What's in that Dog Food You Feed Your Dog?

Making informed decisions when choosing the dog food you feed your dog can go a long way in keeping them healthy. Dogs are actually omnivorous which means that their diet should consist of meats, grains and vegetables just like ours does.

When you are shopping for dog food making common sense decisions starts with reading the labels. Start by narrowing your choice, to only those brands which state that they adhere to the dietary guidelines of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). This is an association which has developed guidelines for testing the dried ingredients found in all types of dog food. Although these standards are pretty broad, selecting AAFCO-complying food is a better choice than non-complying brands.

Ingredients are listed in descending order with the ingredients that are present in greater quantities listed at the top. If the dog food is labeled "beef" or "chicken" then beef or chicken should be the first ingredient listed. After the meat should come the list of grains and vegetables. If there are a lot of grains then you might end up having less meat than you think even though the meat is listed first.

There are other key words that you should be aware of when selecting your dogs food. If the term "meat" or "meat based" is used then this indicates that it should contain actual animal flesh which may include animal organs, blood vessels and eye parts.

"Meat Meal" or "Rendered meat", is not allowed to contain animal hair or hooves nor may it contain the contents of the animal's stomach.

Rendering is a process where the eatable portions of the animal are removed by heating.

Meat By-Products are organs, ground bone, blood and animal fat but not hooves or hair or fecal matter.

Poultry By-Products may contain chicken organs, feet, and heads.

Poultry By-Product meal is rendered chicken but may not include feathers.

Meat and Bone Meal contains ground bones.

Tallow is hard pieces of white fat. This is not a good ingredient as it is hard for dogs to digest. When choosing your dogs food avoid food with too high of a tallow content. Tallow used to be used to make candels in the pioneer days and still is used in some countries.

Animal Digest defines animal tissue, but not the beaks, hair or hooves, which is chemically broken down.

Fish Meal refers to clean and dried fish which does not contain bones.

Grains should also be present. The most common ones are corn, wheat and rice. Some dogs are allergic to corn and wheat so watch your dog to see if there is any allergic reaction when you first try a new brand. Sometimes manufacturers will use brewer’s rice, soybean meal, sorghum and oatmeal as well. Other ingredients often include cider vinegar, shark cartilage, probiotics, Glucosamine and lecithin.

You should always be aware of what preservatives are in the dog food that you are buying. Preservatives are added to slow down the spoiling process. Some, like BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) and BHA or (butylated hydroxyanisole) are beginning to concern both doctors and vets because of potential health hazards. Propylene Glycol is a chemical preservative which is also found in some brands of antifreeze.

Sodium Nitrate is used both as a red dye and a preservative but has been found to be toxic in some instances. Tocopherols are preservatives which are made from vitamins and are the preferred ingredient.

According to the Center of Veterinary Medicine, no matter what choice you make, you can take comfort in knowing that dog food is manufactured under a series of standards and regulations. These regulations require some nutrients and additives, disallow others, and stipulate certain information that must be on the label. The labels of packages and cans of commercial dog food must list five pieces of information: guaranteed analysis, nutritional adequacy statement, ingredients, feeding guidelines, and the manufacturer's name and address.

With the exception of a nutritional adequacy statement, these items must also appear on commercial food labels for other pets, such as gerbils, snakes, and parakeets.