Costco dog food

[DKim81]

Anyone feed their dogs this?

 

[Renee750il]

No Costco around here, but I wouldn't feed that type of commercial dog food. The ingredients commonly used in the feeds marketed through that type of store are used because they're the absolute cheapest available. Just a toxic soup.

The first two things I look for - before I bother to examine any of the specific ingredients or nutrient percentages are human grade ingredients and organic. "All natural" doesn't cut it because it means nothing. If I don't see those two phrases I don't even bother wasting my time looking any further at the ingredient or nutrient information.

 

[DKim81]

Thanks. I will post the ingredients here later today and hopefully get some feedback. I took your advice and looked at Mordy's site and I have to say it was overwhelming but knowing the importance of my dog's health I know I will sit down, read it, and become a fanatic.

This site is great. Glad to know there's a lot of information out there.

 

[joce]

Yep I feed it! Its been great!My corgi lost her excess tub on it and the dobe doesn't overstuff himself. It doesn't have all the filler eitheir so there is a lot less poo The only thing I really looked for was that the first ingrediant wasn't corn and I think its chicken(they have lamb too). I think its been great for my pups.

here is the link to the ingredients http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/images/kirkland-chicken.jpg

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/images/kirkland.jpg

 

[bogolove]

Chicken By-Product is the second ingredient listed, and if you are trying to feed your dog on human grade or organic you don't want that in your dogs food. The first few ingredients should be meat, but not a meat by-product.

 

[tcreed]

Dante gets the lamb kirkland brand, and he's pretty darn healthy, with shiny cat, omega 3 acids, etc... and the first two ing are lamb and lamb meal.

 

[Ack]

That must be an old label. I am staring at a Kirkland Super Premium Chicken and Rice bag and it says

Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat, yada yada yada....

No by product in this bag

 

[joce]

I just found those on a website. I'd copy the bag down but I'm lazy!

 

[bogolove]

LOL! That sounds like me! If I can't find it on the internet, then oh well. I use it for everything, and mostly because I would much rather type something than get up and go downstairs, and look in a phone book, or on a bag, and write it down and come back upstairs.

 

[joce]

I'm going to attempt a pic of the label. Just give me a minute

http://photobucket.com/albums/v195/joceboo/?action=view&current=100_2338.jpg


I'm trying to get a better one but the flash makes the bag shine!

 

[colliepop]

Chicken fat is what they can hide other stuff in & not list it in the ingredients... bi-products, chicken meal, brewers rice, and other stuff that's just left overs... plus look at all those chemicals...

We feed our pup Solid Gold, but there are a bunch of other natural dog foods out there. This is something I made sure to offer on our site... good nutrition is very important & can be hard to find at warehouse, grocery & mainstream pet stores

 

[Mordy]

the kirkland brand food is made by diamond, just packaged differently. it's not a premium food, but of the mainstream, mass market foods it's actually one of the decent ones - definitely better than the regular diamond line.

but it's not made from human grade ingredients.

 

[Ack]

but it's not made from human grade ingredients.

May I ask how you know this? I would agree that the normal diamond line is not human grade, but how do you specifically know this about the Kirkland line. In your dog food list, you say that the nutragold international line is also the kirkland line, but the bag ingredients do not match any listed on the nutragold page. I would be happy to send you an empty bag of the chicken and rice so you could add it to the wonderful work you have done researching all the different brands. I have spent many many hours pouring through the information on your site as I have agonized over getting the absolute best food my budget will allow for my dogs. When I think about some of the food I have given them in the past, I get the shudders and beg them for forgiveness. I am still haunted by the words of my vet, "Feed them dog chow, they have been making it for 100 years and know how to do it."

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

Dog food has only been around for about sixty or so years....before that, dogs ate scraps of their owner's meals. And they were darn happy and healthy.

 

[Ack]

Dog food has only been around for about sixty or so years....before that, dogs ate scraps of their owner's meals. And they were darn happy and healthy.

Im sure he was referring to the company and the associated chows in general...

 

[Mordy]

Chicken fat is what they can hide other stuff in & not list it in the ingredients... bi-products, chicken meal, brewers rice, and other stuff that's just left overs... plus look at all those chemicals...

this is not true. chicken fat is generally a good ingredient and provides good levels of omega 6 fatty acids. chicken fat is just that - the fat of chickens - and nothing else. of course you have quality differences, for example i very much doubt that the chicken fat used in this diamond food is the same quality as for example the kind used by natura or eagle pack, since they will gladly provide you with info material on the topic.

in addition to that, since chicken fat is from an animal source, it is more available to the dog than anything from a plant source.

as for "all those chemicals" - you need to know what you are looking at. many of them are just specific names for the types of vitamin and mineral supplements.

 

[Mordy]

May I ask how you know this? I would agree that the normal diamond line is not human grade, but how do you specifically know this about the Kirkland line. In your dog food list, you say that the nutragold international line is also the kirkland line, but the bag ingredients do not match any listed on the nutragold page. I would be happy to send you an empty bag of the chicken and rice so you could add it to the wonderful work you have done researching all the different brands. I have spent many many hours pouring through the information on your site as I have agonized over getting the absolute best food my budget will allow for my dogs. When I think about some of the food I have given them in the past, I get the shudders and beg them for forgiveness. I am still haunted by the words of my vet, "Feed them dog chow, they have been making it for 100 years and know how to do it."

Ack, i've been researching commercial foods for over 4 years now, which includes frequent contact with different food companies. during this time i have learned a lot about reading between the lines when a company rep isn't willing to give me details on a particular issue, or when they try to dodge specific questions - such as for example the USDA grade of their ingredients. (just FYI, "USDA inspected" doesn't mean anything, since it doesn't say if the inspection was passed or failed.)

it isn't possible to make food from premium grade, human quality ingredients and to sell them at the prices the kirkland foods sell for including the calculated profit for the retailer and the manufacturer.

i'm not sure what you mean about the nutragold vs. kirkland, since currently i do not list any kirkland foods due to conflicting information on ingredients.

the only products i'm aware of that are distributed internationally under different names with the same formulations are precise and precept, made by texas farm products.

 

[Ack]

Thanks for the info.

I was talking about this http://www.mordanna.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=604&an=0&page=3#604
where you wrote

Availability:
- Internet ordering
- Distributors
- Mainly Export and Private Label (e.g. Costco)

I renew my offer to send you a bag if you want.

Thanks for all the hard work you have put into such a great resource.I can only imagine the hours involved.

 

[Ack]

FYI

I mailed diamond and asked about the kirkland brand and "human grade"

and here is how they replied.

Dear Dwayne,

Thank you for your e-mail.

Human-grade is a tricky subject. You see, even though our ingredients are
the same grade and quality and come from the same sources used for human
food applications, they are not "human-grade". And here's why:

The term "human-grade" does not have a place in the pet food industry.
Legally, for a meat to be "human-grade", it must be processed in a
human-grade facility. Pet food facilities are not human-grade, rather, they
are ALL feed grade. In fact, pet food manufacturing facilities are held to a
different level of sanitation standards by the USDA than those applied to a
human food processing plant, or even a restaurant. By law, as soon as meat,
even "human-grade" meat, is shipped to a pet food facility it becomes
"feed-grade".

Now this doesn't change the quality of the meat-but it does change its legal
definition. And, to us, it would be irresponsible to tell you that our
products are better than the competition because our foods use "human-grade"
meats.

Our products are of the highest quality, processed within the strictest
standards in the industry, and guaranteed to help your pet become a better,
healthier, happier companion.

Sincerely,

Pam Libbert
Customer Service Representative

 

[Mordy]

Thanks for the info.

I was talking about this http://www.mordanna.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=604&an=0&page=3#604
where you wrote


I renew my offer to send you a bag if you want.

Thanks for all the hard work you have put into such a great resource.I can only imagine the hours involved.

that is a different brand also sold at costco, but not under the kirkland name. it's actually sold under its own name.