I copied this from another forum on that home site. Thank you to the person that posted it. I snagged this from my chihuahua forum but it's very, very useful information. We switched to chicken soup brand dog food after I learned more about some of the other premium brands I was looking into. How to grade your dog's food: Start with a grade of 100: 1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points 2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points 3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points 4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points 5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer's rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points 6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points 7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points 8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points 9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points 10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points 11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points 12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points 13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points 14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to beef), subtract 1 point 15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point Extra Credit: 1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points 2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points 3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points 4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points 5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points 6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points 7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points 8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points 9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points 10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point 11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point 12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point 13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point 14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point 94-100+ = A 86-93 = B 78-85 = C 70-77 = D Here are some foods that have already been scored. If you don't see your dog's food here, ask and someone will score it for you. Dog Food scores: Alpo Prime Cuts / Score 81 C Artemis Large/Medium Breed Puppy / Score 114 A+ Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+ Authority Harvest Baked Less Active / Score 93 B Beowulf Back to Basics / Score 101 A+ Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F Blackwood 3000 Lamb and Rice / Score 83 C Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice / Score 106 A+ Burns Chicken and Brown Rice / Score 107 A+ Canidae / Score 112 A+ Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+ Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A Diamond Performance / Score 85 C Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+ Dick Van Pattens Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice / Score 106 A+ Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+ EaglePack Holistic / Score 102 A+ Eukanuba Adult / Score 81 C Eukanuba Puppy / Score 79 C Flint River Senior / Score 101 A+ Foundations / Score 106 A+ Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D Innova Dog / Score 114 A+ Innova Evo / Score 114 A+ Innova Large Breed Puppy / Score 122 A+ Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+ MemberÂs Mark Chicken and Rice / Score 84 C Merrick Wilderness Blend / Score 127 A+ NatureÂs Recipe / Score 100 A NatureÂs Recipe Healthy Skin Venison and Rice / Score 116 A+ NatureÂs Variety Raw Instinct / Score 122 A+ Nutra Nuggets Super Premium Lamb Meal and Rice / Score 81 C Nutrience Junior Medium Breed Puppy / Score 101 A+ Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B Nutro Max Adult / Score 93 B Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice / Score 98 A Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Wheat Free / Score 86 B Nutro Natural Choice Senior / Score 95 A Nutro Ultra Adult / Score 104 A+ Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F Premium Edge Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Adult Dry / Score 109 A+ Pro Nature Puppy / Score 80 C Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach / Score 94 A Purina Beneful / Score 17 F Purina Dog / Score 62 F Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F Purina One Large Breed Puppy / Score 62 F Royal Canin Boxer / Score 103 A+ Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+ Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+ Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A Solid Gold / Score 99 A Summit / Score 99 A Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural Dry / Score 120 A+ Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+ Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

Since your options are so limited, you might consider using an online source. Shipping is high, but base price is lower than stores and they often offer at least a 10% coupon. I live in the boonies, but my local feed store carries California Natural and the local garden center carries Wellness. My preferred food is Canidae and unfortunately, my closest Canidae supplier is a local doggy daycare that i'd prefer not to support in any way, but the Canidae is much cheaper than the other super premiums and it would be silly for me to pay $31 in shipping each month (80# of food) I hope to convince the local feed store to investigate carrying Canidae - if you have a feed store close, you may want to look into having them special order a quality food. Natural Balance is not one of my favorite foods as the main ingredient is grain or veg rather than a quality meat meal. In the example above, chicken is listed first, but its water content is counted as weight and once water is removed (making it chicken meal) it is likely that this chicken would be more accurately placed somewhat further down the ingredient list, so rice is really the main ingredient. And for what it's worth, I don't see beet pulp as an ingredient in Canidae ALS (which is also what I feed) Ingredient list: Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory root), Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement

Heh, I wish we had a dog's room! :) We have the same kind of container chemocurl linked (also not that one, but a shorter fatter variety) right now but I'm trying to figure out a better solution since that doesn't really fit in the space we have now. Plan A was to repurpose our old Simple Human trash can (since now we have a pullout trash) but I'm not sure that's air tight enough. Bonus is that we already have it, though. If you want to spend crazy amounts, SimpleHuman also makes an actual pet food can which looks pretty wonderful---the cup hides in the lid, it has an air-tight lock, and it comes in multiple sizes holding up to 40 pounds of food. But...it also costs $100+. *Sigh*

Mtnfever, I just checked my flour containers. I buy flour in 5# quantities as my containers won't hold 10 lbs. I can't lift 10# easily. I do buy the small bags of Bob's Red Mill specialty flours and keep those in plastic bags in the freezer. Cambro rounds-6 liters, 6 qt., use for no-knead bread dough, not flour. Easier to mix in rounds. Cheap at webstaurantstore.com. (Also parchment paper 100 sheets under 5 bucks.) When I put 5 lbs. flour in these following containers, there is enough headroom left on top, so I can put in 1/2 and 1 cup measures and comfortably scoop flour. These containers have lock n' lock lids. Sterilite, -3.8 liters, 16.2 cups Sterilite, 16c, 3.8 liters, 4 qt Rubbermaid, 15 c, 3.5 liters, taller than others I know you were hoping that Cambro would hold 10 lbs. The 8 qt. Cambro would very likely hold 10-lbs, based on my 5# containers.