HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nutrish for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

The HoundsGood hounds were approached to sample and give their review of Rachael Ray Nutrish Just 6 dry dog food, which they wholeheartedly and quickly agreed to. I, on the other hand, like a mother sorting through Halloween candy, have the more serious task of disseminating the boring nutrition facts (the little guys snored through the next part). In fact, you can go to the Nutrish site for a free sample to follow along at home. Just be warned: The sound of an opening bag will wake him.

The GOOD:

• Rachael Ray’s Nutrish LAMB MEAL AND RICE formula does not contain any corn, wheat or soy. It appears that Ray’s folks listened to the negative criticism over including hard to digest corn in other or prior formulas. The variety suits dogs who are either allergic to wheat or people who are leery of possibly tainted wheat gluten.
• The price is slightly higher than Old Roy, but very comparable to grocery and discount store-obtainable brands like Pedigree for the budget-minded.
• There are no artificial colors or sweeteners.
• The food is as advertised…six ingredients, plus added vitamins. Those ingredients are lamb meal, brown rice, ground rice, dried beet pulp, poultry fat and natural chicken flavoring. I personally wish the chicken flavoring was chicken stock or fat rather than “flavoring.” Ground brown rice and chicken fat are ingredients shared with premium foods.
• Rachael Ray’s Nutrish gives back. 100% of the proceeds goes to Rachael’s Rescue which supports some very fantastic organizations such as Bad Rap and North Shore Animal Rescue League. Bad Rap exclusively assists PitBulls in need and NSARL is the oldest and largest no kill shelter and adoption organization in the country.
• Nutrish contains glucosamine chondroitin, Vitamin E and Zinc.

The QUESTIONABLE:

• Nutrish contains meat meal versus meat. Meal contains far less moisture than meat. Therefore, the protein can be more concentrated. The con is that it is more processed than meat. This is pretty standard for dog foods of this price point. Some higher end dog foods contain a high quality meal as a second ingredient to meat to obtain the protein concentration. However, if you are feeding your dog Solid Gold, you are probably not a target customer for Nutrish. The meal may not be of the same ilk, but some say meal is meal.
• Nutrish contains Menadione, a synthetic Vitamin K3. While Vitamin K is a safe nutrient found in leafy veggies and seafood, K3 is a synthetic form. The jury is out. Some experts conclude that K3 is safe. It is indeed safely used in livestock feed. It is also argued that synthetic K is better than none. Others argue that K3 canot be metabolized properly and affects the liver and kidneys over time although the dose is small. It is a personal choice for dog owners to study the facts and come to their own decision.

THE CONCLUSION:

We aren’t debating a raw food diet versus a commercial dog food diet in this article. We are comparing apples and apples. (Just addressing some potential mail).

If you are feeding your dog a supermarket dog food, such as Old Roy or Kibbles N Bits, a switch to Nutrish is a very wise decision. Your dog will thank you for it. Just read the list of artificial sweet4ners and dyes in competing foods you are feeding your dog to compare.

If you are currently feeding your dog Solid Gold, or Blue Buffalo or the like – stick with what you have. Nutrish is probably not something geared to your demographic and you are better off where you are.

As far as the HoundsGood hounds, ages 7 and almost 13, they found the little snack most delectable, although they will be sticking to their current diet based on their very specific health needs. They will finish their sample as training treats and as backup. However, I would not hesitate to recommend Nutrish to folks who were consistently buying sweetener-heavy foods as dog rescue donations or food banks and were looking for an economical alternative.

(Other little factoids: Nutrish contains 20% minimum crude protein and 13% min. fat. Maximum moisture is 11%. (Compare this to the nutritional needs of your individual dog. Remember, however, a smaller amount of protein that is high quality and more digestible to a dog may have more fire power than a larger amount of protein of lower quality.)