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Dry Dog Food Comparison
Our dry dog food comparison page is for all those who compare dog foods and dog food ratings by looking at the dog food ingredients for one, and price for another.
Before you buy any dog food for your pet, it will be essential that you know what is in their favorite foods and compare dog food ingredients and look at dog food ratings.
This means taking the time to read our dry dog food comparison to fully understand what they are eating.
Reliable dog food ratings are done after a lot of research is put into looking at the dog food ingredients. You can then compare dog foods and see which are what you think you should be feeding your canine.
While many of these foods may seems like the best options based on packaging promises, we will show you what are the good and what are the bad ingredients to give you a good dry dog food comparison.
When you compare dog foods, the proof is in the dog food ingredients, so you yourself can use our dry dog food comparison and understand which dog food ratings are credible.
You will find that some contain filler or byproducts that will be less than desirable for your pet, but they are inexpensive for the manufacturer to make.
You might ask why should I even think about using commercial dog food, what with some dog food manufacturers using inexpensive byproducts and low quality ingredients ?
The answer to that question is that most people do not have the time, money or committment to have their canines on a homemade dog food diet.
There are quality dog food products out there, you just need to compare dog food ingredients by knowing what are quality ingredients from our dry dog food comparison.
You have probably already noticed that more and more smaller dog food manufacturers that when you compare dog foods, receive good dog food ratings, because they are made with quality ingredients.
That has forced the large commercial dog food manufacturers to stay competitive by coming out with more natural, or holistic dog food products, because people do compare dog food ingredients between manufacturers. |
Find Out The Main Ingredients Of The Dog Food
We start out our dry dog food comparison by looking past the first five or seven ingredients, and look at ALL the ingredients to see where filler or lower quality ingredients are used.
Look at the first source of fat or oil when you compare dog food ingredients. Theses can be sourced from animal or vegetable, with the non-specific sources that you should avoid are:
- Animal fat
- Poultry fat
- Vegetable oil
- Generic fish oil
- Mineral oil
Anything that is listed in the ingredients before the first source of fat, and including the fat content, are the main ingredients of the dog food.
Any ingredients after the main ingredients are used in small amounts to function as preservatives, add flavor, aid in the manufacturing process or are used for dietary purposes. |
Look At The Quality Of The Ingredients
This is a tough topic to really get definitive results because the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials), which is the governing body for the feed industry, will not allow statements on the "quality" of dog food ingredients.
So we do not know how much of an ingredient is in dog food, and whether quality products were used in manufacturing that dog food.
So it is up to the consumer to decide which manufacturer they trust and what results they have gotten when using specific dog food brands.
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Don't Be Afraid To Question The Manufacturer
You should do your homework by reading anything you can about the manufacturer of a particular dog food you are interested in buying.
- Does the manufacturer make outrageous claims about their products without details supporting their findings ? Can their statements be verified by independent sources ?
- Do they compare their product to any competitor's and are their statements factual ? Marketing as it stands today is full of misleading statements so one company can get a competitive edge over another.
- Whan at a dog show or convertion, ask a rep for the particular dog food you are looking at to see if they can give creditable answers to your detailed questions.
- DO not be afraid to call up the manufacturer and see if you can talk to a real person.
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What Ingredients Are Good And Which Are Bad
OK so let's detail the main ingredients that make up dog food and then you can get a better picture on making your own dry dog food comparison.
Fats And Oils
- A dog's skin and coat will remain healthy with some fats and oils in ther dog food. Proper brain development is helped by fats and oils in their diet.
- These fats and oils must be specifically named and of high nutrition. Dogs will love lard and beef tallow, but these are high in saturated fats and low in fatty acids (which are needed for a good diet).
- When the fats and oils are specifically named then you can be the judge. Some specifics are:
- chicken fat
- canola oil
- sunflower oil
- herring oil
- flax oil
- Here are the fats and oils you need to avoid when buying dog food:
- mineral oil
- animal fat (nondescriptive)
- poultry fat (nondescriptive)
- generic fish oil
- vegetable oil
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Proteins
- Protein from quality meat ingredients is the single most important part of your dog's diet. We have mentioned before that dogs are carnivorous, so their digestive trac is designed for meat and fats.
- Realize that meat is also the most expensive ingredient, so this is where your lower quality dog food producst skimp to keep costs down. An important part of our dry dog food comparison to remember is that the first ingredient listed should be a specified meat meal, or a fresh meat type, followed by a meat meal.
- So here are the protein ingredients that make a quality dog food:
- Named Meats And Meat Meals
- Meat sources in meal form are not bad for the dog food, but only if derived from a specified type of animal. You see meat meal consists of meat and skin, and possibly some bones, but nothing else.
- Chicken
- Chicken meal
- Turkey
- Turkey meal
- Lamb
- Lamb meal
- Duck
- Duck meal
- Beef
- Beef meal
- Eggs
- Here are the protein ingredients you should avoid:
- All generic meat ingredients that do not list a species
- Byproducts meals
- Byproducts consist of anything but the quality cuts of meat and is not fit for human consumption.
- Corn gluten or soybean meal as the main ingredient
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Carbohydrates- Carbohydrates can originate from grains like barley, rice, wheat, oats and corn, but also alternative sources like potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas or tapioca.
- Carbohydrates are good ingredients in dog food only when properly cooked such as baked dry, extruded or canned and are good sources of energy and highly digestible. Any other way they become just fillers.
- The tolerance to carbohydrates depends on the dog and it's health, because some dogs need a grain free diet.
- The quality of grain is important, because dog manufacturers can legally use grain contaminated with grain into animal feed.
- Here are the carbohydrate ingredients that are good for dog food in our dry dog food comparison:
- Whole ground grains
- Oats
- Rice
- Barley
- Millet
- Potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Peas
- Here are the carbohydrate ingredients you should avoid:
- Potato product fragments
- Mill of any kind
- Unspecified grain sources like grain fermentation solubles and cereal food fines
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