Dog Food Brands Comparison Cheat Sheet
So we decide on a commercial dry dog food, but which one? Here is a cheat sheet you may want to print out and take with you to the store, to help you compare different dog food brands. Now you will know how to find a good dog food to feed your dog and pick out dog food that is harmful to your dog. Grab a bag, look for the labelling and compare it to this cheat sheet. Following these guidelines doesn’t guarantee you’ll get good quality, human grade ingredients or that the processing techniques haven’t destroyed most of the nutrients, but it will filter out the worst commercial dog food. Lastly use the feeding portion sizes on the bag as a guideline not a rule. The amount you need to feed a dog varies depending on it’s age, breed, activity level and any specific health issues. You are better to compare your dog’s weight against the Body Condition Score and adjust portion sizes as needed.
DOG FOOD CHEAT SHEET
You want this:
- Look for certification from the AAFCO - Association of American Feed Control Officials. You want to see that animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures have been conducted.
- Check the expiration date or bar code date for when the food was made. You want to buy the freshest, especially since natural preservatives in dog food are only effective for about 30-60 days.
- Look for a meat product as the first ingredient, like chicken meat or lamb meat. You want human grade meat (USDA) and better yet, organic meat. Organic meat is less likely to contain hormones, growth stimulants or come from diseased animal flesh.
- Natural preservatives Vitamin C and E (or Tocopherol)
- Look for whole grains like barley, oats and rice (no “hulls)
- Buy from a store that has a quick turnover of product for optimal freshness
- You want a food that has high digestibility. You can find out how digestible the food is just by looking at your dogs stool. If the volume of the stool produced is greater than, equal to or slightly less the volume of food eaten, the digestibility is poor. The aim is to have a stool volume of about 25 % of the food eaten, with little odor, this indicates good digestibility.
- Bonus if the dog food contains probiotics (good-bacteria) to help digest
You don’t want this:
- Avoid these preservatives that have been shown to cause health problems,
BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin
- Meat by-product, this is basically animal parts that are not meat, like brains, intestines, blood and chicken feet. (yuck!)
- Corn, soy, wheat or low quality carb fillers. (common allergens)
- Avoid foods with artificial dyes or colors and flavors
Rather than going through and rating some popular dog food brands, I thought this cheat sheet would be more practical. This way you can compare dog food brands that are available for sale in your local pet store or grocery store. But if you like I did find this dog food rating site dogfoodanalysis.com that you may want to check out. Keep in mind although that some of these dog food brands may only be available to you through online purchase and remember you want to buy a product that has good turnover to get the freshest possible dog food.
I hope this cheat sheet helps you find a good food for your dog.
If you missed the previous post on dog food here it is.
