How To Compare Dog Food

Get a better understanding of dog food nutrition and what's in your dog's bowl.

	Balanced Food.
We all want the best for our pets, so dog food ingredients would be near the top of the list. But what is actually in commercially prepared dog food? The recent pet food recall added to our concerns.

It's important to understand what goes into that big bag of dog food. While reading the label can be confusing, with a little detective work you can decipher much of the hidden content of your dog's food. Nutrition is the key.Commercial dog foods can be toxic, and made from dangerous components. Many tons of dead animals and pets are regularly sent to dog food plants every month! The consumer-public does not appear to be aware of this problem, and the reason is no surprise.

In addition, many commercial dog foods display labels such as "all-natural," "organic," "holisitc," "gourmet," or "premium."

In fact, the dog food industry spends millions of dollars every year in an effort to convince the public that their dog foods are healthy. There is a huge commerial dog food lobby that fights against having to accurately disclose where their dog food ingredients come from. This doesn't make any sense, because if their dog food is really healthy, then they should want to clearly tell the public where they got the components for the food!

How To Compare Dog Food - The Meat

All dog commercial dog food could be divided into two categories: those that use meat by-products and those that use meat.

What Are Meat By-Products?

Sadly, meat by-products are usually everything that has been deemed unfit for human consumption. This stuff should really be thrown out. Instead, it is used to produce pet food and it is believed to be a major cause behind chronic disease in animals. Meat by-products can even include diseased meat, ground up bones and even dog and cat parts. When comparing dog food, the first step is to weed out any brand that uses meat by-products. Stick with the brands that use real meat, the meat that humans can eat.

Grains

To properly compare dog food you need to next examine the grain content of the product. In order to reduce costs, many commercial dog food companies load up their foods with corn meal and other grain. These ingredients are cheap fillers. Unfortunately, they are not good for your dog. In fact, high grain diets are believed to be partly responsible for chronic disease in both humans and pets. More importantly, they don't contain the nutrients your dog needs.

Look for dog foods that contain only whole grain. Furthermore, grain should not be the first ingredient on the bag. Real chicken or beef should be the first ingredient.

How To Compare Dog Food -Organic Or Not?

There are some legal loop holes that allow commercial dog food companies to put the 'organic' label on their product. I'm suspicious when I see the organic label. Look for real meat as the first ingredient and whole grain.

Vitamins and Minerals

Any processed food is going to be deficient of appropriate levels of nutrients. Processing food strips out vitamins and minerals. It's just the way it is. To accurately compare dog food, the final thing you should consider is vitamin and mineral fortification. Without this, your dog will not be getting sufficient nutrients.

Homemade Or Commercial?

As mentioned above, comparing dog food is a mixed bag. In our opinion, comparing commercial dog food is simply comparing various second rate food items. None of them are going to compare with home cooked meals using fresh and natural ingredients.

And Always remember this:  Homemade natural treats or good quality doggie snacks are good options to keep your dog content and happy. But always keep in mind that Treats should never be more than 10% of your dog’s diet. Too much intake of Treats will make your dog overweight and deprive him of actual regular doggie meals.