How to Choose a Dog Food

Dogs are great, aren't they? The dog to the right is my Augustin, and he's 3/4 Pembroke Welsh Corgi, 1/4 Border Collie, and 100% the center of my life. I admit it; I'm one of those women who calls her animals "furkids" and spends more money on their toys than my own clothes. So, of course I want to give him the best nutrition possible.

However, if you ask 100 dog owners what that means, you'll probably get 100 different answers. Pet store shelves are flush with more brands and formulas of dog food than you can shake a Chuck-It at. While canned, dehydrated, and raw diets are also options for a dog's diet, and I'll discuss them in the future, we'll talk exclusively about dry kibble-based dog foods for now.

If you'd like specific brand recommendations, skip to the bottom. However, any brand can drop off the market or be recalled, and learning to read a label and find an appropriate alternative is a great skill for a dog owner to have. It's good to feed a diet that's healthful, and even better if you understand exactly why you're buying that food. Read on, and not only will you be able to make an informed purchasing choice, you'll probably find yourself advising family and friends, too!

Reading a Label

When you see an interesting dog food brand, don't even glance at the shiny, happy dogs on the front, or the advertising slogans. Flip it right over and read the first three ingredients. If there isn't a specific meat or specific meat meal listed in the first three, put it back on the shelf. Ideally, the very first ingredient should be either a fresh meat or a meat meal, and either the second or third should also be meat-based. Of course, the actual ingredient "meat meal" should be avoided, because you never want to put a protein source into your dog if you don't know what animal it came from. Some good ingredients to find in the first three include chicken meal, chicken, lamb meal, lamb, venison, venison meal.... you get the picture, right?

One meat meal I don't like is Menhadden fish meal. Most fish meal contains ethoxyquin, a preservative that is required when transporting fish meal across the ocean. Almost all Menhadden fish meal is imported. I only feed fish-based foods if the brand sources all ingredients from domestic fisheries. It's easy enough to find that out; just give the company a call or put a customer service inquiry in on their website.

Now, all dry dog foods need some sort of starch. Otherwise, you'd have powder, not kibbles. In addition, most dog foods include some sort of carbohydrate, which produces slow-burning energy. Contrary to popular belief, dogs don't need any starch or carbohydrate in their diet; they're carnivores and can get everything they need from meat, bone, and organs. However, in a dry dog food, some starch and/or carbohydrate is needed. In or after the first three ingredients, a good brand will likely have one or more of the following: Quinoa, potato meal, potato starch, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and/or white rice. These are all relatively easily digested by dogs, except when an allergy is present.

However, not all carbohydrates are created equal. Avoid foods containing ground yellow corn, corn gluten, wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate, and all wheat, corn, and soy products. These ingredients are more likely to cause allergens than others, and in the case of corn gluten, wheat gluten, and rice protein concentrate, they can artifically elevate the amount of protein in the bag so that there is now way you can tell how much protein comes from meat. Some corn gluten can contain up to 60% protein, but it's not protein your dog can use even nearly as effectively as meat-source protein. Most of it goes right through and translates to increased waste, gas, and doggy odor.

So we've got protein and carbs covered-- what should make up the rest of the ingredient list? Well, that varies depending upon the food, obviously, but most foods contain vitamin and mineral supplements to make the diet complete for dogs. In addition, many foods contain additives for specific purposes, such as glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health in a large breed food. In addition, phytonutrients are added to some dog foods by including foods naturally rich in these, like blueberries or cranberries for antioxidant benefits or urinary health. Avoid preservatives like BHA/BHT, propylene glycol, and ethoxyquin. Menadione (sometimes just listed as Vitamin K), is a controversial additive. There are studies showing it can benefit dogs and humans in small amounts, but it's banned in Texas due to reports of illness in dogs and humans after ingesting menadione.

There are many more ingredients than I can list here, but if you visit the Dog Food Project, you'll find additional information on just about everything anyone's ever put in dog food. The Dog Blog also has a great deal of food information. This basic primer, however, should be all you need to select a dog food that meets your canine companion's needs. An All Life Stages formula is ideal for most dogs. Large and giant breed puppies are one exception, and need specialized nutrition for their rapidly growing joints. Now that we've covered the basics of ingredient lists, I'll provide you with a few specific suggestions.

Suggested Brands

--Innova Evo

--Canidae

--Taste of the Wild

--California Naturals

--Wellness

--Innova

--Wellness CORE

--Ziwi Peak

--The Honest Kitchen

--Blue Buffalo

--Natural Balance

--Solid Gold

--Merricks

If you found this helpful, please leave a comment and let me know! I'd be glad to write more dog and dog food related blogs in the future, if interest is expressed.

Note: The author has worked in the field of canine nutrition in the past, but is not a vet, a registered canine nutritionist, or a pink elephant, and should not be mistaken for any of the above. Check with your vet or pet nutritionist before making changes in the diet of a dog who has health problems.