First Choice Dog Food

First Choice dog food is a popular commercial dog food in the super-premium segment. Today, we'll take a detailed look at it, including its ingredients, product selection, prices, and reviews from owners and veterinarians.

About the manufacturer

The 1st Choice brand is the brainchild of PLB International Inc., a Canadian cat and dog food company. They also produce a line of foods under the Pronature brand, which also has many rave reviews, just like 1st Choice dog food. This company has been producing pet food for over 30 years and has long earned a reputation for producing the highest quality products. This fact has been officially certified by numerous world-renowned pet food quality control systems.

1st Choice dog food (the positive reviews confirm this) is produced exclusively in Canada, and its formula and ingredients are constantly being refined and improved. All products undergo rigorous testing at every stage of production, from ingredient selection to process control.

Types and composition of diets

The line features only 1st Choice dry dog ​​food. This brand does not produce wet food or canned food. The entire assortment consists of 13 types of food, divided into three categories: for puppies, adult dogs, and senior dogs.

Another useful criterion when choosing Fest Choice dog food is your pet's size and weight. Food is available for mini breeds, as well as for large and medium-sized dogs. The manufacturer hasn't forgotten about animals with special needs. There are special diets for maintaining optimal weight, for pets with sensitive skin and coat, and for animals with allergies.

Feed composition

First Choice dry dog ​​food has earned a good reputation in over 20 countries worldwide, so no one can doubt the manufacturer's honest list of ingredients on the packaging. A glance at the ingredients reveals a well-balanced diet: 23-28% crude protein, 12-15% fat, 8-10% ash, and 3.5-5% fiber.

Squirrels

It's important that the protein source is meat (or more precisely, meat meal), not plant-based. This is indicated by the very first ingredient listed on the food's ingredients list. First Choice dog food sometimes receives critical reviews because it primarily uses chicken in its menus. However, some of this brand's diets list lamb, herring, and duck meal as the first ingredients.

It's worth noting that the phrase "chicken meal" refers to the use of meat that has been pre-defatted and does not contain any by-products or extraneous additives.

It is also worth understanding that this indicates the actual mass fraction of the ingredient, since meat meal is prepared from dehydrated meat.

Carbohydrates

The next three ingredients listed in Fest Choice for dogs are sources of carbohydrates: crushed rice, pearl barley, and oats. However, three grains in a row raise doubts about the total grain amount: isn't it too much?

Despite this, 1 Choice dog food does not contain corn or soy.

Brown rice, in turn, is a source of many microelements and is ideal for dogs suffering from food allergies.

Some of this brand's diets use sweet potato or sweet potato flour as carbohydrates. This ingredient contains easily digestible starch and beneficial dietary fiber, which has a beneficial effect on gut microflora.

Fats

Another criterion for assessing food quality is the fat source. The manufacturer has no complaints here: undesirable ingredients like animal fat are absent; instead, these diets use chicken fat, vegetable oil, and flaxseed. These ingredients provide dogs with linoleic and omega acids. These components help maintain healthy skin, leaving their coat shiny and silky.

Other feed components

Tenth place, quite low on the ingredient list, is a by-product—hydrolyzed chicken liver. Large amounts of liver in the food are undesirable, but there's no need to worry—it's added in small amounts only as a natural flavoring and to enhance the product's taste. There's a common misconception that this ingredient is undesirable for dogs with chicken allergies. There's no need to be afraid or concerned that this food will negatively impact your pet's health.

Dried beet and tomato pulp act as fiber, which is essential for proper functioning of the digestive system and maintaining normal metabolism.

The manufacturer added salt to One Choice dog food. This is a controversial ingredient. On the one hand, it makes the food more palatable and encourages the dog to drink more, which in turn has beneficial effects on the animal's urinary system. However, opinions on the necessity, harm, or benefit of salt for dogs vary widely, so we won't evaluate this ingredient.

These diets also contain a fairly impressive list of vitamin and mineral supplements, herbs (chicory, mint, yucca), green tea, parsley, ginger extract and yeast.

Pros and cons of food

Having examined the ingredients in detail, we invite you to analyze all the objective advantages and disadvantages of 1st Choice dog food.

Advantages of the feed

Like many other super-premium foods, Fest Choice has a lot of advantages:

• High quality ingredients;
• The presence of prebiotics that improve the functioning of the digestive system;
• The presence of a spectrum of vitamins and substances beneficial for the skin and coat;
• Natural preservatives and flavors;
• A wide range of diets (allows you to select food for animals with special needs);
• No meat and bone meal or animal fat;

Disadvantages of feed

Of course, there are some disadvantages to First Choice dog food:

• The presence of salt in the composition is alarming;
• The ratio of meat and grain ingredients is in favor of the latter.

Price

We've prepared a summary table of the average cost of Fest Choice pet food in Russian online stores (for 2016-2017):

In the category super premium class, this food sits firmly somewhere in the middle and will be a good choice for your pet's daily feeding.

Reviews of food

To get a complete picture of this brand's products, it's important to hear from real consumers. Summarizing the available information about 1st Choice dry dog ​​food, the reviews are as follows:

Customer reviews

• After switching from another food containing corn to a hypoallergenic diet of this brand, the dog's stool improved, the itching stopped, and the condition of the coat improved;
• It is not available for sale in all regions of the country, you have to order it online;
• This food is not suitable for all pets who engage in intense physical activity. For animals with an active lifestyle (regular hunting, sledding), the manufacturer's recommended serving size is insufficient. This requires increasing the food intake, which increases the cost of feeding the dog.
• On the advice of the owner of the kennel where the puppy was purchased, we fed him only this food. The puppy feels great and appears healthy and active, so we didn't even try any other food.

To summarize, we can say that Fest Choice dog food has positive reviews in approximately 70% of cases, while the remaining 30% were dissatisfied with this brand's products.

Traditionally, reviews are found to be positive:

So and not so much:

Veterinarians' assessment

1st Choice dog food often receives reviews and recommendations from veterinarians that look like this:

• In the super premium category, there are no good or bad foods – every pet is unique, so the same food is perfect for one animal and not for another.
• Animals with no underlying health issues fed this brand are always in good condition and rarely complain of any health issues. However, pets with chronic illnesses may require dietary adjustments.
• It is important to pay attention to your pet's general well-being and have them tested regularly to get a complete picture of their health.

Read also:

• Belcando dog food
• Meradog dog food
• Nutram dog food