Food Friday: Diamond Naturals Grain-Free Beef and Sweet Potato Formula for Dogs

I stopped to visit an old favorite pet supply store recently, and picked up this bag of Diamond Naturals Grain-Free Beef and Sweet Potato Formula dog food for Sisci and Ru. Brisbane is allergic to sweet potatoes, so he won't be part of my product testing committee for this food. Diamond Pet Foods is a notable co packer that produces many different brands of dog foods in their facility. iamond Naturals is their house brand.

The Company

Diamond Pet Food is the co packer that actually produces, bags, and ships 4Health, Canidae, Chicken Soup, Costco Kirkland, Natural Balance, Nature's Domain, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild, and a bunch of other dry dog foods. They've had some major high-profile recalls related to sanitary conditions at the plant. According to an FDA inspection report in 2012, bits of their equipment were scratched or marred to the point of being uncleanable, and various bits of machinery were shored up with cardboard and duct tape. The result was a massive product recall due to salmonella contamination that made both pets and people sick.

Diamond appears to have cleaned up their act since 2012. They seem like a fairly down-to-earth company, emphasizing the probiotics in their foods and selling both grain-free and grain-inclusive foods without demonizing one or the other.

The Food

The first ingredient in Diamond Naturals Grain-Free Beef and Sweet Potato Formula kibble is beef. The second ingredient is lamb meal, so this is actually a lamb-based dog food. I found this slightly odd because most manufacturers like to tout their more unusual and expensive ingredients while actually making their food out of mostly something cheaper. I have always thought of lamb as more expensive than beef, so it's surprising to see a food advertised as being made out of beef while actually being made out of lamb. Diamond Naturals uses "K9 Strain" probiotics specifically developed from dog digestive flora. Their food contains live, active cultures of these probiotics. 

While the ingredients all look very good, the Dog Food Advisor website only rates this food at 3 out of 5 stars. This is because, despite having meat and meat meal as the first two ingredients, a significant chunk of the protein in this food comes from plant sources. Ingredient splitting is definitely a tactic here, as both peas and pea flour appear on the ingredients list. If those were combined, we might discover that this is actually a pea-based dog food.

The Verdict

Sisci and Ru have both thoroughly enjoyed this kibble, which is nice since they can both be slightly picky. Given the company's recall history and the relatively low quality of their foods, I don't think this is something I will purchase again.

Paw Spa: The Original Cloudstar Buddy Wash

Here's a blast from the past, the original Buddy Wash and Buddy Rinse dog shampoo and conditioner from Cloud Star. I used to wash my dearly departed cocker spaniel in this stuff, followed up with a few Buddy Biscuits for good measure. That was over ten years ago. While this stuff isn't quite that old, it has definitely been kicking around since before Cloud Star changed their package design. I have an original lavender mint Buddy Wash shampoo and matching Buddy Rinse conditioner, and I also have a "Refreshing Rosemary" Buddy Wash shampoo.

Whilst finding the Cloud Star website for this blog post, I stumbled upon the realization that Buddy Biscuits and Buddy Wash are no longer Cloud Star brands. I wasn't sure when exactly this happened, but after some research I'm pretty sure the change was related to the January 2015 merger between Cloud Star and Tiki. Sometime after this point, Buddy Biscuits became their own brand, offering their man-shaped cookies, shampoos, grain-free biscuits, teeny tiny treats, and soft and chewy Buddy Biscuits. Meanwhile, the Cloud Star brand offers Wag More Bark Less biscuits, soft Tricky Trainers treats, and Dynamo Dog chew bones. The two brands are still owned by the same company, but have their own incredibly similar websites with product ranges that overlap significantly.

The current iterations of Buddy Wash are all 2-in-1 conditioning shampoos, with a lavender conditioner also available. I'm not actually sure how old my Buddy Washes are, but I can find pictures of these bottles from reviews and sites as late as 2012 so they may only be 4 years old. Given the shelf life of shampoo though, I guess four years is old enough. Stuff lasts longer when it hasn't been used, so the rosemary shampoo is probably in better shape than the lavender one.

It's worth noting that all Buddy Wash products are supposed to be white. Both of my shampoos are now an amber color, and the conditioner is a bit yellowed as well. I used the lavender shampoo on Brisbane, Sisci, and Ru and it lathered up very nicely. It still smells amazing, and got them all squeaky clean.

The conditioner on the other hand...while it still left Brisbane and Ru soft and silky, it also smelled pretty funky. I guess after a few years conditioner goes rancid. I ended up rinsing them off really good and using something else. And now we know! Thanks for joining me on this little journey of discovery.

Product Review: Benebone Dental Chew

This Benebone Dental Chew is a bacon-flavored durable nylon chew toy made with bacon because how cool is that? This toy is large and comes in a unique shape. The handle loops are great for sticking a paw through to hold the toy at just the right angle, and the ridges are supposed to help clean the teeth during chewing. This toy is currently available in one size and only in bacon flavor, but the company plans to release chicken and peanut butters flavors in the future.

Photo by Erin Koski

Sisci loves her original Benebone, but she didn't take to this toy immediately. Instead, it sat around for a couple of months before she suddenly decided it was time for a good gnaw.

The handles and ridges of this bone are both awesome and terrible, depending on the dog. Some dogs love the ridges so much they immediately gnaw them into oblivion. They definitely become jagged and scratchy when chewed, and it's not hard for an enthusiastic chewer to make themselves bleed.

The cool loops on the Benebone Dental chew pose enough of a hazard that it should really be a supervision-only toy. Dogs have gotten their legs and jaws stuck in the loops. Fortunately Benebone seems to have super customer service, and they say they are happy to exchange the Dental Chew for a regular Benebone Wishbone if your dog has an issue.

Pros: Durable, long-lasting, and more attractive than any other non-edible chew.

Cones: Loop design of toy poses entrapment hazard if the dog's jaw or leg is just the right size. Nylon ridges tend to become sharp when chewed.

Bottom Line: If your dog loves Benebones, Nylabones, or ignores most non-edible chew toys, this one is probably worth a try.