posted 01-23-2004 12:00 PM         

Ground Yellow Corn, Rice Flour, Pork Meal, Corn Germ Meal (Dry Milled),Rice Bran, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat Salt,Tomato Pomace,Cheese Meal (??)Brewers Dried Yeast

IMO a lot of these are fillers, and don't like the above ingredients. Don't like that every formula contains salt and I don't know what Cheese meal (?) is or why that would be necessary.

Would prefer to see meat sources listed ahead of the grains. Also I don't like the 28% puppy protein.

I checked their holistic formulas and realized eagle pack was not the brand I was thinking of. And no, not ALL Eagle pack products are made with organic ingredients. "Certified organic ingredients include amaranth, quinoa, dandelion" is all I could find.

Looks ok, a lot better then many commercial foods.

posted 01-23-2004 12:24 PM         

Beef, dairy products, and wheat account for 68% of adverse food reactions in dogs. Soy is one of several ingredients accounting for 25% of adverse reactions. None of these ingredients are in Eagle Pack diets. Corn and corn glutens are rarely a problem according to material gathered by the American Holistic Veterinary Association. Corn is rarely implicated. (see our ingredient page)

Nutritionists and holistic veterinarians agree on several factors that can reduce or eliminate allergies and food intolerance. They are: 1) feed a highly digestible diet, 2) include prebiotics and probiotics, 3) include digestive enzymes, 4) include higher levels of quality vitamins and minerals, and 5) divide meat protein in the diet among 3 meat meal proteins so there is not a high concentration of any single one. However, diets designed to be hypoallergenic do have a single meat source that is known to be hypoallergenic. All Eagle Pack diets excel in these factors.

posted 01-23-2004 12:38 PM         

Read about Innova or Canidae or any of the other truly premium brands. They are all made from human-grade ingredients, no preservatives, multiple meat sources, and most of the other things you mentioned in your post. That's why they are premium foods!

I try to avoid corn in dog foods. I believe that it is a big potential allergen, and also dogs do not need grain.

BUT Eagle Pack is still a good choice, and MUCH better than grocery store stuff.

Let your dog be your guide. I went a lot by looking at Nala's waste. When I switched her to Innova, she had less poo (a LOT less) and it was nowhere near as stinky as it used to be. But she was GASSY as all heck. So I switched to Healthwise, which is supposed to be a bit easier for puppies to digest, and the gassiness went away. Her stool volume is about half what it was on the Science Diet, she only goes about twice a day instead of 5-6 times, and it doesn't smell as bad.

I am looking forward to seeing what happens with her on raw. Although I confess I have not been checking up on the poop as much with the freezing cold weather we have been having.