So I am a human that once had health problems, then fixed those human health problems with better diet. So, I instinctively tend to think cheap dog food = dog health issues down the line. Initially my doge was eating the store-bought Purina One brand which seemed decent, but after reading some more decided to switch her to the Blue Buffalo Grain Free based on it having better ingredients.

But reading more it sounds like even with Blue Buffalo having some better ingredients, it's whole nutritional profile is kind whack? Too high in carbohydrate and food having lots of vitamins and minerals added to make up still being overprocessed.

So was looking to potentially move to even better one.

But I guess I'm wondering like, how much does this stuff really matter? Do you really want like 80% protein + fat? Is evading added synthetic vitamins really a bad sign? I tend to think American culture, and even American doctors, gloss over the importance of food and diet a little too much in health. So I'd tend to think most vets probably do too?

Doing the whole raw food thing seems kind of excessive to me, but if there really is a more ideal dry food to get, I'd like to try it.

So in a nutshell our dogs are the same as us. They do better on less processing. They can survive on processed kibble but it's hard to say that they thrive on it in many instances. when it comes to kibble a higher protein to carb ratio is good but processed is still processed no matter how you look at it. Even high end expensive kibble will still have vitamin packs in them because they must. Processing into kibble burns out all the vitamins and they have to be replaced so there really isn't a way around adding those vitamins and minerals while still in a kibble format. Kibble exists for our convenience, not for a dogs actual nutrition. Now an unbalanced homemade diet though can do serious damage so when considering raw or cooked for your dog it's paramount that it's done correctly. There is a lot that goes into proper homecooking but the longevity and health benefits of a balanced homecooked or raw diet is miles above what you can get from the most expensive kibble.

Super high protein isn't totally necessary if your dog isn't a working animal. Animals who are extremely active like sled dogs or dogs who are running or hiking multiple miles a day benefit from higher protein ratio because their muscles are being broken down and the protein is important to repairing those muscles. Super high protein can be hard on dogs with sensitive stomachs. Finding the right carb to protein ratio is a lot about what your dog does and how your dog's system reacts to what ratios. You have to find what works for your dog. In general, high carb isn't ideal so try to find something that has a more even balance between carbs and protein. Try to find protein that comes from meat and not soy, peas, and various lentils if possible.

Vets definitely ignore diet. Most are not trained on diet much at all in school.

The most ideal dry foods are going to be your freeze dried foods. They are the least processed of the convenience foods and retain the most natural vitamins and minerals. I personally feed The Honest Kitchen.

When it comes to kibble, unless you jump to a pretty high end kibble it's hard to find one that doesn't derive the bulk of their protein from peas or soy so if budget is on your mind probably best to check out dogfoodadvisor.com and play around with some kibbles that are in your budget and see what their ratios are. Dog food advisor is nice because it just gives you your ratios in an easy to read format with the ingredient panel. I personally fed Go Solutions Carnivore before swapping to The Honest Kitchen. It's a kibble that has more protein than carbs and the protein in their kibble is predominantly meat derived and not legume derived.

As far as kibble goes, I found a nice balance between cost and ingredients in Victor High Pro. My dogs have done quite nicely on this food. They are seniors now and one has a weight problem so I've switched to Victor Purpose healthy weight (or something like that, knee hurts and I'm not getting up to look in the closet for the name )

After lots of research this seemed ideal for an american company:
https://sundaysfordogs.com/

Anyone tried it?

The only issue I am seeing with that food is there's no outside offal showing in their ingredients panel. There should be offal (kidney, lung, spleen, etc.), especially if they aren't going to add vitamins. Offal is where a large amount of the best digestible vitamins and minerals come from. Heart is considered a muscle meat, not an organ meat, so it does not meet the need as offal. Liver is its own category when determining raw balance content.

A side note about American companies. The US actually has more relaxed requirements when it comes to pet food and transparency and processing methods. Canada has much higher standards. You get a different standard from Canadian pet food companies and better labeling to research than you will get from US companies. While some were excited when Orijen and Acana made the move to the US from Canada it was actually not good for their quality because they can now slack off on quality without admitting it under our lax pet industry laws. That doesn't mean US based foods are bad, it just means you have to watch the labeling buzzwords a lot closer with US based foods because our allowances are different here than in Canada.

She seems pretty happy with the blue buffalo grain free chicken and wants to actually eat it, which makes me think is probably okay? Is there anything particularly bad about that one?

And now orijen is owned by mars.... im trying to find something my girls like similar to orijen senior. Shadow is on first mate lamb and oat and splinter is on orijen red with grain until its gone. Splinter and the girls get a small amount of wet food mixed in.

I tend to mix things up.im not sure how much i trust any one company so mixing things up . We also use nulo freeze dried as treats and i use raw organ meat as treats (i have bison spleen and kidney calf liver and elk heart ) i was doing oc raw and thrn the weird fda thing. I cooked for splinter for awhile because he didnt eat for medical reasons.

So i just would mix things up every once and awhile and not just the flavor but the brand. The idea that eating the same kibble day in and day out was based off a lie perpetuated by the dog food companies that was started by a man who was trying to figure out what to do with excess horses from the invention of the automobile and the death of the mining boom.

Kids love eating McDonald's. Doesn't make it healthy. Blue is as good as any other middle road kibble. They have been caught falsifying their ingredient claims in the past and are on the more expensive end for the quality you are actually getting. There's better out there but there's also a lot worse as well. You have to feed what is in your budget and your dog seems to do well on. When I did kibble more often I too would wander around what brand and what flavors I was feeding. I will also add bone broth to kibble for extra nutrition.

we have been feeding earth born holistic unrefined, my other was on their LID version. they are in the mid to upper end, but i think finding a well balanced food is good.

My breeder said she tried raw diet once for her Huskies and it just made the crazy and more aggressive. She uses Inukshuk 32/32 and that is what I still use for my husky. It really good price for the amount you get and feed. You only feed 1 cup a day unless the dog is very active that day. 1 bag lasts about 3 months.
As for Kibble, my old dog (Husky/German Shepherd mix)ate kibble (Jappy) her whole life with a raw egg here and there. She lived until 16 with no major issues until she was very old (cataracts, hard of hearing, arthritis in hind legs and bladder issue.)