Poodle Nutrition

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Nutrition and Your Standard Poodle

Your pets health, just like your own, is very much a result of nutrition and exercise. Standard Poodles do not require a lot of exercise but they do need some. Their diet is of utmost importance. We don’t pretend to know everything about nutrition but our many years of experience has taught us a lot about how to care for our Standard Poodles and what we feed them. Standard Poodles that are well bred will have healthy skin and beautiful curly coats of hair if given the proper nutrition. We watch the many different dog foods and the ingredients they are made with and watch closely the brands that have been re-called. Fortunately, we have never fed one of the re-called dog foods. We actually buy dog food twice monthly and try to keep 60+ days of dog food on hand. We feed out of the oldest batch first so if there is a re-call on that particular brand of dog food we wouldn’t be feeding the latest manufactured or the batch which is being re-called.

After doing some research, we have found what seems to be some reliable information for you on how you can determine whether or not you are giving the best nutrition to your Standard Poodle(s) and have posted the information below for you. We do want to state that we are not nutritionist and that we are providing this information without any prejudice nor do we claim the expertise to determine the accuracy of the information posted but will state that, in our opinion, it seems to be a good rule of thumb in determining the better quality of the different dog foods being sold. We feed Taste of the Wild – High Prairie formula with Roasted Bison and Roasted Venison which is what we feel is the best for Standard Poodles. It is higher in fat content which these puppies need for their rapid bone growth and development. The other flavors except for Roasted Fowl have much less fat content and while they are rapidly developing their bone structure they will have a hard time gaining weight. It’s what we wean our puppies on and not only highly recommend it but truly ask you to not change their food. We’ve tried many foods and have found this works best for Standards. We keep up with laboratory grading of dog foods and their ingredients and will change if and when necessary and post right here on this page. Thank you!

SEE THE DOG FOODS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN SCORED

For convenience, we have listed the dog foods Alphabetically by Brand & also Numerically by Score

How to Grade Your Dog Food

Look at the ingredients information of your dog food. Find the ingredient listed on the table below. Starting with 100 points, add or subtract the points given for each ingredient and total the points. Print this sheet to total your points for each item & then the grade scale is listed at the end of the table.

For every listing of “by-product”, subtract 10 points
For every non-specific animal source (“meat” or “poultry”, meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points

If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
For every grain “mill run” or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. “ground brown rice”, “brewer’s rice”, rice flour” are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
If the food contains barley, add 2 points
If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
For different specific animal protein sources (other than the first one; count “chicken” and “chicken meal”
as only one protein source but “chicken and ” as 2 different sources) add 1 point

If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point.

A = 94-100, B = 86-93, C = 78-85, D = 70-77, F = 69 or lower

Lastly, we will go over Health Issue’s