The basics of dog food analysis -- what to look for in dog food

Here is a quick checklist for dog food analysis -- is the dog food you are considering up to the mark? What you want to do is to quickly navigate through the overwhelming number, types and brands of dog food available.

When I first started to decide which dog food to feed by beloved dogs, I found the experience quite overwhelming. The sheer number, types and brands of dog food in the market were enough to send my head spinning in circles. After years of this exercise though, I have figured out how best to analyze dog food. Here I am presenting to you the basics that I use as my checklist for analyzing dog food. You can use this as a guideline to assess whether a type or brand of dog food is at least worth considering.

The following is a basic list of what to look for when analyzing dog food to determine whether or not it is of high quality.

• A specific meat is the first ingredient
  Meat is the most important source from which a dog gets protein. So it makes sense that meat should in fact be the first ingredient in a quality dog food. The meat should be identified as "chicken," "beef," "lamb" etc., because unidentified "meat" is not good.
• No meat "by-products" or "meals"
  It is important to note that by-products such as nails, hair etc. do not provide adequate nutrition. So dog food with labels including any kind of meat "by-products" should definitely be avoided. There is some controversy about whether or not any kind of meat "meals" (such as "chicken meal" or "lamb meal") are acceptable, but I personally feel that the highest quality dog foods do not contain such "meals".
• No gluten
  Wheat gluten, corn gluten, or soy gluten are not suitable for dogs.
• Grains and Anti-oxidants are included
  Great quality dog foods include some grains, anti-oxidants, and/or fruits and vegetables. These serve to provide your canine with balanced nutrition.

Including the above factors in dog food analysis is a great starting point to see if the dog food you are considering for your beloved dog is a good one.

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