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All commercial pet food is regulated by the AAFCO. This agency sets the standards and does the testing on the ingredients that pet food manufacturers use in their food products. Because of the number of different food products and ingredients used, these standards can be somewhat vague. This gives manufacturers much leeway in meeting up to these standards. So having the AAFCO stamp of approval on a dog food label does not mean that the ingredients used to make that product are good for our dogs.

There is much information found on a dog food label. Much of which is difficult to understand. So how are we to know what we are actually buying? How can we tell what is the best dog food and what is a poor quality product. In order to tell the difference we must learn how to correctly read what we are being told on the label.

Because of the constant exposure to the marketing tactics of pet food manufacturers, many of us have are loyal to a certain dog food brand or product name. We have been led to believe that this brand has high quality food products. The first rule to remember when reading a label is that if the product label mentions an ingredient such as “beef chow” for example, then that product must contain 95% of that ingredient by weight if the product is a dry product and 70% if it is a wet or canned product. If the label includes words such as “dinner” or “formula” then only 25% of that ingredient is required.

The ingredients of a particular dog food product are listed by weight in descending order. So if we were to read the ingredients of say a “chicken dinner” product, then by the percentages mentioned above, the chicken is only 1/4 of the product and therefore probably not the main ingredient. The main ingredients are more likely to be corn and bone meal. Both are undesirable as main ingredients and are mostly found in generic or discounted brands.

In many cases the main ingredient is not mentioned in the title. Instead we see such words as “flavored” as in “chicken flavored.” There is no set required percentage for these items. We will also see the words like “Premium” or “Natural” on the labels. Premium dog food is a worthwhile product to checkout. Most premium products do follow the AAFCO standards for a nutritionally balanced dog food product. “Natural” just means that there are no artificial ingredients such as colors, preservatives and flavors in the product.

An easy way to determine if the dog food you are buying is of good quality is to find the fat source ingredient on the content list. Look for such ingredients as beef fat or chicken fat. Ingredients listed before this fat source are main ingredients. If there are just a few ingredients listed before the fat source the product is good. The quality of the product diminishes with the addition of more ingredients. The ingredients listed after the fat source are just food enhancers and fillers.

Because of busy schedules many of us have to feed our dogs commercial brands. By just taking a little extra time we can prevent exposing our animals to poor quality foods. If we read an ingredient that we are unfamiliar with or that we would not eat ourselves, then why would we think of feeding it to our dogs. Lets be more careful when reading those dog food labels.

As dog owners we are totally in control when it comes to feeding our dogs. Knowing what the best dog food is, what are the right dog food ingredients and what dog food nutrition they provide can sometimes be overwhelming. Find out more about commercial and homemade dog food recipes by visiting www.onlinedogfoodrecipes.com.

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Have you looked at the variety of dog food in the markets lately? Browsing over all the bags, they all brag about the great quality of meat they have inside and how healthy the dog food is. But how do you know? You have to learn to decipher the dog food ingredients label to find out.

What is a healthy dog food? A healthy dog food can be broken into 2 components: the right type of food for your particular dog, and the quality of the ingredients. The first part depends upon what kind of dog you have. Is he active? Does he have a medical condition? Is she nursing pups? You first need to determine the type of dog food that best suites your dog.

Independent of the type of dog food, the actual ingredients need to be understood. Are you really feeding nutritious ingredients to your dog or not? A great source of confusion comes when trying to decipher the meats – the main source of protein – as they can be stated as a type of meat, meal, or by-product.

What is the difference between a Meat, Meal, and By-Product? An identified animal meat, chicken for example, means the clean flesh from a chicken. Meal is simply the ingredient that has be dehydrated and ground. So chicken meal is dehydrated, ground up chicken meat. By-product is what is left over after all the usable meat has been removed (like the neck, feet, intestines, etc.) Chicken by-product would be processed and ground up chicken necks, feet, and who really knows what else.

Which is Better – Meat or Meal? Now you look at your dog food ingredients list. Naturally, most people would assume seeing the meat listed as the first ingredient would mean the best food. But in actuality, you want to see the meat in the meal form.

All dog food ingredients must be listed in order of weight. Since a meat still has all of its moisture, it will be heavier than a meat meal. To put it another way, take two pieces of meat that weigh the same. Now dehydrate one. Which one will weigh more – the meat will. The tricky part is that once the dog food is made, all meat is first processed and made into meat meal.

Named Animal Meat vs Generic Category Meat. If the animal protein is from chicken, the label will read chicken, chicken meal, chicken by-product, etc. Now if it is from more than one type of animal, it may say the category of the animal, such as poultry. This means the manufacturer does not know the actual meat origins, just that they are of the poultry family (geese, turkey, chicken, etc). Worse yet, when any and all types of animals are used, it is just listed as ‘meat’, ‘meat meal’, or ‘meat by-product’.

The bottom line is that if a specific animal source cannot be identified, the dog food manufacturer is probably more concerned about their bottom line than the health and well-being of your pet.

There are lots of things that come into play when determining what is the healthiest dog food for your dog. Learn more about how to read your dog food ingredients label at the Healthy Dog Food Blog: assisting you in figuring out what makes a healthy dog food.

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Premium dog foods are most certainly better than an economy dog food. But it’s sometimes hard to figure out the difference between a premium dog food and the rest. Do you go by price alone? A lot of companies are betting on it. Does it say premium on the bag? What makes a premium dog food premium?

The main difference between premium and economy dog foods is the quality of the ingredients and the amount of actual nutrients digestible by your dog. Ignore any of the fancy wording or delicious looking pictures on the bag of food. Look, instead, at the dog food ingredients first.

Look at the first 2 ingredients to see if you are purchasing a premium dog food. Economy dog foods use a lot of low quality grains and meat by-products. Premium dog foods list an animal meat as the first ingredient.

Grains/Carbs: Dogs are better able to digest certain grains better than others. Rice, oats, lentils, and barley are all easily digestible for dogs. Corn, soy, and wheat are not. This means less nutrients for your dog. And since economy foods list grains as top ingredients, this means the dog food as a whole is less nutritional than premium dog foods.

Some grains, such as soy, wheat, and corn, are also common sources for food allergies in dogs.When utilized as by-products, such as corn wheat gluten, they are nothing more than cheap fillers. Their main purpose is to fill up your dog’s stomach so that he feels full. It’s kind of like human junk food – fill your tummy with no nutrition.

Meat by-products are not a top 2 dog food ingredient in premium dog foods. Meat by-products are the slaughtered meat carcass parts that are left over after all the usable meat has been removed – like bones, necks, intestines, etc.

Like the grain by-products, these provide very little nutritional value to your dog, but do boost up the protein ratio in the dog food. The quality of the meat by-product is another big mystery that no one seems to be able to answer.

Premium dog foods will have a meat meal or meat as the top ingredient, with a meat meal being the better choice. Many premium dog foods will have 2 or 3 meats/meat meals listed in the top ingredients, thereby giving your dog better protein and nutrients.

Is price an indicator of premium dog foods? You certainly won’t find any ‘cheap’ premium dog foods – quality ingredients cost more money. However, you will find some ‘expensive’ economy dog foods. These dog foods have high prices to make you think you are feeding a premium dog food, when in fact, all you are doing is increasing their profits. Always look at the ingredients list to see what you are paying for.

And now there are even more types of dog food, like organic and all-natural. For more information about the different choices available for your dog and how to carefully select the best premium dog foods for your beloved pet at the Healthy Dog Food blog.

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People who have never had a dog that won’t eat before, have no idea how stressful it can be for the owner. You love your dog and provide for him, but he just won’t touch his dinner, no matter what you try. Before you try anything else, you need to figure whether the problem of your dog not eating is mental or physical.

But before we jump into the problem of your dog not eating, we need to make sure you don’t have a special interest dog. If you have a dog with a known medical condition, a puppy, a pregnant, or a nursing dog, you need to go to your vet. These dogs have special nutrition requirements and need to be looked at professionally.

If this is a sudden eating problem, check to see if you have changed any of your dog’s food or routines, as this can be the problem. If you haven’t changed anything, make sure your dog isn’t in pain and isn’t acting like he is really tired (listless) – if so, take him to your vet. Otherwise, just wait a day or two. Your dog may have gotten into something that has upset his stomach, or he just doesn’t feel well. Ensure he has plenty of fresh water and the chance to go outside when needed. If after two days he still shows not interest in his food, take him to your vet – he may have a physical problem, like internal parasites.

So if your dog doesn’t have a physical problem that keeps him from eating, then it must be mental/emotional. But this can be fixed, by following these tips.

1. Does your dog get enough attention? Some dogs get lonely and bored if they don’t get enough attention. When that happens, they will do anything to get attention from you. So they don’t eat their dinner – and you freak out! Hey, the attention they desire. This soon develops into an eating problem for your dog. Start interacting with your pet more – play with him and take him on daily walks.

2. What if your dog is not trying to get attention, but is just plain spoiled? Then you need to step up and start acting like the master. Simply put his food bowl down and after 20 minutes pick it up and throw the food away. Do not give your dog any treats at any time during the day. Make his mealtime the only time he gets to eat. If he still has not eaten after 3 days of this, you may want to take him to the vet and make sure there are no physical problems.

3. Do you hover over your dog or are otherwise anxious about his eating, or not eating? You may be making him nervous or suspicious with your always being around. Dogs can easily pick up on our feelings and fears, without knowing the why’s of our feelings.

Give your dog his dinner, and leave. If he follows you instead of eating, put him in a room with his food and close the door. Do not return for 20 minutes – just let him be. If it doesn’t work the first day, try again for a couple more days. Once he senses, or rather doesn’t sense, your problems, he may be able to eat.

4. Is the dog food you are feeding him any good? Look at your dog food ingredients label. The first ingredient should be some kind of protein, like chicken meal, lamb meal, etc. There should also not be too much non-nutritional grains listed. It may just be that the food you are offering does not have enough nutrition in it. Or that a certain ingredient may not be agreeing with him. Look at super-premium, organic, or all-natural dog food alternatives. A lot of the economy dog foods are mainly filler with fat sprayed on them to entice the dog to eat what he would not otherwise eat – some dogs see through this and just won’t eat it.

Try using these tips and you may solve your dog eating problems. Don’t let your dog’s dinnertime be a time of anxiety for you or your dog.

If your dog is not eating because he dislikes his dog food, please visit the Healthy Dog Food Blog to learn more about how to find the best food for your dog to stay in optimal health. This article is for informational purpose only and is NOT intended to replace the advice of a veterinarian or pet care professional.

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Why do you need to understand your dog food ingredients label? Because what you don’t know about what is in your pet’s food could actually be harming your beloved dog! You think you are feeding your dog food for optimal health, when in fact, you might be poisoning him.

Maybe you have looked at your ingredients label and just scratched your head. What are all these things in there? So you just shake your head and put your trust in the dog food company. After all, haven’t these companies been telling us for decades that they know what is best, nutritionally speaking, for our dogs? Well, the massive pet food recalls over the past several years have thankfully given us a well needed wake-up call. This is evident with all the all-natural and organic pet foods that have been popping up in the market.

But it’s not hard to figure out what is in your pet food so you can compare with other brands. Here are some of the more common “tricks” to reading dog food ingredients lists:

1. The first 5 – 10 ingredients listed are the majority of the food. If they are not quality ingredients, it is not a quality pet food.

2. Look for natural preservatives, such as vitamins E and C (also shown as tocopherols and ascorbic acid). Inferior pet foods still use BHT, BHA, and Ethoxyquin. These chemical preservatives have been banned from use in human food.

3. Since ingredients are listed by weight, a dog food with a lot of one ingredient (especially one that is not a quality ingredient, for example, corn) is allowed to be broken into different parts and listed separately. For example, you might see corn flour, corn bran, and corn gluten meal all listed somewhere in the dog food ingredients list – yet they are all derived from corn. Why not just say corn? Why break them up? Because the weight of the individual components will weigh less, so they can go further down the ingredient list, making them look like they are not a key component of the dog food. Sneaky? Yes. Underhanded? Yes. Legal? Yes.

4. Listing just a meat as a top 2 ingredient. If the actual meat is listed (i.e. chicken) , and not a meat meal (i.e. chicken meal), then the meat is weighed with all moisture in tact. Meal, on the other hand, has most of the moisture removed first. Therefore, the amount of protein in one pound of chicken will be less than in one pound of chicken meal. Keeping the moisture in the meat makes it weigh heavier, keeping it in the beginning of the dog food ingredients list.

The moral of the story? Learn to read the labels to see what you are actually feeding your dog. Your current dog food may be great, or it may be the worst thing for your dog. Don’t just rely on enticing packaging showing a delicious chicken and lots of fresh beautiful fruits and vegetables. Although we like to think that is what we are feeding our dogs, the reality is, most dog foods are nothing like this!

Keep your dog healthy and happy by learning how to decipher your dog food ingredients list. Check out the Healthy Dog Food blog to learn more about healthy dog food ingredients and how to find the healthiest dog food for your dog to stay in good health, naturally.

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Why are dog food ingredients lists so hard to figure out? It’s like some secret language. But you need to learn to translate your ingredients in your dog food. If you don’t, you could be feeding your best friend food that prevents optimal health and even causes some health problems down the road.

How in the world are you supposed to figure out what all these ingredients mean? You’ve heard of corn, but what is corn gluten meal? Is it good for your dog? The dog food companies spend lots of money in advertising telling us they are feeding our dogs exactly what they need. But unfortunately, we found out the hard way, with all the pet food recalls, that the pet food companies care more about their bottom line. The good thing that came out of the pet food recalls was that more organic and natural dog food alternatives are now available to us.

What you need to do is learn how to compare your dog food to other brands. There are a couple of tips to help in deciphering the dog food ingredients label:

1. The first 5 – 10 ingredients listed are the majority of the food. If they are not quality ingredients, it is not a quality pet food.

2. Look for the chemical preservatives BHA, BHT, or Ethoxyquin. These preservatives have been banned from use in human food as they are linked to kidney and liver damage. However, they are still used in inferior dog foods. Look instead for natural preservatives, like vitamins C and E (ascorbic acid and tocopherols).

3. Since ingredients are listed by weight, a dog food with a lot of one ingredient (especially one that is not a quality ingredient, for example, corn) is allowed to be broken into different parts and listed separately. For example, you might see corn flour, corn bran, and corn gluten meal all listed somewhere in the dog food ingredients list – yet they are all derived from corn. Why not just say corn? Why break them up? Because the weight of the individual components will weigh less, so they can go further down the ingredient list, making them look like they are not a key component of the dog food. Sneaky? Yes. Underhanded? Yes. Legal? Yes.

4. We all want to see a meat listed as a top 2 ingredient. That way we know our dog will get the good protein he needs. But really, you want to see the meal of that meat listed instead. If a meat is listed by itself, then its weight is measured complete with liquid. That makes it very easy to put as a #1 or #2 ingredient. But when the food is actually processed, the liquid is removed, so weight-wise, it might actually fall down to #3 or #4. A meat meal is weighed after the meat has been dehydrated. So you get more of the animal protein and nutrients in the meat meal than you would just the meat.

As confusing at it seems, it will really pay off in your pet’s health and well-being if you can understand the ingredients and what you are actually feeding him. If you figure out your current dog food is nothing but garbage, don’t despair. Just keep looking at the ingredient labels on various foods until you find one that you think is better. The more educated we become in what we are feeding our dogs, the better quality ingredients and natural preservatives will become available. Knowledge is the key.

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