Why is Iams the best?

Uh, none of those three foods make any claim to their meats or other food sources being organic. Just sayin'.

They're all pretty good foods, but none of them organic.

Um I beg to differ. Canidae is sold as an organic food. So is Blue Buffalo as is Wellness. Maybe the word "organic" is the problem. All three of those foods are classed as "natural." Although if you check out their websites they claim to be organic and all natural. They may not be the best organic food on the market but they are good as you say.

You do need to look at the ingredients as they don't always say in the name of the food that they "organic." Just sayin...

Can you show us where any of those foods claim to be organic? I checked all their websites and came up empty.

Organic is not the same thing ans "natural" or "holistic." Organic has a VERY specific definition. Natural and holistic are pretty open.

Well here's a link to Canidae CANIDAE® Pet Foods: The Finest Ingredients for starters. Notice where it says that the beef is free range from private herd? Um that's organic.

Here's a link to Blue Buffalo being sold. Check out what's in it: Blue Buffalo Organics - Organic Dog Food and Organic Cat Food

And for Wellness I couldn't find exact wording although it's sold as organic in many places.

Anyway, I'm not going to get into a big argument over this. All three dog foods are much better than grocery store bought garbage. The point I was making in the beginning is that you don't want to feed your dog those garbage brands.

Free range beef from a private herd can still be fed supplements and other additives, or be born from non-organic animals. A description:

Organic meat comes from an animal that has not been fed anything grown with toxic or synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or fumigants; has not been given any kind of growth hormone, antibiotic or genetically engineered product; has been conceived by organically raised animals; and has been butchered and processed following organic regulations.

The Blue Buffalo Organics line has been discontinued for some time. I'm unsure why, but I do know that they had a recall with some of their organic blends in 2010, that may have had something to do with it.

We're not arguing, but it's important not to spew falsehoods without backing up claims, especially in important areas like pet nutrition. Many people find this forum via Google, and falsehoods are often corrected rather quickly for that reason.

"Organic" is a word that's tossed around a lot where it isn't always the place to do so. "Organic" doesn't necessarily mean "more healthy" either, it just loosely means "free of chemical involvement".

I'm not spewing falsehoods. I've done a lot of research on dog nutrition and continue to do so.

I don't use Blue for feeding my dog. Never have. I use Canidae and home cooked. Anyhow, your definition of "organic" and mine seem to be different. I have never seen where "free range" has ever meant anything other than "organic."

I'm not going to play the word game anymore. Again, the whole point I was making in the beginning is that those three foods ARE considered "organic," and they are better than the normal crap dog food out there.

They are NOT considered organic. Nothing about their packaging or marketing suggests they are organic. Holistic, yes. Holistic and organic are not the same, as Allie pointed out.

Do some more research.

FWIW, I won't touch Canidae, Blue or Wellness. I stick with Nature's Variety INSTINCT when I feed kibble, otherwise it's prey-model raw for my dog.

NO, they are not. I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. The FDA and USDA have definitions explaining "organic", that are explained in the linkS below.
USDA-FDA Organic Foods
The Dog Food Project - Organic Dog Foods
I'm not saying that they are not good foods I just have to say, that I agree with Allie. It's not about 'your' deffinition being different than hers. There is a specific deffinition according the the FDA, the companies do not claim these products to be organic, either. HECK yes I would recomend these over crappy foods in a heartbeat, but if someone asked me to tell them which foods were organic, these would not make the list. the only two I've actually seen in person are karma organics and Newmans own

They ARE considered organic. Follow the links I posted in the upper theads. And whatever you want to do or think is fine.

No, they're not considered organic. Very, very few foods are truly "organic" (I can only think of three, and I work at a pet food store) - and since "organic" is a USDA-regulated term, companies can't use the term without the USDA certification.

I hear the terms "natural", "free-range", "organic", "human grade" and "holistic" all the time at work, and I think there is confusion as to what they actually mean.

"Organic" is a term that is regulated by the USDA. In order for a crop to be organic, it must be grown (the crop and the land itself) without chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides. For meat to be organic, it must be raised without antibiotics or synthetic hormones, and the feed must be considered organic as well. Again, for a product to use the term "organic" it must be certified by the USDA. If companies are using "organic" in their advertising for a product that is not organic, they can end up with fines, lawsuits, etc.

"Natural" simply means that there are no additives or preservatives in the food. This term is not regulated.

"Holistic" just means that the food was formulated with the whole body in mind, that it is a food to nourish the whole body. Again, not regulated, and says nothing about the individual ingredients.

"Free-range" is a USDA-regulated term. All "free-range" means is that the animals have access to the outdoors - it doesn't specify the quality of the land, or how much land each animal has, etc.

There are two food "categories" - human-grade and feed-grade. Human-grade applies to a product that is legally approved to consumed by people. Feed-grade applies to a product that is only legally approved to be consumed by animals because of the ingredients that were used or the way it was made. Pet food can be "made with human grade ingredients", but once those human-grade ingredients have entered a pet food plant, it is now feed-grade. Currently, the Honest Kitchen is the only pet food company (I believe) allowed to use "human grade" in their advertising, as all their ingredients (before processing) are human grade, and the food is made in a human processing facility.

So, to sum up? Wellness, Canidae, Blue Buffalo. Natural? Yes. Holistic? Yes. Organic? Most definitely not.

Sorry about the ridiculously long post, but this kind of stuff bugs me on a day-to-day basis.

EDIT: Yes, Blue Buffalo used to have an organic line, that, as far as I know, was truly organic. I don't know what happened to it and why, but it is no longer in the market.