Reading Your Dog Food Bag

The ingredient list is a major key to what’s truly in that bag or can. Ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight (before processing). Unfortunately, the “before processing” piece of this rule, gives dog food makers a loophole to make their products appear higher quality than they are. As an example they may add a better quality ingredient in a high moisture composition, and the substandard ingredients in dehydrated form. In this way, the high moisture ingredient will appear on the label before the more plentiful dehydrated ingredients.

Meat: Dogs are carnivores, and do best on a meat-based diet. The protein used in pet food comes from a range of sources. When cattle, swine, chickens, lambs, or other animals are processed, lean muscle tissue is trimmed away from the carcass for human consumption, along with the few organs that people will eat, such as tongues and tripe. About 50% of every food animal doesn’t get used in human foods. Whatever remains of the body — heads, feet, bones, blood, guts, lungs, spleens, livers, ligaments, fat trimmings, and other parts not in all probability consumed by humans — is utilized in pet food, animal feed, manure, industrial lubricants, soap, rubber, and other products. These “other parts” are referred to as “by-products.” By-products are used in feed for poultry and livestock as well as in pet food. Avoid the word “by-product” of any type no matter what its source is, named or not!

Meal: Meat meals, poultry meals, byproduct meals, and meat-and-bone meal are common ingredients in dry pet foods. The term “meal” implies these materials are not used fresh, but have been rendered. While there are chicken, turkey, and chicken by-product meals there is no equivalent term for mammal “meat byproduct meal” — it is named “meat-and-bone-meal.” It may be referred to by species,eg “beef-and-bone-meal” or “pork-and-bone-meal.” Avoid dog food with the words “meat” or “meat meal” listed without a specific animal identified.

Grains: The quantity of grain and vegetable products utilized in pet food has risen dramatically over time. Grain products now replace a considerable proportion of the protein that was used in the earliest commercial pet foods. Most dry foods contain a giant volume of cereal grain or starchy vegetables to provide texture. These carbohydrate-heavy plant products also supply a inexpensive source of “energy”, what the rest of us call “calories.” Gluten meals are protein-laden extracts from which the majority of the carbohydrate has been removed. They are frequently used to raise protein percentages without high cost animal-source ingredients. Corn gluten meal is the most often used for this purpose. Wheat gluten is also used to form shapes like cuts, bites, slices, shreds, flakes, and slices, and as a thickener for gravy. Mostly, foods containing plant proteins are among the poorer quality foods. Steer clear of dog foods that list inappropriate grains and fillers among the initial few ingredients on the labels like ground corn, corn gluten, wheat gluten, soy bean, and so on.

To get some more information there are several good dog food comparison sites on the web. You ought to be able to find more about the usage of animal fats and preservatives, recalls and other issues around the best food for your dog .

Lyn Jones has been breeding and showing for over 10 years. As a breeder of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in Oregon she welcomes the opportunity to answer questions and to supply information to families hunting for information regarding King Charles Cavalier puppies