Some Tips on selecting the best processed DRY food for your dog.
by Bob Merrill ( the webmaster )

I would like to mention first that more and more dog lovers are getting away from processed food altogether, instead switching to an all-natural diet of raw meat, eggs, finely shredded vegetables, and nutritional supplements, and it has "turned around" unhealthy dogs when nothing else seemed to. It is called the BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, or Bones And Raw Food) diet. by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. The website is: www.barfworld.com

NOW - tips for selecting the best processed dry food for your dog.

I will begin with the conclusion, for those of you who want to "cut to the chase". The details are covered in the rest of the article, as well as the "Whole Dog Journal" top rated dry dog foods (Feb, 2002):

Don't assume that a dog food with a "big name" is good for your dog, check the ingredients! Some of the "big names" are charging you plenty for poor quality food. Look on the label for the first five listed ingredients Ideally the top 2 or 3 of these ingredients should be a meat source (after all, dogs ARE carnivores) Single-source meats/meat meal, like lamb, duck,chicken meal, turkey meal are good generic meat products (poultry meal, meat meal) are not good Single source by-products (chicken by-products) are bad; generic by-products (poultry by-products) are worse. - stay away from by-products altogether if you want a healthy dog. Make sure any grains listed are familiar nutritious words to you, like barley,whole wheat, or brown rice - if you see unfamiliar words like soy bean mill run, brewer's rice, corn gluten meal, wheat mill run or wheat midlings, these are all terms used to convince the uneducated that they are usinmg healthy products, but really are terms for "what's left over" after all the nutritious parts of the grain have been stripped - another accurate term for wheat mill run is "floor sweepings". Stay away from ground corn as a major ingredient, it can be a cause of allergies, and is a cheap filler. Avoid chemical preservatives, sweeteners, artificial colors, propylene glycol, etc. Baked dog food is better - the companies that "extrude" their food actually have to "add" flavor to the very outside of the food, or dogs wouldn' eat it. .................. Hmmm- if they don't add flavor, the dog wouldn't be interested in eating it.....what does that tell you about the food quality? Try it out on your dog for a few months. If your dog begins to scratch himself, have ear infections, bites his skin (hot spots), has problems with loose bowels or throwing up, this isn't the dog food you want. But if some of these were problems before, and they clear up - then you're getting closer to the right food for your dog. A nutritious food will give your dog more energy, a good-looking healthy coat, no breath problems, and a better temperament. In the long run, the best foods aren't really more expensive. Because good nutritious foods are better digested and utilized by the digestive system, you don't have to feed as much to your dog per day. I feed two of my golden retrievers 2 cups per day, and I feed the older, less active one 1 cup per day. And a bonus - when the food is digested and absorbed better by the body, the poops are smaller and more compact - less to pick up! And I haven't even mentioned the lifelong savings at the Vet Clinic because of having a healthier dog. You can compare your dog food to others with the online comparison wizards later on in the article.

But over the years, many companies have boosted their profits by changing from quality meat and vegetable sources to low-priced by-products, things they literally used to throw away. Now many companies are selling dog food that is basically flavored ground corn and meat by-products or worse - but they are advertising it as if it were the best nutrition for your pet.

What kind of ingredients should you look for in a dog food?

Think about the ancestry of domesticated dogs. They came from wild wolves - carnivores, meat eaters. Dogs have short digestive systems designed to process MEAT proteins. Dogs have mouths with sharp teeth designed for tearing meat. Animals meant to eat grains and vegetables (cows, horses, sheep) have flat teeth for chewing and long digestive tracks for digesting. Although grains and vegetables are much less expensive than meat they are much more difficult for dogs to digest - just as meat would be difficult for a horse to digest.

Pet food ingredients, just like human food ingredients, must be listed IN ORDER by weight. The first 4 to 5 ingredients listed make up about 75% of the food (by weight prior to cooking) and are an accurate indicator of the quality of a particular food. The following chart shows the top five ingredients by weight in 8 popular dog foods.There is nothing special about these 8 products - you can use any of the dog food comparison links later on in this article to check other dog foods, or to compare the one that you are currently using to other ones.
.

Canidae	Eukanuba premium performance	IAM's Natural Lamb meat & Rice	Innova
Chicken Meal	Chicken	Lamb Meal	Turkey
Turkey Meal	Chicken By-products	Rice Flour	Chicken
Ground Brown Rice	Ground Corn	Ground Corn	Chicken Meal
Quinoa	Rice Flour	Sorghum	Ground Barley
Lamb Meal	Fish Meal	Fish Meal	Ground Brown Rice

Natural Balance	Pro Plan Lamb& Rice	Purina Dog Chow	Science Active Canine Maintenance
Chicken	Lamb	Ground Corn	Corn Meal
Brown Rice	Brewer's rice	Chicken Meal	chicken by-product meal
Duck	Ground Wheat	corn gluten meal	animal fat preseved w/BHA propyl Gallate
Lamb Meal	corn gluten meal	soybean meal	dried beet pulp
Oatmeal	pearled Barley	animal fat	vegetable oil

The Whole Dog Journal says: Quality Foods Should Contain: Superior protein sources, either whole fresh meats or single source meat meal (example: chicken meal rather than poultry meal) A whole-meat source, as one of the first two ingredients(better yet, as BOTH of the first two ingredients) Whole, unprocessed grains, vegetables, and other foods. Nutrients and enzymes. (more likely to be found in unprocessed foods) Quality Foods Should Contain a MINIMUM of the Following: Food fragments - lower-cost by-products of another food manufacturing process, such as brewer's rice, soybean mill run, and wheat bran. Manufacturers usually include at least one fragment to help lower costs. Beware any food that includes several fragments. Meat by-products (not handled as carefully as whole meat) - any food that contains meat by-products as the MAJOR protein source indicates a low-quality product. High Quality Foods Should NOT Contain: Fats or proteins named generically (example: animal fat/poultry fat instead of beef fat / lamb meal) Artificial preservatives (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin) Artificial colors. Sweeteners (corn syrup, sucrose, ammoniated glycyrrhizin) to improve unappealing food Propylene glycol (is very similar to ethylene glycol-the main ingredient in automobile antifreeze), a toxic substance when consumed in large amounts; added to some "chewy" foods to keep them moist) (the entire article, from February 2002 is available at Whole Dog Journal for a small fee, and is excellent!)

 

Here's a typical example of how many of the companies operate (They're hoping that no one will read their ingredients list). This dog food is Science Diet light canine maintenance, and it is a little pricey, even though the ingredients are dirt cheap. The hype (from their website ): " (Our Dog Food) meets the nutritional needs of healthy adult dogs who tend to gain weight. This lower-fat, higher-fiber formula keeps dogs feeling full without reducing their meal size. Enriched with L-Carnitine and the Healthy Defense System, a superior anti-oxidant formula to support a healthy immune system" But a good look at their top five ingredients (from ) tells another story: Corn Meal - ground up corn, an inexpensive good source of carbohydrates, but would rather see a MEAT/PROTIEN source in the first listed position. Corn is a common cause of food allergies in pets Soybean Mill Run Soybean mill run is composed of soybean hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls (not the actual bean) which results from normal milling operations in the production of dehulled soybean meal. Commonly referred to as 'floor sweepings,' this ingredient is nothing more than an inexpensive filler with little or no nutritional value. Poultry By-Product Meal Poultry by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts (other than meat) of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices. This is a low-quality, inconsistent ingredient, with multiple organs used, constantly changing proportions, and questionable nutritional value. The origin can be any fowl (turkeys, ducks, geese, buzzards, etc.), instead of a single source, like chicken. Poultry by-product meal is much less expensive and less digestible than chicken meal. Peanut Hulls (Shells) - the part thrown away when we eat "salted-in-the-shell" peanuts Corn Gluten Meal - Corn gluten meal is the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. Corn gluten is an inexpensive by-product of human food processing. It offers very little nutritional value and serves mainly to bind food together. Also is a common allergen in pets.

Is there any food I can purchase that has good nutrition for my dog?

Actually, there are several companies that seem to be producing good, nutritious foods for our pets to live long healthy lives. You won’t find them at the supermarket, at the feed mill store, or at farm supply store, or at many vet clinics. They are known as “Super-Premium” dog foods. Super-Premium dog foods are more digestible so more of the nutrients are utilized. This means less poop is produced. Super-Premiums are more nutrient dense and less expensive to feed than Economy, Regular and some Premium brands, because your dog won’t need as much of it per meal – AND I haven’t even mentioned the savings in veterinarian bills due to a healthier pet.

So, how DO you find quality dog food?

It really isn't all that hard. You need to learn to recognize the ingredients to look for in a good dog food, and which to avoid. You can compare the ingredients on two or more brands and figure it out, using the Whole Dog Journal's list of quality ingredients, foods that are made up primarily of inferior ingredients, and which ingredients to avoid all together.

When you begin to compare, you might be very surprised at which companies produce nutritious dog food, and which ones are made up of the very least expensive raw materials.

When you have selected a quality food, try it out on your dog for a few months. If your dog begins to scratch himself, have ear infections, bites his skin (hot spots), has problems with loose bowels or throwing up, this isn't the dog food you want. But if some of these were problems before, and they clear up - then you're getting closer to the right food for your dog. A nutritious food will give your dog more energy, a good-looking healthy coat, no breath problems, and a better temperament.

Keep in mind that a food that is good for your dog today may not be the best in the future - don't get so attached to a particular brand that you fail to observe diet-related health issues. Your dog's needs can change, and so can the makeup of a particular dog food. Allergies or intolerance to a certain food can develop. There is a school of thought that favors switching every few months between the best brands that work for your dog - what nutrients one food may be lacking can be made up with another.

Also - what is good for one dog may not be good for another. There are households that feed three dogs each a different food.

Use this Online Dog Food Comparison Wizard ( or links below for other dog food comparison tables) to compare your dog food to any other three dog foods. Click by any of the ingredients for a more detailed explanation of that specific ingredient. (This comparison wizard is from Naturapet, makers of the super-premium dog foods INNOVA, California Natural, and Healthwise)

Now view the Whole Dog Journal's top rated dry foods:

LINKS
Dog Food Primer - a view from Holistic Veterinary Medicine
Canine Nutrition by T.J. Dunn, Jr, DVM
What's really in dog food? by the Animal Protection Institute!
dissecting the food label ( by Flint River Dog Food again, but is good information)