Selecting a balanced and complete dog food is not an easy task. Walk through any pet store, and you’ll see aisles of dog food alternatives. The best way to choose a food for your dog is to read the ingredients label.
We believe that:
What are the ingredients we look for?
Meat, meat and more meat products. The main nutrient in dog foods should be protein so appropriate diet for these animals must be based on meat.
Meat and fat products must be identified by species. If the species cannot be acknowledged, neither can the quality.
Grains are in dog food only because:
- They’re cheaper than meat products
- They are needed to hold the kibble bits together
Where grains are used, we search for high-quality whole grains. Avoid those products that make abundant use of grain fragments in their foods.
Fruits and vegetables are valued, particularly where these substitute grains in dog foods. Organic ingredients are also valued. However, organic grains are no substitute for meat content.
What are the ingredients we avoid?
Foods including any type of by-products, above all those of indeterminate origin (“animal”, “poultry”, etc).
Our advice is:
Artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or preservatives, especially those believed to be carcinogenic or that are excluded from use in the human food chain. Meats and fats that are not identified by species. These could be anything, and are almost undoubtedly of very low quality.
Our Dog Food Reviews
In our dog food reviews we access foods based on the quality of ingredients. We value the foods that contain the suitable ingredients for dogs and penalize the foods that contain bad ingredients.
Guaranteed analysis is not very useful in comparing foods. If you use the guaranteed analysis information to compare foods, it is necessary determine the dry matter for each nutrient.
In the cases in which the levels of protein, fat and fiber calculated are in agreement with the values established by AAFCO (Association of American of Feed Control Officials) we will not make a comment about this precise point. However, if the dog food reviewed is not in harmony with reference standards we will alert you about that fact.
Our goal is not make a quantitative evaluation because the information about this issue is not very precise in all dog food labels. Additionally the nutrient’s requirements vary with age, breed, life stage (e.g. pregnancy, nursing), and exercise level for example.
The following list represents the points that we access when we are doing the reviews and some example of positive and negative aspects we take into account.
Protein –Is the main ingredient!
Positive aspects:
- Quality meat ingredients
- Named meat meals
- Named meats
- Corn gluten, gluten meal
- By-products meals
- Soy
- Absent information about these point
Negative aspects:
Fat and Oil
Positive aspects:
- Named fats and oils
- High % of omega 3 and omega 6
Negative aspects:
- No specific fats
- Mineral oil
- Absent information about these point
Carbohydrates
Positive aspects:
- Whole ground grains (rice, oats, barley, … )
- Corn in reasonable amounts, as a source of carbohydrates, unless the animal is intolerant or allergic
Negative aspects:
- Potato product, mill run, fragments of any kind
- Unspecified grain sources like cereal food fines
- Absent information about these point
Fiber
Positive aspects:
- Brown rice, oats, fruits and vegetables
- Corn bran, peanut hulls, rice hulls, oat hulls, soybean hulls
- Absent information about these point
Negative aspects:
Fruits and vegetables
Positive aspects:
- Fresh, unprocessed or organic fruits and vegetables
- Good examples: blueberries, peas, carrots
Negative aspects:
- Apple pomace, grape pomace, citrus pulp
- Absent information about these point
Flavorings
Positive aspects:
- Natural flavorings: specific stocks and broths
- Liver of specified animals
Negative aspects:
- Glandular meal
- Artificial flavors
- Absent information about these point
Preservatives
Positive aspects:
- Natural antioxidants
- Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Rosemary, Sage, or Clove Extract, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Ascorbic Acid and other forms of Vitamin C
Negative aspects:
- Chemical preservatives
- BHA (Butylated Hydroxysanisole), BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene), Ethoxyquin, TBHQ (Tertiary Butylhydroquinone),
- Absent information about these point
Sweeteners
Positive aspects:
- Absent
Negative aspects:
- Present
- Examples: Cane molasses, corn syrup in any form, sugar, sorbitol, sucrose, fructose, glucose, ammoniated glycyrrhizin, propylene glycolCane molasses, corn syrup in any form, sugar, sorbitol, sucrose, fructose, glucose, ammoniated glycyrrhizin, propylene glycol
Dyes
Positive aspects:
- Absent
Negative aspects:
- Present:
- Examples: Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6, other “numbered” dyes
Supplements
Positive aspects:
- Chelated or sequestered mineral (Examples: chelates, proteinates, amino acid chelates or complexes, polysaccharide complexes)
- Nonacidic, time released versions of Vitamin C (Ester C, Calcium Ascorbate, Stabilized Vitamin C or L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate)
- Natural Vitamin E (Tocopherol, Natural Tocopherol)
- Natural sources of Vitamin K (Egg yolk, liver, oats, kelp, alfalfa)
Negative aspects:
- Menadione in any form (also listed as vitamin K3 or “vitamin K supplement”)
- Yeast Culture
- Sulfate and oxide based mineral supplements (e.g. zinc oxide, iron oxide)
- Absent information about these point
We hope our reviews will help you to choose the right food for your dog. Our goal is to give you information about dog foods that are complete and balanced and that you should select to feed your dog. At the same time alert you about the hazards of some dog foods available in the market. With this information you can do a conscious decision about the dog food you prefer.