Even colorful packaging and smart marketing campaigns cannot take the place of high quality dog food ingredients. Unfortunately, many brands on the market today are not only made with poor ingredients but in some cases, these foods are seriously unhealthy.
As a pet owner, trying to choose the right food can be a daunting task. With so many options it becomes tricky in separating foods made with high quality ingredients from those using fillers and other ingredients that contain hormones and antibiotics, among other things that should never be fed to a dog.
Most information focuses on the types of dog food ingredients that people should look for so we wanted to switch things around by focusing on dog food ingredients to avoid.
Remember, when a dog is fed a product made with poor quality or unhealthy ingredients it leads to digestive problems, dull coats, skin problems, fatigue, compromised immune system, and in some dogs, behavioral issues.
Therefore, as a responsible pet owner it becomes vital to choose food wisely. Although you may pay a little more for brands that contain the right ingredients it would be worth it long-term.
After learning about the dog food ingredients to avoid you would be able to look at labels for various brands, knowing which ones to buy and which ones to walk past.
This would provide you with confidence in your ability to choose healthy food but also confidence by knowing your beloved pet is receiving something that will support health and wellness so he stays a part of your life for a long time to come.
One of the most important rules is that by nature, dogs are carnivores or meat eaters so when choosing pet food brands protein is essential.
Generic Terms
The first thing would be to learn generic terms. Pet food companies are sneaky in the way ingredients are listed so to cover up dog food ingredients that people should avoid for their pets, these companies use generic terms for fish, poultry, and meat. Therefore, when looking at labels, make sure the food lists actual protein sources such as salmon, venison, turkey, beef, chicken, lamb, rabbit, etc.
By-Products
If you think about it, even people avoid eating by-products so this would certainly not be something to offer pets. The term “by-products” is nothing but a cover up for parts of animal bodies such as intestines, spleens, heads, bones, blood, feet, ligaments, lungs, and fat that should not be consumed.
Although quality of by-products varies dramatically, any food containing by-products should be avoided at all cost. Another way to look at dog food ingredients of this kind is that they are the same thing used to make rubber, fertilizer, soap, and even lubricants for industrial use, certainly not ingredients you want in your dog’s food.
Animal Fat
Another ingredient to avoid is animal fat. In reality, animal fat is nothing more than a generic term for rendered cat and dog. Although in the United States companies no longer use this practice, any food being ordered or purchased from another company whereby animal fat is listed as an ingredient is unhealthy. Sure, these foods are cheap but pets are also fed ingredients considered unsuitable.
Natural versus Organic
Typically, these terms are used interchangeably although they have somewhat different meanings. Organic food could be natural, natural food cannot be organic. While both ingredients are void of chemicals, the benefit of organic ingredients is that they must meet strict standards set forth by the US government whereas natural foods do not.
Choosing products made from dog food ingredients that are natural or organic would be fine but the highest quality would be organic so if possible, avoid natural and go with organic ingredients.
Soy, Wheat, and Corn
Most of the worst dog food products on the market are made with a significant portion of grains, otherwise known as dog allergens. As a result, dogs often have chronic problems associated with the skin and digestive system.
Soy, wheat, and corn are the worst dog food ingredients when it comes to standard grains but even worse are processed grains to include rice flour, wheat gluten, and wheat flour. The goal when choosing pet food would be buying products made from whole grains such as oatmeal, brown rice, and barley.
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