While most Vets do have your dogs best interest in mind when it pertains to treating problems, they mostly miss the boat when it come to nutritional requirements.

Like human Doctors seem to let drug reps sway their decisions on what drugs to prescribe, so do Vets let dog food reps talk them into what foods to sell.

The ingredient list below is from a dog food brand found in most Vets offices, so lets take a look at the ingredients and see if it would pass our test of a healthy pet food.

Ingredients:
Ingredients Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Dried Egg Product, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Vitamin E Supplement, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

First lets see what this company says about this formula, and then I’m going to tell you the truth.

They says: If your dog lives life on fast forward or just has trouble keeping weight on, This formula is packed with wonderful flavor, calories, and nutrients. It has all the nutrition an active dog requires to stay healthy and strong. It’s the perfect choice for sporting dogs, show dogs or finicky eaters.

Now let’s use what we learned about reading labels and see if this formula is something you should feed your dog.

1)- Ingredient number one is Ground Whole Grain Corn, which means by weight this is the prominent ingredient in this formula. So what’s wrong with ground whole grain corn?

When corn products are used as the primary ingredient in a dog food, they are using it as the primary protein source. Short term this will not hurt your dog, but long term it does deprive him of the animal based protein that their bodies are better equipped to absorb and retain. Much of the corn protein will pass through your dog as poop.

2) – The 2nd ingredient listed is Chicken By-Product Meal, which if you read my article titled Best Dog Food – The By-Product Debate; you’ll know that this ingredient alone is a show stopper for me. I will not feed my dogs any food that uses by-products as an ingredient. There is no real consistency of this ingredient and it could be anything, in this case to do with Chickens…

I should say anything except actual Chicken meat, believe me if they use enough Chicken meat to legally call it Chicken they would. They don’t even try to use the word Chicken in the name of this product… I wonder why?

3) – The 3rd ingredient is Animal Fat: STOP and Back Away from the bag! Never feed your dog a food that has Animal Fat listed as in Ingredient.

The only thing we know for sure about Animal fat is it comes from the tissues of mammals. These mammals could be horses, pigs, goats, rats, roadkill and even dogs or cats. These animals could have been put down because they were sick or they died of old age.

The bottom line is we don’t know what Animal fat is at any given batch, and I don’t know about you but I’m not taking the chance that I’m feeding my dogs any of their sick dead peers.

What they should of used here would have been Chicken Fat, which then we would of know exactly what we were getting, but if they wouldn’t even use real Chicken meat, I am not surprised not to see Chicken fat.

There are other ingredients in this formula that doesn’t make me happy, but there really is no need to go past the first three… not one of them would be included in a food I would feed my dogs.

Mike Considine has done extensive research on dog foods, and while he has includes some of the dog food recipes he feeds his dogs, he has also put together a healthy top ten best dog food list here.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Best-Dog-Food—Bad–Ingredient-Examples&id=2649410

If you have decided to do recipes for homemade dog foods, there’s a few do’s and dont’s that you need to follow. But rest assured, that with the proper ingredients, your dog will thrive much better because he or she will no longer be ingesting harmful preservatives and other not so good ingredients.

You’ll want to check with your veterinarian to find out what your dog’s exact needs are in terms of amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates in his diet. Some need more and some need less of a certain group of foods.

Once you know that you can make your recipes in the right ratio of meats to grains to fat.

As far as ingredients goes, good ones to use are poultry and other meats, a small amount of organ meats (think of how much organ meat is inside a buffalo), eggs, rice, potatoes, beans, legumes, vegetables, and whole grains.

You’ll want to avoid grapes, raisins, garlic, onions, chocolate, raw meat, and artificial ingredients. Some of these are downright poisonous in even small amounts, while others pose a certain amount of health risk. Raw meat, if it has been exposed to bacteria, can make your dog just as sick as you.

But before you start your dog on this new regime, please do make sure that you have him or checked out by your vet to make sure they are healthy. You’ll want to get regular blood work done to ensure that they are getting all the nutrition that they need.

You might like these homemade dog food recipes. I’ve personally handpicked these 5.

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What really is used as fillers in cheap dog food?

Used in low quality, cheap commercial dog food, fillers are basically put in the dog’s “food” to save the manufacturer money, not to increase nutritional values. Included are products that are not edible and difficult for our pets to digest such as: cereal byproducts, – cottonseed hulls, – crushed peanut shells, – straw, – corn and crushed corncobs, – weeds, and – feathers.

A cheap dog food filled with corn fillers, listed as corn, corn meal, and corn gluten meal should be avoided as this is used as substitute for higher quality animal protein sources.

These fillers are not just unpalatable, but can be dangerous to your pet. They can cause digestive problems, allergies, and in immune deficient puppies or older pets can cause severe medical problems..

What is a by-product?

Found in cheap dog food, meat by-products are euphemisms for parts of animals that wouldn’t be considered edible by any smart consumer.

Meat by-products actually do not contain meat. By-products are part of the animals that are left over after the meat has been stripped away from the bone. This disgusting cheap dog food mishmosh would then include heads, feet, entrails, hoofs,lungs, spleens, kidneys, brains, stomachs (still with undigested food inside) bones, blood (some with hormones and medications included) intestines and loads of other carcass parts that are not fit for human consumption.

Also, the boiled down flesh of road kill, zoo animals, and 4-D (dead, diseased, disabled dying) livestock is considered okay with these manufacturers. This also can include dogs and cats that have been euthanized. Avoid dog food with blood meal, which is an inexpensive protein booster. The animal source is usually not stated, and the blood can be contaminated with residues of hormones, or medications.

What is a non-specific meat source?

If the main protein source is listed as “meat” this is to be avoided.

It is always mystery meat such as: spoiled rotten meat from the grocery store (Styrofoam wrap and all), Road kill that can’t be buried on the roadside, heads, feet, skin, hair, feathers, carpel and tarsal joints, and mammary glands are used from the slaughterhouses.

Animals that have died from diseases, cancerous tissue and all, – tumors and worm infested organs are also rendered. Injection sites are rendered, blood clots and all. Stomach and unclean bowels are rendered. Contaminated material including blood is rendered. Carcasses with high levels of drugs or pesticides in excess of limits prescribed under the FDA (not fit for human consumption) are rendered.

Everything is pitched into large vats and slowly ground, then cooked at low temps till the grease rises to the top. And consider that this is what is listed on the ingredient list as “animal fat”. The rest of what is remaining is then pressed until the moisture is completely removed, and this dry raw material that is referred to as “meat”, is then used in the cheap dog food brands.

Why are artificial colors, preservatives and flavors used?

Flavor is added, because most pets wouldn’t eat the finished product without some sort of cover up for the horrible smell. These additional flavors are usually from rancid restaurant grease. The used rancid grease is picked up after sitting out in barrels, in the sun for weeks. This is what the pet food manufacturers buy to add as flavoring, which is sprayed onto the kibble. Also sugar or corn syrup is used to cover up the bad taste of the inferior kibble.

Different dyes are used to make the food look good to us, the pet owner. Dyes are known carcinogenic causing additives, and I’m quite certain my pet, or yours, does not care what color their food is.

Artificial preservatives are used to extend the shelf life of the dog food. The main ones to avoid are: BHA (butylated hydroxytolulene), propyl gallate, propylene glycol (also used in automotive antifreeze, and is suspected of causing red blood cell damage) and ethoxyquin. These are all potentially cancer causing agents that your pets are eating every day.

This all sounds pretty grim, but rest assured there are many extremely excellent, ultra premium dog foods now being manufactured without any of the above crap in them. These highly reputable and conscientious companies have philosophies aimed at providing you and your pet the best of the best when it comes to nutrition and peace of mind.

A lot of pet owners are also now making their own all natural homemade dog food, and this is always better than the junk the commercial pet food manufacturers are feeding our pets. It is easy, and comparable in price to buying the premium organic dog food brands, as long as you use a proper nutritionally balanced dog food recipe. There are many all natural, healthy dog food recipe books for sale, and also readily available on the internet are all sorts of high quality dog food recipes E-books and websites featuring home cooked pet food.

Whatever you choose for your pet, remember we speak for them, and choose the best for them that you are able to give.

Homemade Dog Food is an easy way to make sure you are feeding your dog the best dog food, as long a your follow a recipe that is specific for dogs.

Recipes 4 Gourmet Dogs has comparisons and recommendations of the best dog foods and the companies with progressive environmental activity and philosophies promoting your dog’s health through using human grade ingredients, locally products rather than unknown outsourced cheap ingredients and using natural preservatives.

Bad dog food ingredients are listed and explained, so it will be easier to identify which dangerous foods not to feed your dog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jane_Dinunzio
http://EzineArticles.com/?Avoid-These-Dog-Food-Ingredients&id=1652206

Prior to anyone will get any improper idea about electric dog fencing, a number of clarifications should be made. For one thing, it won’t lead to the prompt distress when contact with regard to human beings along with creatures alike mainly because you’ll find nothing to touch in terms of a physical barrier, say, one made of timber or even steel. This is an invisible fence in the sense that the electric wires are buried beneath the ground so no visible fence is above the ground.

For another thing, it will not deliver any sort of lethal electric surprise towards the canine wearing the training collar which will forms an element of the invisible barrier. Talked about electronic zap can be equated to static electrical power where just a mild jolt resulting in an upsetting experience shall be been through. Besides, the smallest possible setting is commonly used simply to achieve the objective of aversion instruction.

Now with these items in your mind, you can come to realize why most people enjoy an electric powered canine fence. Stay with me so you, too, may well want its added benefits.

Yourself

An individual’s budgets will adore the advantages that electric dog fencing supplies starting from its acquisition along with assembly at its routine maintenance. Think of it in the up coming modes:

You’ll simply pay out a few hundred greenbacks for the greatest unseen fence, which you can fit alone. On the flip side, a physical pallisade manufactured from timber as well as metals cost more than 200 greenbacks on the components not including the payments towards the woodworker and also the city permits.

You will need to preserve a physical barrier once the real wood rots and the metal rusts, resulting in additional cash losing sight of your own purses. At this time evaluate it with the unseen fencing in which you have no preservation charges to think of. And also, you could potentially put in the invisible dog fence product wherever you need – surrounding the whole lawn or perhaps about your vegetable back garden not to mention flower beds.

Your Canine Friend Trainer

Also the professional dog trainer giving for your hound obedience instruction in your house will love the electronic pet dog fence. Your puppy may be educated to respect its borders even when these are invisible with the human eye alone.

The pet’s self-discipline in remaining in only fixed limitations unless uncomfortable sensations materialize should be translated right into superior training about the field. The family pet is better ready to adhere to directions in particular those which need returning to the master besides running aside. The certified hound trainer’s energy will then be well-spent.

Your Friends

Should you don’t dwell miles and miles away from your most adjacent neighbor, you have to also think of their interest and respect his or her views specifically when talking about pet containment. Along with whatever else, try to be mindful of limitations designed for fencing – kinds of components along with elevation authorized, as an example.

Quite a few domestic local communities truly prohibit any kind of fencing made of timber along with materials apart from maybe for flower shrubs. Nevertheless, you might need a fence of some type for your pet’s wellbeing such as to avoid it from running away or from chasing after cars. Here is where the electric pet dog fencing comes in. It’s the best of both equally worlds – you have got a fence even if hidden and your neighbors are happy you are following the no-fence guideline.

Hence, since you now see why many people really like the electric dog fencing, you have to have one for your self, too. You will turn out to be delighted that you just did.

Kong dog toys are believed to be one of the best training techniques offered and there are several various options from which to choose. Dog training is crucial and the quicker that you can start the better. Most dogs want to learn and many will probably thrive on being trained correct behavior and the way they should act both at home and in public.

Puppies grab destructive behaviors easily and these can turn into challenges in case you allow them to. Too much barking, wandering along with detrimental behaviour are incredibly common, and some puppy owners don’t know the way to handle this kind of behavior. There are actually exercise equipment along with strategies that you can use in your own home, that can make certain that your pooch will lose the bad behavior and then betters certainly.

Employing aversive as well as incentive exercise is just about the most effective methods to teach your four-legged friend that its disorderly attitude is certainly unacceptable. Now that it starts to realize what behavior is normally suitable, and what it should not do, day-to-day lives can become less complicated. Woofing is a major problem for puppy owners due to the fact it not merely impedes persons in the home, but even others who live nearby. Abnormal barking is just a bad habit that typically must be quit at the beginning.

Canines enjoy toys and games and they adore being given goodies, thus, combining the two is the best technique to encourage right tendencies in your canine friend. Employing an electronic collar together with the toys plus doggie snacks you will appreciate that there may be a whole balance when it comes to the teaching. The training collars are supposed to ensure your canine learns it can’t bark for any excuse.

Although barking might be natural to the canine friend, abnormal screaming can become a difficulty. The Kong toy is utilized as an effective teaching stuffed toy by skilled trainers, who wish to take full advantage of the trainings. Not only may it be filled with goodies for the education program, but will certainly also provide hours of fun, definitely not enabling time for unfavorable conduct. Whilst your dog is engaged with the doggie gadget not to mention rescuing the goodies, it has little time for screaming and destructive behavior.

Initially it is going to be an idea to make use of the two doggie treat plaything as well as electronic collar to train your canine friend that it should never bark un-necessarily. Once it has actually been taught this you can begin to reward your pet dog for the fine conduct and the pooch may possibly broken the bad routine. Training will take some time, nonetheless, a huge majority of canines could learn really fast with the electronic training collars.

They are going to obtain a forewarning prior to a jolt, and this is usually enough to stop the shouting. Should they continue to bark a brief, sharp shock is administrated, which actually is not harmful. The receiver collar is designed to put a stop to your dog previous to it barks, hence, breaking the poor habit. After you have broken the cycle making sure that your four-legged friend really can’t get bored once more is vital.

Furnishing your dog with Kong dog toys will ensure that it deploys its time along to good uses, by simply trying to remove the snacks. Even though many dogs are successful, it should take them some time to achieve their goal. During this period, they will be way too busy to bark, chew or ruin the furnishings. Your family will be far happier and your family dog will love the new stuffed toy.

When you spend as much time as I do doing research on the best dog food, you are going to find yourself in the middle of more than one debate about ingredients. The one I’m writing about today is called Menadione Sodium Bisulfate, which is a synthetic vitamin K.

Vitamin K is an essential nutrient to ensure proper blood clotting. So what’s the problem after all sounds like Vitamin K would be something we should want in our dog foods?

The problem is not Vitamin K; it’s the synthetic form Menadione that gives us concern. While the FDA has amended its ban on Menadione to allow its use in feed and drinking water for animals, it was previously banned because of toxicity.

Menadione is still not allowed to be used in human food and has been denied a petition by the FDA, because of lack of proof of safety.

Menadione has been linked to Liver cell cytotoxicity, Weakened immune systems, Potential mutagenic effects, Damage to natural Vitamin K cycle, Hemolytic anemia and jaundice, Direct toxicity in high doses, Irritation of the skin and mucous membranes.

Personally the fact that this ingredient is banned for human use is enough for me to make it a deal breaker if it’s listed on a dog food label. So what do we do about making certain our dogs are getting the Vitamin K they need?

The conclusion seems to be that Vitamin K supplements are unnecessary for dogs. Vitamin K1 is naturally found in leafy green vegetables, cauliflower, tomato, soybeans, wheat bran, egg yolk and organ meats and is synthesized in the dog’s body. Vitamin K2 is a natural product of bacteria found in the lower intestines.

If you are worried about your dog having a Vitamin K deficiency here are some of the symptoms to look for:

Excessive bleeding
Frequent nosebleeds
Abnormally bleeding gums
Heavy menstruation
Blood in urine or stool.

Some other causes of Vitamin K deficiency are:

Too many antibiotics kill the bacteria in the intestines
Intestinal disorder
Liver damage

One of the first things I look at when picking out the best dog food, is could I eat the ingredients myself. If the ingredients include by-products that by law are marked unfit for human consumption, I don’t want them in my dog’s food.

Likewise if an ingredient is restricted by the FDA from being added to human food, I don’t want that in my dog food either. That is why I will not feed a pet food that has Menadione Sodium Bisulfate listed on the label.

Mike Considine has done extensive research on dog foods, and while he has includes some of the dog food recipes he feeds his dogs, he has also put together a healthy top ten best dog food list here.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Best-Dog-Food—The-Menadione-Debate&id=2629972

Training your dog by using any lead is easier proclaimed than done for lots of reasons that will not be talked about comprehensive in the following paragraphs. Be enough it to say that a remote pet dog training collar steps in where the leash misses out. In fact, expert trainers encourage the use of a training collar to facilitate the procedure, which is to be mentioned in the future. Read more and also connect the dots regarding the receiver collar coupled with useful instruction, for example.

First Dot – The particular Education Grab

We will first discuss the remote control training collar since many followers may not be experienced with this. As its label signifies, the remote training collar has three principal components:

It’s managed using a remote control. During the course of the education, you will be having the handy remote control that transmits the proper aversive techniques to the particular collar around your doggie’s neck.

It uses aversive tactics. The training collar has the potential to give off a loud caution beep and a light electric powered zap, which are made to ensure you get your puppie’s attention in a number of circumstances. Your canine will learn to act in keeping with your orders in an attempt to stay away from the unpleasant sensations that come through the collar, which is why this is the tool pertaining to aversion instruction.

It truely does work inside of a extensive radius. Certainly, you’ll need dog collars having various radius determined by where you stand performing the training procedure. Your choices range any where from 100 yards to 500 yards.

Please note that, besides the handheld remote control and the training collar, there aren’t any other physical devices working in the remote receiver collar. You shall not work with a lead all the time even as it is usually necessary through the initial few workout sessions.

Second – The Education Itself

Let’s go on to the training workouts. You are going to right away find out how the remote dog training collar is actually of good assistance to all your aims. Your own breakthroughs, as we say, with regards to the collar’s efficacy will comprise of:

You don’t ought to shout way too loud and too often if you want to make your canine retreat to your side as soon as it begins running apart. Simply push the button on the handheld remote control in order to activate the aversive stimuli which includes the alert beep and the electric powered shock. Your puppy must take notice of the stimuli and go back to your side. The particular presumption here, furthermore, is you have instructed your puppy to answer its name. You should not assume your dog to near to your side when you’ve never yet called it by means of its given name.

You can train inside wide open places quite possibly without worrying about the tether. The aversive stimuli work as the invisible lead that connects your puppy to its master – you, of course. It can’t be overemphasized, nevertheless, that the effective use of the dog collar has to be done in a caring system. When you routinely make use of the receiver collar to appeal to the attention of your respective canine, there will be a time when it will not pay attention to your demands. Familiarity breeds contempt – or even more properly, your canine will get used to the beep and surprise that it’s going to quickly simply brush off all these stimuli.

The remote dog training collar is amongst the finest purchases you could make for your pet. Buy it now and gain from a well-behaved canine friend in a little while.

Blue Buffalo is a company that makes high quality, holistic dog food. One of their best selling lines of food is their Blue life protection formula. This line of dog food has many flavors and recipes for you to choose from, and each of the recipes contain lifesource bits that are patented by blue buffalo. We will talk about the lifesource bits later in the article, but let’s first talk about some of the recipes and what ingredients they have.

How Blue Buffalo Dog Food is Made

One of the top selling recipes from the blue life protection line is chicken and brown rice. This recipe has a few things in common with the other recipes available from Blue Buff.

• It is made with meat, fish or poultry as the first ingredient
• It does not contain any fillers or meat by products
• It is made with wholesome fruits and vegetables with high vitamin count
• It is made with high quality protein to ensure your dog gets the best nutrition.
• Human grade meats are used to ensure your dog gets the highest quality proteins and amino acids.

What are blue lifesource bits?

These bits are designed to add extra vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants to the dog food, however they use a special process to ensure maximum potency. When dog food is made they cook the ingredients at high heats, this high heat can degrade the potency of vitamins by up to seventy five percent. The lifesource bits are cold formed to ensure they are of the highest potency. The bits are made to help counteract some of the toxins dogs are exposed to in their normal environment and help boost their immune system.

If you would like to try Blue Buffalo for the first time you are eligible to receive a $5 off coupon. You can visit Jeremy’s dog food blog to find out where to get your Blue Buffalo coupons

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Many reasons exist if you want to offer a bed for your own dog. It presents them a feeling of safety and also can fix physical troubles as they age. Our own house animals usually commence tiny and we see sweet. The bed will certainly fit the canine or maybe kitty perfectly. As being the furry friend grows, you will want size right pet beds. Most likely it is wise to look at a bed the dimensions of the pet full-grown at the time you make your decision.

The countless variety of pet beds will surely offer you just the one that will probably satisfy both you and your furry companion. In the event your pet is crate trained, giving a delicate cushiony pillow case may be all you have to. During the house breaking period, it would be far better to use a pillow that leaves an area in the kennel for papers to be able to take in all the accidents which will take place in your shortage. Having a bed with a totally removable envelop for laundering can also be advantageous.

Furnishing a bed after the puppy and / or kitten period is easier. It is possible to buy stylish fashion beds that suit the core of your dwelling, or even special pillows that provide him or her their very own space. It’s a good idea by others that the cushion be at least four inches thick. Whilst it may perhaps look like it really is way too thick for a little pet, it will eventually help all of them throughout their life.

If your furry friend is a mature, it can be important to utilize a bed with specialized qualities. Joint disease or another joint pain may require a bed from polyurethane foam or possibly one that is elevated. This will minimize the stress on their own ailing bones.

Another choice is actually warmed beds for usage through the cold period. This should calm painful bones making it more convenient for all of them in order to hit the ground running when they waken. Laying on a tough ground may cause his / her hips for being less elastic and it could be hard to get out of bed and additionally wander.

Whatever style of pet beds you ultimately choose, the first selection needs to be something that caters to you and your family pet. A visit to the pet store will provide you with various beds to select from. If perhaps you don’t obtain the one you would like, some research on the web will highlight options that you simply perhaps never dreamed of.

Tents, four-poster mattresses, hard-sided crates along with carriers are simply a handful of the options. But if your dog or cat prefers privacy through its rest periods, you could potentially decide on designer label bed furniture having draperies within the sides as well as over the top. The other choice is a travel crate that has strong side panels. It’s not at all a location to go for discipline, it is just a spot to go to relax as well as flee from the normal traffic in the house.

Pet dogs which may have dog houses also need to have some variety of bedding in the home. Weather-resistant covers and sturdy materials really are a must if your beds shall be exposed to weather. Just after bad weather, the bed must be removed from your pet house and made possible to dry. It is important to realize that your dog or even cat probably enjoys identical comfort that you do in your own bed. Give them the best you could and take their measurement, age group and also physical conditions in mind.

Dog food protein is essential to your dog. Dogs require more protein than humans. Interestingly enough, protein hasn’t always been the focus of dog food. Wikipedia has several examples from the 1800s that show a dog food focus on cheese, milk, buttermilk, oats, barley-meal, potatoes and animal fat. Dog food has come a significantly long way. Now, dog food companies are concerned with dog food protein and the many different ingredients are needed to come up with a pet food product that matches the amino acids that a dog requires. These can all be synergised by using various different food combinations. Some feel that because dogs are direct descendants of wolves, that their protein requirement are one hundred percent meat based. Another argument is that dogs are naturally scavengers and will eat basically anything, whether it is a protein or not. Still others feel that with the domestication of dogs, and the fact that they have been living with humans for thousands of years, that they have evolved into incomplete carnivores. And there are more opinions beyond those as well. Even though dogs are built to take in more than just meat, the meats that go into regular commercial dog food are something that should be thoroughly comprehended. This subject is extremely broad, and I am going to do my best to touch on the major points. There is an incredible wealth of information on this topic and some of it is rather frightening.

Commercial dog foods tend to be comprised of one meat product and several other items that are generally carbs or meat by-products. The first five ingredients listed on the side of a bag of dog food tends to be a basic summary of 95% of its contents. This is fine, but the issue is when pet food companies embellish on the value of the product within the bag. It is a no-brainer that any dog owner should pay close attention to these items, and the way the items are placed and worded on the package.

When dealing with meat in general, the first 50% of a slaughtered animal that can be used is considered to be “human grade.” Some people have felt that serving their dogs “human grade” food is a proper solution to all of their dog food needs. A lot of pet food companies use the words “human grade” as a catch-all phrase to make some of their food sound better than it really is. While the idea of a “human grade” food is a great one, but it isn’t an absolute. To say that a food is human-grade is relatively misleading. What the term means is that the food is good enough to be consumed by humans. This has little to do with the processing of the product. The term “made with human-grade ingredients” doesn’t mean that the end product is human grade. In short, the processing of human-grade meat could in fact be something that wouldn’t be healthy for human consumption at all. The AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) doesn’t even have a definition of “human grade” ingredients.

Some of the key items that are found in commercial pet food are animal leftovers that can’t be sold at the local grocery store. These items of the animal are usually the brains, bones, eyeballs, blood, intestines, lungs, spleens, livers, ligaments, membranes, and fat trimmings. These leftovers are called “by-products” and tend to get used in pet foods. A good thing to know about animal by-products is that hair, horns, hooves, beaks and feathers aren’t a part of the equation. As a general rule of thumb, higher-end pet foods don’t even use meat by-products. If one registers at the AAFCO website and looks into animal by-products, the results could be considered encouraging. An example of this would be 4D meat (dead, diseased, dying or disabled) is considered “adulterated” and shouldn’t be included in pet food unless it has been treated to a point where all dangerous microorganisms have been destroyed. Obviously, a dog food with meat by-products as the main ingredient is inferior to one that has a specific meat and then a by-product listed afterward.

The next level of meat is the meal. Various meat meals are extremely common ingredients in pet food. The reason the word “meal” is used is because the food is not necessarily fresh. It is also meat that has been rendered. Rendering means that the meat has been pulled apart in such a way that oil and fat are separated from the flesh through a serious boiling in a cauldron or vat. 4D foods are used much more readily with meal. Once again, they are cooked in such a way that all dangerous microorganisms are destroyed.

The next point is the fact that dog food is broken into single and multiple protein products. What this means is that a single protein is one form of meat. Multiple proteins (such as beef and turkey) would be considered to be two or more meats. Some feel that there is no sensible reason to give an animal a single-protein food. With multiple protein sources, the dog gets several different amino acids from each meat product. By running two proteins in tandem in a dog food, the right amino acid mix is easier to make. Furthermore, multiple proteins mean that less fillers are required, less fillers means less bulk on your animal, and an easier product to digest.

One of the arguments for grain within dog food is that a dog’s required amino acids can be achieved through various mixes and matches of meat and grain products. The argument is usually about the quality of the meat and grain products used. One shouldn’t forget that there is a slight protein ranking within grains such as corn, soy, and oats.

There is a high percentage of dogs that have food allergies. Corn is such a common additive, that some feel its constant inclusion with dog food has made it a regular culprit for dog food allergies. Soy is another culprit. Some feel that the number of dogs with food allergies may be as high as twenty percent, others ground the figure somewhere well below ten percent. Whatever the case may be, dog food companies have created hundreds if not thousands of different foods for dogs that should meet your dog’s needs, even if he does have allergies. Obviously, a well balanced, meat-only diet would hit all of the required amino acid marks, and avoid potential grain allergies. Meat allergies however, are another reality that make the whole idea of dog food protein that much more complex.

Some standard meat allergies that dogs have are chicken and beef, which are two of the main meats in most dog foods. There are solutions available though. Lamb, duck, venison and turkey are other relatively safe alternatives. Lamb used to be the hypoallergenic cure-all, but dogs of late have been showing up with allergies towards this meat product as well. Bringing in these new ingredients might be what your dog needs and chances are that if the newer food has venison or lamb in it, your dog will be just fine with it.

Dog food protein should be a key element in your dog food shopping process. No matter how you feel about a dog’s ancestry, it is good to know the definitions of the proteins and multiple proteins that are in your pet’s food. If you have any further questions about dog food protein (or this article has opened some up for you) you should really do an informational takedown online. There are countless different opinions, facts and figures out there that will help you to be the well-informed pet-owner that your dog will appreciate.

One of the highest quality dog foods that you can buy is EVO dog food. for this and any other dog food. visit WEST COAST PET SUPPLY online and see what we have to offer.

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