# Rice vs. potato



## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

Hi, Can anybody explain why potatoes or peas are considered to be so superior to rice in dog food recipes? I have some knowledge in human nutrition and know that brown rice is a far healthier choice for humans in terms of nutrients, so I'm confused why all 5 star dog foods contain potato or peas as a carb, but if rice is an ingredient is looks like the food cannot make the 5 star rating.


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

I think it is a marketing ploy. Kibble manufacturers are keen to jump on the 'grain free' bandwagon so replace the grain with potato and/or peas. They are just as high in starch so I wouldn't consider them any more suitable for dogs than grains like rice or oats.
They are all cheap fillers and have no place in a carnivores diet


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## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

Sounds like you are a raw feeder. I wish I could afford Ziwi or Stella & Chewey's, but the budget doesn't agree. Don't have the nerve to go raw yet.


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## Sunshine_icicles (Jan 5, 2015)

Potato and peas (both whole AND just their protein) are not superior to rice!! Potato, peas, and oatmeal can be very allergenic as well as gas inducing. 

I feed a 5 star (as rated by dog food advisor) dry food that has rice as an ingredient in it. My Dobermans do not do well on grain free diets at all, and I'm that 1% that actually had a dog get very sick from raw. So, a top quality dry food with meat and meat meal and rice it is. 

Rice is a very nice ingredient. Both white and brown have their value. Brown rice you can't beat the fiber and polished white rice is nice as both a slow carb and a binder.


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## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

Thanks! May I ask what you are feeding? I'd rather feed rice than potatoes for several reasons.


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## Sunshine_icicles (Jan 5, 2015)

Well, I may not be of much help. I have large working dogs, and my dry food only comes in 40 pound bags  However, if I didn't have the dober-dorks, I'd feed their small and medium breed puppy variety, which is also rated 5 stars by dog food advisor, and a great rice only inclusive food. 

Here's the link to their small breed food. It says it's a puppy formula, but honestly, if it were me, I'd have zero problem feeding this food throughout my chihuahuas lifetime. And? Comes in six pound bags. Small Breed Puppy Food, NutriSource Dog Food

I feed NutriSource Super Performance, because I've got the two big goofs. It's the red bag. The company has couple other 4.5 star grain inclusive varieties, but I only feed the 5 star Super Performance. 

Here's that link: Super Performance Dog Food, NutriSource


Best part? They've NEVER had any recalls, are made right here in the USA from a small family owned business. No, Purina. No Mars pet products. And no china ingredients. I couldn't be happier.


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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

I prefer Acana myself. It uses a squash as a binder at least in the formula I use- it's called Pork and butternut squash formula. I do that in part because it's a single meat source and Douglas had a nasty reaction to a food a couple years ago and it may have been related to the chicken in it.


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Have you considered a quality canned food? No need for carbs to hold the food together like with kibble. If your dogs don't have allergies, then rice or oats are no worse than potatoes, often the potato is far more processed.
I don't like to feed dogs carbs, they are linked with obesity, diabetes, cancer etc and dogs have no requirement for carbohydrate in their diet.
And yes, i am a raw feeder lol. I do appreciate that raw is not for everyone though, if i couldn't feed raw I would feed home cooked, canned or dehydrated before I would consider feeding kibble.


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## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

Thanks for all your input. It's really helpful. I am looking at canned now. I home cooked for a while, but wasn't confident that it was nutritionally complete. Acana gave him bad breath, which I took as a warning sign that it wasn't agreeing with him. I am starting to feed Piper canned as it seems that what she likes and she really has to work, being so tiny, to eat even small bite kibble even when it is soaked 'till soft. She loves Ziwi canned, but I must switch to something more budget friendly. Wellness canned is working for her, too. I'm going to try 4Health although I am concerned about sourcing. I haven't found any info on their sources. Still trying to figure out the amount to feed for a 2.5 lb. adult.


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Good canned foods are quite pricey, I am lucky that here in the UK raw is actually a really cheap option. I don't think it is as easy to find a good variety of quality meats as cheaply in the US unless you know people who hunt.
I'm sure you will be able to find something that suits them both, have you looked on dogfoodadvisor for suggestions?


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## Sunshine_icicles (Jan 5, 2015)

I've heard some good things about the 4 health brand. I would worry, too, about sourcing from any food. 

Will your Piper eat hard kibble from a toy? 

Dismiss any and all feeding guidelines from a bag for the most part. Feeding kibble is more of a look at your dog and feel it sort of thing. What makes my dog fat might not be enough for yours, even if they're the same breed and weight. 

P.s go get some kibble samples. Offer her a few as treats. See if she likes any or if she really does just prefer soft canned food. That's where I would start.


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## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

I bought some Merrick canned. I'm just afraid 4Health may have Chinese sources. The Merrick is less than half the price of the Ziwipeak, so I hope she likes it. So far she has liked every canned food and the homemade meats. Once she reaches her ideal weight, then I can work on transitioning her back to kibble.


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## Melesine (Jul 7, 2014)

I've fed the Merrick 96% canned food before to my cats. But it was discontinued. I've also fed Evo 95%, the problem is that while there are no grains in it, it's really high in fat as a percentage of total calories. I've found every commercial pet food to be a compromise in one way or another. The 95% meat ones use really fatty cuts to keep the cost down. Other grain free formulas use starches like potatoes, or they use meat meals. They can legally use dead, diseased and dying animals in meal mixes. The dehydrated raw foods still have filler vegetables and one of them has alfalfa in it. Other commercial raw foods have clay in them. It's extremely frustrating. 

My dogs eat prey model raw ( raw meaty bones and organs) from the grocery store but I do feed my chihuahua one meal a day of Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw because I worry about getting the right balance in such a small amount of food. I don't worry about that with my 70 lb German Shepherd. My cats eat canned, raw and a small before bed snack of Merrick before grain kibble because they refuse to go raw full time. It's hard for me to source them the variety of proteins that they want. 

I really don't like feeding them the kibble but the canned food I feed is higher in organs than I prefer so I don't want them just eating that. They do get offered raw every day at least twice and some of my cats will eat is most of the time and a couple will only eat it occasionally. I have one cat that will skip canned food at lunch to wait for the raw offering a few hours later. In an ideal world my cats would safely be able to hunt for their food and enjoy life inside too. But that's in a dream world. 

I really wish there was the perfect way to feed my fur kids their biologically appropriate foods the way they were designed to eat it without compromise but so far I haven't found it.


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## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

If you like the canned ZP you could always just use it occasionally to cut down on cost. You could even freeze it in ice cube trays and throw a cube a day in or something with the wellness. Just an idea. I agree that canned is the next healthiest option to raw/home cooked but it is probably the most expensive of the bunch!



Wicked Pixie said:


> Good canned foods are quite pricey, I am lucky that here in the UK raw is actually a really cheap option. I don't think it is as easy to find a good variety of quality meats as cheaply in the US unless you know people who hunt.


I don't think that is actually true. People just are scared to go to ethnic markets or something! Even the stuff I just buy at the regular supermarket is cheaper than it was when I was feeding good kibble. I know I get it really cheap because I know some ranchers but even without that- I only live in a medium sized city and I know I could go out and get beef kidney, beef liver, chicken liver, pork and chicken all for under $1 a pound within 10 miles. The same was true when I lived in Boston. I honestly don't know where people are not finding cheap variety of meat, I think a lot of it is that people don't even cook for themselves so they don't know where to buy food in the first place- much less "strange" meat. I get organic turkey/chicken/beef trim at whole foods for less that $3 a LB even- I just have to ask them for it. But for reasons other than price I also see why it is not for everyone- although I do maintain it is the cheapest way to feed dogs for sure.


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## Melesine (Jul 7, 2014)

Yes, prey model raw you do yourself is so much cheaper than commercial pet foods of all types. One thing I do is stock up when it's on sale. We feed a lot of chicken thighs and they tend to go on sale every couple months so I'll buy 100 pounds of leg quarters for 40 dollars on sale and that will last me a few months. My husband does hunt so we can supplement with that. Plus at Costco you can get discounted prices on meat if you buy a case. We've done that before too. Now if I could just find rabbit and duck at decent prices, my husband never seems to bring those home.


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

doginthedesert said:


> I don't think that is actually true. People just are scared to go to ethnic markets or something! Even the stuff I just buy at the regular supermarket is cheaper than it was when I was feeding good kibble. I know I get it really cheap because I know some ranchers but even without that- I only live in a medium sized city and I know I could go out and get beef kidney, beef liver, chicken liver, pork and chicken all for under $1 a pound within 10 miles. The same was true when I lived in Boston. I honestly don't know where people are not finding cheap variety of meat, I think a lot of it is that people don't even cook for themselves so they don't know where to buy food in the first place- much less "strange" meat. I get organic turkey/chicken/beef trim at whole foods for less that $3 a LB even- I just have to ask them for it. But for reasons other than price I also see why it is not for everyone- although I do maintain it is the cheapest way to feed dogs for sure.


That is really interesting, one of the raw feeding groups I am on is mostly UK based but we have had an influx of American members recently. They all complain about the price of meat in the States and how hard it is to find a good variety. (Bearing in mind some are feeding huge dogs it isn't a Chi group) So I thought it was a common problem. I hadn't thought that maybe they just don't know where to buy meat lol. 
Even with 5 Chis, the cost of feeding them raw is negligible, I can easily feed them for around 50p a day, that is 10p per dog! (About 15 cents) I love that feeding them the best also works out the cheapest.


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