Black Gold Dog Food

[StateOfMine]

So I came across this dog food and before I buy it, I had some concerns. First off, the pea protein is in the ingredient list but it is near the bottom. If its that far down on the list does it matter as much? I've never heard of this brand either, but I also didn't find any recalls for it.

Black Gold Dog Food

There are a few different kinds but I like how much food I get for that price. I did a little bit of reading here and it seems like a few of you are advocates for fish based protein, or at least advocate for the sensitive stomach and skin formulas. It has ocean fish meal and salmon oil. I'm hoping it will be good for heart health as well as make my boy's coat shiny. It also says for all life stages (including the puppy formula...? Anyway...). As much as I like that dog food specifically, I am a little concerned with the only 399kcal/cup. Is that low? The chicken protein one and the beef protein (original explorer formula) have higher kcals per cup. How much is recommended for a growing male puppy that will remain intact until at least 18 months of age, possibly to 2 years (then I will have to, to honor my puppy contract).

 

[remy]

So I came across this dog food and before I buy it, I had some concerns. First off, the pea protein is in the ingredient list but it is near the bottom. If its that far down on the list does it matter as much? I've never heard of this brand either, but I also didn't find any recalls for it.

Black Gold Dog Food

There are a few different kinds but I like how much food I get for that price. I did a little bit of reading here and it seems like a few of you are advocates for fish based protein, or at least advocate for the sensitive stomach and skin formulas. It has ocean fish meal and salmon oil. I'm hoping it will be good for heart health as well as make my boy's coat shiny. It also says for all life stages (including the puppy formula...? Anyway...). As much as I like that dog food specifically, I am a little concerned with the only 399kcal/cup. Is that low? The chicken protein one and the beef protein (original explorer formula) have higher kcals per cup. How much is recommended for a growing male puppy that will remain intact until at least 18 months of age, possibly to 2 years (then I will have to, to honor my puppy contract).

I don’t know a ton about nutrition, so I can’t really say if it’s a good food or not.

From what I’ve seen 399 kcal/cup is normal, some foods are more/less. I believe the food I feed my 6 month old male is a little over 400 kcal/cup. He gets 1 cup 3 times a day and it seems to be a good amount for him. He does have some treats throughout the day when we are training too. You can adjust how many cup/calories you feed based on your dog’s weight and activity level.

 

[JanS]

It doesn't look terrible but I personally avoid anything with beet pulp in it.

 

[StateOfMine]

It doesn't look terrible but I personally avoid anything with beet pulp in it.

Why no beet pulp?

 

[JanS]

I've been told it can cause issues in dogs prone to bloat. It may or may not be a myth but it's definitely a filler.

 

[Ravenbird]

You can check reviews of different brands of dog foods here: Dog Food Reviews and Ratings by Brand

Suppose to be independent reviews, but who knows. I do like how they list the ingredients and print in red what might be questionable. I don't see the fish version of Black Gold, but they also will say if the company has had many recalls.

 

[Ddski5]

I have been through at least 10 types searching for that perfect kibble for my Dobermans.

Dog food with fish as a main ingredient can be really good or sometimes not so good.

Pros:
- it’s a different protein than chicken and beef. Always good to switch proteins every now and then.
- it is excellent for their coats. I’ve never seen Freyja’s coat look so shiny and healthy. I mean pristine.
- there are different types of fish that can be used- Salmon, Trout, White Fish, etc.

Cons
- It tends to run higher in fat or it’s a different kind of fat content. Or it’s the higher fish oil %? Idk…same thing?

This was initially fantastic for mine but Freyja had an incident in which she consumed neighbors dumping fish fry oil and it messed up her pancreas and she could no longer handle the fish kibble.
Ragnar would eat anything and loved it but I noticed sometimes his poop would have shades of gray ashy color to it. Google research found that ashy gray poop is a sign that the liver was having problems with the higher fatty content in foods.

I agree with @Ravenbird, research it on DogFoodAdvisor. I use that a lot, it gives a great breakdown of ingredients, analysis, and comparisons.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[StateOfMine]

Update on this. Since Victor had it's recall I switched Flint to Black Gold Skin and Coat since I researched it before and decided I liked it. His coat is gloriously shiny. Once he got used to the food his stools have had a normal consistency. I had to buy him a slow feeder because this stuff he wolfs down like it's the holy grail of dog food. I haven't had any issues with bloat, but I also don't let him play or exercise real hard for at least 2 hours after eating. The kibbles themselves are really tiny. You could feed a toy breed with this stuff if you wanted. It has prebiotics in the food as well.

I also give him Zesty Paws Multifunction vitamins, which is a multivitamin with probiotics. I think it pairs well with his food. I have read a lot of good things about Coenzyme10 and that it is good for hearts and cells overall, which the Zesty Paws vitamins has as well. I was looking at fish to begin with because of how heart healthy it is. Pairing it with these vitamins, I am hoping, will do wonders for his heart and maybe it could delay any onset of DCM that he is doomed to have. He may never get it regardless, I know, but it makes me feel better to try to be proactive about it.

 

[Ravenbird]

Sounds like you're doing things right - keep up the good work! One thing I'm a stickler on is soaking my kibble. Asha gets about 1 1/2 cups of kibble a day, in the evening I put the dry kibble in a jar just that size so I don't have to measure. Add water (sometimes salt-free broth) to the top & put the lid on. In the morning I feed her half of that with 1/4 lb of Fresh Pet and in the evening I give her the other half of the soaked kibble with her raw topper. The only time I ever give her dry kibble is when training.