A loving pet owner will always want to give the best for his dog. If you have a pet dog and want to give him the nutrition that he deserves you need to know the ingredients that make up the best dog foods around.
The choice for a dog food is not solely based on the brand the claims to be the best. You have to be diligent enough to look at the ingredients that are used to make the dog food. If you see the term animal fat being used as an ingredient, don t go for that product. Animal fat is a generic term that says something about poor food quality. Instead, look for actual named sources like chicken fat or beef fat.
Dogs aren t human but some manufacturers use human grade ingredients for their dog foods. This is okay as long as they are using human grade meats. Some terms to look for are hormone free and antibiotic free meats as these kinds of meat make the dog food even more nutritious.
Proteins are something needed by your dog and some manufacturers tend to use wheat gluten, corn gluten, or rice protein concentrate. These are the worst sources of protein you can give your dog so stay away from dog foods that contain these. Soy protein is also taken in the same manner.
The best dog foods will have no meat by products or the like. A meal is acceptable but their source must be identified specifically. Dog foods can list meal or whole meat as the first ingredient and both are okay to feed to your dogs. The only time that a by product becomes suitable is when they are labeled as sourced from human grade organs like kidney and liver.
Like any other food, artificial preservatives should be avoided at all cost. BHT, BHA, and Ethoxyquin are just some of the preservatives that are used in dog foods. Dog foods that contain these preservatives are deemed to be of low quality. Ethoxyquin is commonly used in a fish meal so if your dog food contains fish meal, contact the manufacturer for your concern.
Other ingredients a good dog food should not have are sugars, artificial colors, propylene glycol, sucrose, corn syrup, and other sweeteners. Grains, on the other hand, are inevitable in a dog food but you have to make sure that they are kept on a minimal level. Look out for splitting as some manufacturers tend to list grains separately. When this happens, the grains can add up to a greater quantity than the primary ingredient.
Nowadays, taurine has been added to most dog foods because of the recently discovered link between taurine deficiencies and heart problems in dogs. Yet since taurine is sensitive to heat, you cannot really find an adequate amount of natural taurine in processed foods. Nevertheless, the dog foods that are made up of more meat will have more taurine content in them.
The best dog foods are regulated by certain specifications so you have to know if the dog food you are interested in meets these specifications. Doing so will ensure that your dog will have the balanced nutrition he needs.
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