Choosing the right dog food
Dog food has become a source of concern among many dog lovers. There's a great deal of information available about dog food today, some of it credible and some of it not.
Here are some things that you need to know so you can make an informed decision when you buy food for your dog.
Labels
Before you can make any decisions about dog food you need to learn to read a dog food label. The label on a bag or tin of dog food will list the food’s ingredients according to the amount in the food. So, if chicken meal is listed as the first ingredient you’ll know that there is more chicken meal in the food than any other single ingredient. And so on with the next ingredient listed.
The only exception to this practice is when a manufacture loads up a dog food with several different sources of one ingredient, such as corn. This is called “splitting.” Corn may be present in a food as corn gluten, corn meal, and ground yellow corn, for example. Individually each ingredient may not be a large amount, but taken all together corn could become the largest ingredient in the food.
The label will also show a typical analysis of the food contents that will provide the percentage of protein, oil, fibre, ash, and so on with some other important vitamins and minerals. This allows you to compare one dog food to another in terms of their percentages. You can tell if a dog food is high in protein or fibre, for instance. (Ash is the mineral content of the food and is determined chemically by the burning of the product.)
Ingredients
The ingredients in dog food can vary tremendously from one company to the next in terms of quality. Dog food manufacturers generally use raw materials taken from animals that have passed inspection for human consumption. Beef, lamb, poultry, pork, fish, shellfish, rabbit and game are all popular as dog food ingredients. When choosing a dog food for your dog you should choose foods that list named ingredients such as chicken meal or lamb instead of “poultry by-products.” The more specific the labeling, the more you know about the food you will be feeding your dog. Generic terms also indicate that the ingredient can contain a wider range of ingredients — not a good thing in a dog food ingredient. You want the ingredient to be as specific as possible.
There are specific meanings in labeling for “whole chicken” vs. “chicken meal” vs. “chicken by-products” vs. “chicken digest” vs the wide range of poultry definitions. Whole chicken and chicken meal are usually considered the best choices, for example. By-products and digest allow manufacturers to include secondary parts of the chicken instead of the choice parts. The same is true of beef, lamb and other meat ingredients. Look for a meat source in the first two ingredients listed on the dog food label.
“Meat and animal derivatives (4% chicken)” may be made from heart, lung or muscle meat.
Grains are another term which may be used generically. It’s a good idea to look for individually named grains in the dog food you choose, such as rice or barley. Otherwise a manufacturer may use cheaper grains as fillers. Try to avoid corn gluten in general. It’s actually a cheap waste product from the human food industry that is often used as a protein filler in dog food. However, dogs do not process it well. They only absorb about 54 percent of the protein in corn, passing the rest as waste. Many dogs today also seem to have allergies to corn products.
Try to avoid generic ingredients in general.
Other Ingredients
Some manufacturers add artificial sweeteners and coloring to their food. Needless to say, these are not good for your dog.
You should also avoid artificial preservatives in your dog’s food. These include BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin. (Ethoxyquin is used to make tyes.) Check the label for these ingredients.
As you can see, choosing a dog food for your dog is not an easy matter. You should also pay attention to a company’s reputation. Have there been recalls? How have they handled any problems? Are they forthcoming with the public? Has the food conducted clinical trials to support their claims about the food?
There are many good dog foods on the market today. With a little study and effort you can find the very best food for your dog. Good luck.
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