretty much every food, not just the ones that they have exclusive rights to. To your saying that they do not get stipends from Hill’s give your head a shake. VEts get free food in vet school for their pets, vets also get dinners, gas coupons etc… for their “pushing” of vet only brands. Personally there should a course that a pet food store could take to read a prescription to fill it out, or better yet have drug stores carry them. I bet that Hills, Proctor and Gamble sales would dry up because vet’s would find other ways to make money. To the bha /bht you are talking about, it is not in almost all foods, years back it was actually in Science Diet, Hill’s and Eukanuba to name a few. Foods like Innova, Wellness, Eagle Pack, Orijen have no bha or bht or ethoxiquin to throw big words around.
To close, if nutrition is not taught throughly it should not be taught at all, especially if it is by the companies they deal with exclusively.
Well, Hell why Not! I to am a vet technician as well, lol, why not everyone and there mom is…
Anyway, if Ol’ Roy food was so bad why is it selling like crazy? Why is it wal-mart’s no. 1 dog food seller? Why is it allowed to be sold, if its so bad?
I would think the people that made this formula are not IDIOTS and they know a think or two about MAKING dog food. Instead of just shooting of at the mouth like some people above, they(makers of Ol’Roy) actually came up with a formula that is affordable to the average Joe and can maintain healthy dogs.
There is nothing wrong with it, I have used it for years and so have a million other folks
I feed it to my blue nose pitbulls, they are very healthy, they defecate good and they love the stuff… All this is just propaganda….
I CANNOT BELIEVE ALL THIS HYPE ABOUT OLD ROY… I HAVE BEEN FEEDING THIS TO MY DOGS SINCE PUPPIES AND THEY ARE HEALTHY AND FIT IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE, THEY LOVE IT PLUS THEY GET CAN DOG FOOD WHICH IS OLD ROY TOO… IF YOU CAN AFFORD THAT EXPESIVE STUFF FOR YOUR DOGS MORE POWER TO YOU, BUT NOT WASTING MONEY WHEN ITS NOT NEEDED.. MY DOGS HAVE NEVER BEEN SICK FROM THIS FOOD AND ARE HEALTHY AND FINE.. GET LIFE BESIDES TRYING TO BE COMMENTATORS…
I disagree with the statement that ol roy is the worst abomination in the dog food world.I have a 10 year old lab/pekinese mix and ol roy is the only food I feed him. I’ve used other brands like pedigree, purina and eukanuba(petsmart) and none have performed like ol roy does with Deon. I have been using ol roy and the weight management more recently for 3 years now. Deon has more energy and is very happy and healthy. He has no issues with his weight(now) or his teeth or mood or behavior. I’m not going to knock any other brand of dog food, because I’ve successfully used other brands that give me the same results I look for in food. Deon perfers ol roy. He is a very picky eatter anyways.
I don’t think you can get any better dog food unless you make it yourself. But I don’t have time or money to do all of this. Yes, ol roy is within my margin of utility, but price doesn’t move me to bum rush the shelves to get him his favorite food. It is nice that a bag of weight management costs me $13 a bag, but I would buy him this food at $20 a bag once or twice a month because I know it does what I want and he likes it. Deon’s coat is nice and manageable, his teeth and gums are nice, not dark and funky. He has dropped some weight, I also added 2 miles every 3 days to his exercise plan… And thanks to ol roy being available I know I have added a few more years to his life and mine. Ok, this food and many others are not made from the finest ingredients and the calorie values could be better, but simple fact it’s not. I’m sure with a little push from consumers that ol roy would strive to bring better quality food at every day low prices to the retail market. 
I like your arguement though. Makes me wonder what else is in the food I give to my pet. ??
To the Ol Roy lovers,
Honestly, Take a good look at your dogs teeth, they are not a cow or a horse or a deer. They have shredding teeth which god or your version of god gave them to shred guess what… meat. Good quality, natural meat of specific orign. Imagine your diet of mnystery meats, rancid fats and the lowest quality grains imaginable. Why not not feed it to our kids? Look at this truthfully and you will have to see how incredibly awful this food is. It is not just Ol roy, but since we are on a Ol Roy section it makes sense to stick to the product of question. To say it is propaganda is just being ignorant(no offence) Using our unconsumable, ;owest cost products is just asking for trouble LATER in life.
If you really care about your pet, we have to check ingredients for each brand and compare to see which is best for your pet, a lot of people think dog food is just that: dog food, have you really check what are the ingredients in your dog’s food? I think you should do more research, Iams,science diet,ukanuba, Ol roy and other commercial foods have pretty much the same ingredients, and believe me you will pay the price when your dog gets older and starts getting sick because of bad nutrition, please check this web site http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com go into the index (bottom left corner)and look for the brand that you are feeeding your dog and take your time to read the ingredients.
I know this Ol roy food is cheap and is affordable to people but is you cannot afford a good dog food with better ingredients then you should not have a dog, don’t be surprise when your dog starts getting food allergies, and diarreah once in a while, bad breath, cavities, rotten teeth, diabetes and artritis and other health problems, is all in what you feed your dog.
To tell you the truth, I have tryed a few diffrent dog foods and so far I haven’t found 1 that doesn’t give my lil’ dog gas or anything like that. He seems to eat whatever you give him. I’m not sure whats best for him. He’s about 9mts old, and i’ve had him for almost 2mts now, when I got him he was on Ol’ Roy and seemed to enjoy it. I switched him to Eukambua, and didn’t seem to make much of a diffrence. Recently I have been doing research on dog food: ( to see whats in in, and what it does to dogs) I have to say that i was shocked!!
Ummm well my dogs like it and so i feed it to them. I once caught my dog eating the neighbors trash… and found a dieper. so would u that have complaints say u would eat off your own arm for that too. If my dogs like it who am i to stop them. we eat crap that is bad for us. My dogs wont eat kibbles and bits… so i stopped. found that this was a good food for them. Old roy isnt that bad.