# Markus Muhle dog food



## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Has anyone tried Markus Muhle dog food? what are your opinions on it?


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

Only as treats - the pieces aren't biscuity pieces like regular kibble, they're ROCK hard oblong shaped pieces. It was quite funny watching the dogs try to crunch them up  Definitely not for dogs with sensitive teeth or gums!

The ingredients aren't great, and I wouldn't use it as a main food, but mine adored it when I used it for training


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

Spencer was on Markus Muhle for a couple of months before I changed to raw and while he was in kennels. It's the best available here without ordering online. The pieces are HUGE though so a small dog would struggle and they're very hard so a dog with poor teeth would likely struggle too. Spencer did well on it although I don't think it's brilliant.


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

it was being brandished in some of the magazines here as some sort of wonder food
but its just okay in my opinion
also second the super large super hard pellet opinion!!


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

Ingredients:

28% dried poultry meal, *thermally treated whole grain rice*, thermally treated whole grain maize, 8% game tripe meal, *rice germs*, Jerusalem artichoke meal, 5% sea fish meal, dried Beet root meal, cold pressed linseed oil, cold pressed rapeseed oil, 2% egg yolk, dried peat, fruit powder (combination of carobs, pineapples, papayas, bananas, acerola cherries, apples, pears, blueberries, mangos, raspberries), dried herb mixture, salmon oil, algae meal, dried Mojave yucca.

I wonder if they put the emboldened rice together would it come before the meat?


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

I think the ingredients are very good. 41% meat. low grain content. gets vitamins from fruit and veg instead of a vitamin supplement. Best of all it is produced using a cold pressed method. Most normal dry foods are tortured at high temperature destroying nutrients. cold pressing involves cooking at just 44 degrees for a short amount of time. Markus muhle is also organic! I think its better than Orijen!


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

jamesrustin said:


> I have given my Dog Markus Muhle a couple of times. After 1-2 weeks he refused to eat it, so I had to change it. I can say its not the best choice.


Just because your dog didn't like it, that doesn't mean its a bad food.


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## Owned By A Yellow Lab (May 16, 2012)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> I think the ingredients are very good. 41% meat. low grain content. gets vitamins from fruit and veg instead of a vitamin supplement. Best of all it is produced using a cold pressed method. Most normal dry foods are tortured at high temperature destroying nutrients. cold pressing involves cooking at just 44 degrees for a short amount of time. Markus muhle is also organic! I think its better than Orijen!


Seems you've made up your mind so I'm a tad surprised you're canvassing opinion on this food......


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Well the way it is made `cold pressing` seems a much better way of cooking. I have always had concerns about traditional `extrusion cooking` as it destroys the nutrients in the food.


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> I think the ingredients are very good. 41% meat. low grain content. gets vitamins from fruit and veg instead of a vitamin supplement. Best of all it is produced using a cold pressed method. Most normal dry foods are tortured at high temperature destroying nutrients. cold pressing involves cooking at just 44 degrees for a short amount of time. Markus muhle is also organic! I think its better than Orijen!


But Orijen is grain free, whereas Markus Muhle has rice, rice germs AND maize? Orijen also has double the meat content?


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

SixStar said:


> But Orijen is grain free, whereas Markus Muhle has rice, rice germs AND maize? Orijen also has double the meat content?


I got a little excited there lol. I guess not better than Orijen but I like the idea of it more than extruded pet food.


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

> Markus-Mühle® as natural as possible is specially produced in a pellet form because it supports teeth-cleaning, chewing and ensures sufficient saliva.


Judging from the sound of it pellets will break apart rather than rub the teeth therefore losing all tooth cleaning benefits and this is one example.

Looking at the site, specifically Markus-Mühle it's well done marketing. The question is how accurate is it really?


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Well how does it compare to my current food?

*Arden Grange Lamb and rice: *

Lamb (Lamb meat meal 23%, fresh lamb 17.5%), rice (26%), maize, chicken oil, beet pulp, whole dried egg, chicken digest, linseed, fish meal, fish oil, yeast, prebiotic FOS, prebiotic MOS, yucca extract, Glucosamine, MSM, Chondroitin, cranberry, nucleotides.


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> Well how does it compare to my current food?
> 
> *Arden Grange Lamb and rice: *
> 
> Lamb (Lamb meat meal 23%, fresh lamb 17.5%), rice (26%), maize, chicken oil, beet pulp, whole dried egg, chicken digest, linseed, fish meal, fish oil, yeast, prebiotic FOS, prebiotic MOS, yucca extract, Glucosamine, MSM, Chondroitin, cranberry, nucleotides.


Ingredients wise, it's much the same really - maybe MM just has the edge! :thumbup:


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Think I will give it a try next then. Its cheaper than Arden Grange and has more meat too.

I heard about this food on this great site: www.whichdogfood.co.uk it gets a score of 4.5/5 on there


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Goblin said:


> Judging from the sound of it pellets will break apart rather than rub the teeth therefore losing all tooth cleaning benefits and this is one example.
> 
> Looking at the site, specifically Markus-Mühle it's well done marketing. The question is how accurate is it really?


All pet foods use clever marketing


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

I know.. that's why I don't trust it and always look closely. For me if looking at commercial food the thing to look at first is the ingredients list looking out for multiples of the same thing etc in different forms, ensuring, as you do high meat content etc. Also checking if meat is fresh or meal as meal weighs far less so 26% meat meal is far better than 26% fresh meat (for those who do not know).

The other thing to consider when looking at cold pressing... The main ingredient is poultry meal. How is this produced prior to being "pressed"? According to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) and I expect the EU definition is similar:


> Poultry meal is the dry *rendered* product from a combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts of a whole carcass of poultry or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.


Your main meat source has therefore already been "cooked" at approximately 140°C to drive the water and fat out of it. Not sure about the vegetation but will say the less processing the better so cold processing could be an advantage. I still think this puts a slightly different perspective on it.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

I asked them what was in their `poultry meal` and they responded with.

You asked about the poultry meal. It is actually poultry meat meal ( = Dried ground poultry meat explaining our process of cold pressing). The poultry is mainly turkey and some chicken. These are not from by -products. They are coming from poultry meant for the human consumption and they are kept under humane conditions ( free range).


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## Gemmaa (Jul 19, 2009)

Removed the link.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Gemmaa said:


> Dog Food Reviews - Markus-Mhle Naturnah Hundefutter - Powered by ReviewPost
> 
> Might help.


That review is inaccurate because the reviewers didn't understand the german meanings of ingredients. It is also free of all artificial preservatives because it is actually certified organic. It has over 40% meat content which is high. that review is rubbish

take a look at this review: www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-review.php?id=0341


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

Markus Muhle is the food I'll go for in an emergency over here. Spencer does well on it and it's easily available in a hurry. Regardless of reviews, stuff lost in translation etc though there are better quality foods out there but there are certainly worse ones too. 

I dunno what the site with the bad review on it used to translate the ingredients  Even google translate gives a more accurate translation!


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> This is what Markus Muhle said happens to the main meat source before it is cold pressed.
> 
> The poultry meat is gently dried and ground and than treated like all ingredients


Only bit worth looking at as the rest is pure marketing 

Just checked the german ingredients and it's a translation thing. In German it's "Hühnertrockenfleisch gemahlen" which is "Chicken Dry Flesh Ground". Intrigued to know why they didn't/couldn't put Dried Chicken instead of poultry meal. At least it's now clearer on this thread and I will retract what I said earlier about cooking as it was wrong.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Goblin said:


> I know.. that's why I don't trust it and always look closely. For me if looking at commercial food the thing to look at first is the ingredients list looking out for multiples of the same thing etc in different forms, ensuring, as you do high meat content etc. Also checking if meat is fresh or meal as meal weighs far less so 26% meat meal is far better than 26% fresh meat (for those who do not know).
> 
> The other thing to consider when looking at cold pressing... The main ingredient is poultry meal. How is this produced prior to being "pressed"? According to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) and I expect the EU definition is similar:
> 
> Your main meat source has therefore already been "cooked" at approximately 140°C to drive the water and fat out of it. Not sure about the vegetation but will say the less processing the better so cold processing could be an advantage. I still think this puts a slightly different perspective on it.


*This is what Markus Muhle said happens to the main meat source before it is cold pressed.*

The poultry meat is gently dried and ground and than treated like all ingredients ( for all dog food) have to under the EU17/1974 Act ( which is european law and prevents the spread of dangerous bacterias and viruses). 
The secondary process is the important one. Instead of high temperatures and pressures we press the food only for one second under a max of 45 oC. This means that most structures are not destroyed f. ex fibres, enzymes and vitamins !!, just like in the cold pressed method of olive oil. In extruded food vitamins etc have to be added afterwards

Please pass this onto your forum.
Also, if anybody comes across a review from dog food analyses please ignore it. The review has been taken of the site, but the page still pops up from time to time.... the negative sides of the internet. People only see the review, but do not look a bit closer, like date and detail ( often copy and paste from other products)


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Goblin said:


> Only bit worth looking at as the rest is pure marketing
> 
> Just checked the german ingredients and it's a translation thing. In German it's "Hühnertrockenfleisch gemahlen" which is "Chicken Dry Flesh Ground". Intrigued to know why they didn't/couldn't put Dried Chicken instead of poultry meal. At least it's now clearer on this thread and I will retract what I said earlier about cooking as it was wrong.


Because they use chicken and Turkey.


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> Because they use chicken and Turkey.


Dried Poultry then 

Adding it as "meal" indicates to people who have looked at ingredients that it has been rendered. A01-1024 Poultry meal is one example of a meal supplier.

Side note.. interesting to see (generally not related to this thread)


> Natural or synthetic antioxidants, on request.


 but will not add Ethoxyquin (E 324).


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Goblin said:


> Dried Poultry then
> 
> Adding it as "meal" indicates to people who have looked at ingredients that it has been rendered. A01-1024 Poultry meal is one example of a meal supplier.
> 
> Side note.. interesting to see (generally not related to this thread) but will not add Ethoxyquin (E 324).


*Markus Muhle said this about the poultry meat meal*

You asked about the poultry meal. It is actually poultry meat meal ( = Dried ground poultry meat explaining our process of cold pressing). The poultry is mainly turkey and some chicken. These are not from by -products. They are coming from poultry meant for the human consumption and they are kept under humane conditions ( free range).


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## idobelieveinfairies (Jul 31, 2012)

What about Lukullus as an alternative to markus Muhle? Is that considered any better ingredient wise? I believe the cold pressing method is used in this food which is from Sweden? and i have read somewhere that all pet foods in Sweden have to meet human quality standards? Lukullus is slightly more expensive but it isnt as hard for the dogs as Markus. Any opinions on this?


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## Gemmaa (Jul 19, 2009)

I've removed the link.
I only posted it because it's normally a pretty good site. 

Sounds like you've made your mind up anyway, so good luck with it.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

idobelieveinfairies said:


> What about Lukullus as an alternative to markus Muhle? Is that considered any better ingredient wise? I believe the cold pressing method is used in this food which is from Sweden? and i have read somewhere that all pet foods in Sweden have to meet human quality standards? Lukullus is slightly more expensive but it isnt as hard for the dogs as Markus. Any opinions on this?


I have also been looking into this food. The ingredients are very good.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Which is better? Lukullus or Markus Muhle?


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

Doesn't seem much between the two as far as I can tell. Neither are what I'd consider great foods but there are far worse ones out there. And what's "best" depends on the dog, what suits one dog doesn't always suit another.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Sarah1983 said:


> Doesn't seem much between the two as far as I can tell. Neither are what I'd consider great foods but there are far worse ones out there. And what's "best" depends on the dog, what suits one dog doesn't always suit another.


Any reason you don't think they are great foods? What UK foods would you put them on a par with?


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## Firedog (Oct 19, 2011)

I tried it once on my dogs and i ended up having too take them all to the vets too have their anal glands unblocked.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Bjt said:


> I tried it once on my dogs and i ended up having too take them all to the vets too have their anal glands unblocked.


Just because it didn't agree with your dog doesn't mean its a rubbish food. Some dogs can't tolerate Orijen.


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> Any reason you don't think they are great foods? What UK foods would you put them on a par with?


Markus Muhle contains maize which is quite a common allergen for dogs. And also completely unnecessary in their diet. It also contains rice so the food has quite a lot of filler in it when you add it all up.

Lukullus would be my choice over MM simply because it only contains rice, not maize.

As for what UK foods I'd put them on a par with, I honestly don't know.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

Sarah1983 said:


> Markus Muhle contains maize which is quite a common allergen for dogs. And also completely unnecessary in their diet. It also contains rice so the food has quite a lot of filler in it when you add it all up.
> 
> Lukullus would be my choice over MM simply because it only contains rice, not maize.
> 
> As for what UK foods I'd put them on a par with, I honestly don't know.


I'm pretty sure MM only has 13% rice and 13% Maize.


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## idobelieveinfairies (Jul 31, 2012)

I think the point is that with MM, there are too many fillers, when you add up the rice, the maize (which dogs cant digest I do believe), and other cereals, it amounts to more than the meat content. Meat really should be the main ingredient in dog food. Lukullus compared to MM, has less fillers in proportion to meat, so out of the two, would be the preferred choice. I think that is what people are saying? xx


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

28% dried poultry meat meal, 8% game tripe meal, 5% venison bone meal + fish meal. = 41+% meat.

13 % Brown rice, 13% Whole grain maize, 5% rice germ, 5% corn germ = 36%

More meat than grain!


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

GoldenRetrieverman said:


> 28% dried poultry meat meal, 8% game tripe meal, 5% venison bone meal + fish meal. = 41+% meat.
> 
> 13 % Brown rice, 13% Whole grain maize, 5% rice germ, 5% corn germ = 36%
> 
> More meat than grain!


I don't understand why you seem so hell bent on convincing us Markus Muhle is a great food  If you want to feed it that's your choice, I've fed it and my dog does well enough on it but nothing anyone says is going to convince me it's a particularly good food.


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## SueBoo (Apr 24, 2012)

Sarah1983 said:


> I don't understand why you seem so hell bent on convincing us Markus Muhle is a great food  If you want to feed it that's your choice, I've fed it and my dog does well enough on it but nothing anyone says is going to convince me it's a particularly good food.


Ha, I thought the same 

I hope you're getting a good commission GoldenRetrieverman


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## GoldenShadow (Jun 15, 2009)

Couldn't feed that to mine. For starters it contains cooked chicken which (the golden retriever) struggles with, and secondly it has cereals in = not going to happen. I wouldn't buy a food like that when there are scientifically more nutritional foods out there.


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## GoldenRetrieverman (Sep 7, 2012)

SueBoo said:


> Ha, I thought the same
> 
> I hope you're getting a good commission GoldenRetrieverman


It just appeals to me as it is cooked at a low temperature. The ingredients are better than my current food (Arden Grange Lamb) and my dog does well on that. 
As for Golden Retrievers not being able to eat chicken. My dog was fed Arden Grange Large breed puppy (chicken) since 4 months old and has been fine.


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