My Thoughts On Dog Food

A common quote you will hear "The first 5 ingredients in a dog's food are the most important to look at". Check out these ingredients.

Brewers rice, brown rice, oat groats, corn gluten meal, wheat gluten, chicken by-product meal, chicken fat, natural flavors, dried chicory root, salt, fish oil, sodium silico aluminate, calcium sulfate, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, vegetable oil, psyllium seed husk, potassium citrate, L-lysine, fructooligosaccharides, sodium tripolyphosphate, vitamins [DL-alpha tocopherol acetate (source of vitamin E), niacin supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), D-calcium pantothenate, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin A acetate, folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement], DL-methionine, L-tyrosine, monocalcium phosphate, choline chloride, magnesium oxide, trace minerals [zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, copper proteinate], taurine, glucosamine hydrochloride, GLA safflower oil, marigold extract (Tagetes erecta L.), green tea extract, L-carnitine, chondroitin sulfate, rosemary extract, preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid.

I highlighted the first 5 ingredients. Do you think that is what a species that developed as a carnivore should be eating? I don't know how this popular food, specifically marketed for Miniature Schnauzers, can be considered good for ANY carnivore on a long term basis. This is the ingredient list for Royal Canin Miniature Schnauzer.

A dog may seem to be doing really good on it over a period of time but I wonder if things that are considered "age related" are actually from eating a mostly vegetarian diet their whole lives. People have horrible diets filled with sugars, carbs, and highly processed ingredients and for most, our bodies don't really show the effects until we hit middle age. Middle age for a Schnauzer is between 5 and 8 years! I choose to feed kibble for convenience and cost. I understand that unless I'm feeding freeze-dried, raw, or making my own food that there will be fillers in it. I've accepted that, but I at least want the first ingredient (not the sixth!) to be meat or meat meal.