Pet food aisle in Brooklyn, NY (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Do you know what you are feeding your dog? Not many dog owners make much effort to find out what exactly is in the dog food they feed their dog. If you feed your dog dry food, then you should know that there are some really good brands but there are also plenty of really bad ones too.
Thankfully, the Internet can provide some useful information about dog food nutrition and the ingredients that are contained within the kibbles. One such resource is called Dog Food Analysis.
Why does this site exist?
Because commercial pet food is, historically and on average, so incredibly awful. Really, that is the reality of the commercial pet food industry. We are bombarded with advertising that conjures up images of plump juicy chickens and garden fresh vegetables, told that the various foods around are scientifically formulated to provide our pets with every nutritional advantage and meet every need. At the same time, many of us feel we need a science degree just to interpret the labels. But the reality is quite different. “Scientifically formulated†is a term with no meaning. Do you scientifically formulate your dinner? Do you think you need to? Sounds quite ridiculous, doesn’t it. No, you (hopefully) consume a range of fresh foods. That’s what your pets should be consuming too.
Sadly, that’s not what goes into most pet foods. Many pet foods are made up mostly of grain fragments (the left overs from the human food industry), with a small amount of meat thrown in and the whole thing coated with recycled used (and frequently carcinogenic) fats to make it palatable to our pets. In most cases, these are things we’d refuse to feed our pets if we saw them in their raw state. So why would we feed them when they are transformed into dry extruded pellets? Why are we feeding carnivores on grains anyway? We wouldn’t try to feed fish to a cow, so why try to feed grains to our carnivorous cats and dogs? The answer is simple – it is far cheaper than feeding meat, and in any case, we can’t make kibble without them (it won’t stick together). But it has nothing whatsoever to do with good or species-appropriate nutrition for our pets. Neither cats nor dogs have any evolved need of carbohydrates in their diet at all, and these are readily converted to fat.
In the above video, proactive veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker visits an upscale pet boutique to evaluate the quality of the different types of pet food. (Part 1)
There is also another website called Dog Food Advisor which has reviews of all the different dog food brands; dry, wet, and raw dog food. They also have a list of dog food recalls and a forum.
The Dog Food Advisor is a website designed to help you make a more informed decision when shopping for dog food. Here is a little bit about the editor of this website…
Welcome! My name is Mike Sagman. And as the editor and creator of this community, I believe it’s important for you to know a little about my background.
My college curriculum includes a major in chemistry and a minor in biology.
Yet none of my education or my 30+ years in the practice of dental medicine should be considered a prerequisite for publishing The Dog Food Advisor.
However, after researching and posting over 750 dog food reviews representing some 3,200 commercial products, I’m considered an authority on reading and interpreting pet food labels.
Daily Feeding Routine
Your dog should also not be eating too much. A 50 pound dog should only eat 2-3 cups of food a day at the most, split between two meals. A dog doesn’t need three or four meals a day (unless it is a large enough breed or your schedule dictates it).
Additionally, have set food times for your dog. Simply putting down a bowl of food and leaving it full is a very quick way to get your dog very fat. Dogs will eat whatever you put in front of them, and they will quickly grow lethargic because of it.
Another good dog food nutrition tip is to make your dog work physically and mentally for their food. A walk before eating is good, as is making them sit and wait for the food bowl. This stimulates the instincts that tell them to hunt for that meal each day.
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