Dog Food, How Do You Choose - Here Are Some Tips

April 16, 2007 at 8:24 am · Filed under Lifestyle Pets

Goldendoodle

Lately there has been a tremendous amount of confusion concerning dog food. Both nutrition wise, caloric wise and safety wise.
First, use your good judgment. You have the best intentions toward your dog.

What ingredients do you WANT or NOT WANT in your dog food? Do you really need to buy premium dog food?

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First: Make sure that the manufacturer’s phone number is on the package. You always want to be able to have a contact number to call if you have any concerns about your dog’s food.

Check out the manufacturer! Where and how do they formulate and process their foods?

Here are some facts:

Some dog owners would rather pass up animal by-products. By-Products are proteins that have not been heat processed. These can include heads, feet, and other animal parts not particularly tasty sounding to us humans. But some say that protein quality of the by-products may be better than that from muscle meat.

“Meal” is one more ingredient that some people prefer not to have as an ingredient in their dog food. In processing the by-products heat processed, which removes the fat and water from the product. Meat or poultry by-product meal will include parts of animals not usually eaten by humans.

Some dog owners try to keep away from pet foods with synthetic preservatives. There are companies that use natural preservatives, but these foods have a shorter shelf life, especially once they have been opened.

Calories: This is very important topic if you feed your dog only by “cup”.
I have had dog food (all dry) vary from 270 calories per cup to 470 calories per cup. So, you need to be very aware of this.
You almost never need to feed your dog as much as it states on the package. Talk it over with your vet. Use your good judgment; most important, watch your dog. And, be sure you are not underfeeding your four legged friend either!

Many dog foods are labeled as “premium”. Products labeled as premium are not required to use any different or higher quality ingredients. They are not held up to any higher nutritional standards than are any other complete and balanced products.

The term “natural” is often printed on pet food labels; this term does not have an official definition either. Usually “natural” can mean that it does not contain any artificial flavors, artificial colors, or artificial preservatives in the product.

Ingredients to Avoid: You can do a search on the internet to find out exactly why you want to avoid certain ingredients in your dog food. It is too large a project to include the reasons in this article. But, check it out yourself! Be a responsible dog owner.

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Glyceryl Monostearate
Phosphoric Acid
Propylene Glycol
Binders
Corn Gluten
Wheat Gluten
Carbohydrate Sources
Brewers Rice
Cereal Food Fines
Feeding Oat Meal
Grain Fermentation Solubles
Maltodextrins & Fermentation Solubles
Potato Product
Soy Flour
Coloring Agents
Blue 2 (artificial color)
Red 40 (artificial color)
Titanium Dioxide
Yellow 5 (artificial color)
Yellow 6 (artificial color)
Fat Sources
Animal Fat
Beef Tallow
Lard
Poultry Fat
Vegetable Oil
Fiber Sources
Cellulose
Corn Bran
Corn Cellulose
Oat Hulls
Peanut Hulls
Rice Hulls
Soybean Mill Run
Wheat Mill Run
Flavoring Agents
Animal Digest
Digest
Flavor
Glandular Meal
Fruits & Vegetables
Apple Pomace
Citrus Pulp
Grape Pomace
Preservatives
BHA
BHT
Ethoxyquin
Propyl Gallate
Protein Sources
Beef & Bone Meal
Blood Meal
Chicken Byproduct Meal
Corn Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles
Corn Germ Meal
Corn Gluten Meal
Fish Meal
Liver Meal
Meat & Bone Meal
Meat Meal
Pork & Bone Meal
Poultry Byproduct Meal
Poultry Meal
Soybean Meal
Supplements
Bone Phosphate
Salt
Mineral Oil
Yeast Culture
Yeast Fermentation Solubles
Sweeteners
Cane Molasses
Corn Syrup
Fructose
Sorbitol
Sugar
Dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate
Menadione Sodium Bisulfate