How to Find Premium Dog Food

Premium dog food, companies spend millions of dollars every year on advertising campaigns designed to make their dog food look appetizing to us, regardless of whether or not it's actually nutritious for our furry friends. They are quick to call it premium dog food, Here are some common dog food ingredients that should be avoided when looking to buy the best, all natural dog food.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Protein sources: We all know protein is good for dogs, but here are some questionable sources that should be avoided when looking for premium dog food.
   Beef & bone meal, ground up remains of the cow, used to increase the protein percentage of the dog food.
   Blood meal is clean animal blood, unfortunately you don't know what animal it came from or if it was sick or on medication.
   Chicken byproduct meal, which is everything from the chicken minus the meat, head, bones, etc. another cheap filler to up the protein percentage.
   Meat and bone meal is rendered product from animal tissue, this can be from any source including dead, diseased, dying or disabled animals, can include road kill or even euthanized shelter animals! may even contain cancerous or spoiled tissue. No all natural dog food should contain this.

2. Binders: Corn and Wheat gluten are cheap binders used in inexpensive dog food. Although not harmful, they should be avoided if only for their near non-existent nutritional value. A real premium dog food would never contain this.

3. Food coloring; Of all food coloring, Yellow-6 was shown, in industry sponsored testing, to cause tumors in the adrenal gland and kidney. I would personally never buy a dog food with this in it, just choose an all natural dog food without this ingredient.

4. Fats: Animal and Poultry fat; the food industry is not required to disclose the type of animal or how it obtained this fat. Keep in mind that the four 'D's are prevalent here. diseased, dying, dead and disabled keep in mind that this also includes road kill, shelter animals and restaurant refuse! I would never feed my pup anything with undisclosed meat or poultry sources in it! Dog food ingredients should be identified.

5. Fiber: Here are some fiber sources which are inexpensive fillers with little to no nutritional value. Corn bran, oat hulls, peanut hulls, rice hulls, corn cellulose, soybean and wheat mill run, which is also known as floor sweepings. The big no-no is cellulose which is usually dried, bleached and powdered wood! Argh!!

6. Flavorings: There are flavoring additives known as animal digest, digest or as 'flavoring', for the most part this is made from an enzymatic hydrolysis of clean, undecomposed animal tissue. If the animal is listed that's almost ok. If it is not, and it doesn't have to be, assume it's part of the dreaded '4Ds' made from anything including rats or euthenized shelter animals! This is certainly not the kind of dog food ingredients you want your little friend eating. Look for good, healthy, all natural dog food.

7. Fruits: Some no-no' s include apple pomace, which is a byproduct with little value. A huge no-no is grape pomace, and, as most of us know, grapes are bad for dogs in the first place. A premium dog food would not include this.

8. Preservatives: Stay away from BHA and BHT, they are banned in many countries but still allowed in the USA. And now for the big one.. Ethoxyquin, this was originally developed as a rubber stabilizer! This has been linked to thyroid, kidney, immune, and reproductive illnesses and also cancer. This is being studied again and may be banned. Don't buy any premium dog food containing these substances, it's not healthy.

9. Supplements: Salt should be in low quantities. Yeast is also sometimes added to boost the flavor of low quality dog foods. Mineral oil is sometimes added as a laxative and stool softener, obviously any dog food with these dog food ingredients in it isn't a good natural dog food!

10. Sweeteners: Stay away from all sweeteners period. Sorbitol, fructose, corn syrup and cane molasses. These cause hypoglycemia, nervousness, tooth decay, cataracts, obesity, arthritis and even allergies. Dog's can even get 'addicted' to sweet food and not want to eat anything else. Including a good healthy all natural dog food.

Tips & Warnings

• Once you start seeing cheap, inexpensive fillers on a dog food label it's a good bet the dog food is NOT a premium dog food no matter what the label says.
• Get your dog eating a good, healthy dog food and you really will see a difference in the little guy's behaviour and general health.
• Avoid sweet, salty foods and don't 'over treat' your dog.
• Read dog treat labels as well, they are notorious for containing dangerous low quality ingredients.
• Companies aren't required to list the type of animal ingredients come from, so if it's not listed assume it's from a diseased rat and just don't buy it.
• Don't fall victim to advertising, read the label, it doesn't matter if you like the way it looks or smells, only if it's a premium dog food or not.

Resources

• Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats
• The Ultimate Dog Treat Cookbook: Homemade Goodies for Man's Best Friend

[mfahrney]

on 1/29/2009 Very good article...thanks.

[chenderson00]

on 1/27/2009 This is a fantastic article. You know your stuff! It's hard enough to find food that my picky pooch will eat to begin with, but to also buy healthy food is harder. Thanks for the info! 5*s

[tylamac]

on 1/27/2009 It's no wonder that domestic dogs are getting more and more diseases like diabetes,heart disease and cancer. The toxic commercial dog food has to be contributing to all the health problems. You never see a diabetic wolf or coyote in the wild. Thanks for bringing awareness to this issue. I hope people listen.