More people are concerned with the food their pets eat than ever before. Once, feeding your dog table scraps was considered a treat because he was eating 'human food'. However, the reality of table scraps is that they are likely to be low in nutrition and high in fat, salt and sugar. After all, they are the things you decided not to eat. Indeed, this concern about our pets nutrition has pretty much mirrored the concern for our own nutrition. A result of this concern is the huge variety of dog food types and brands that are now available. Many claim to be premium quality or specialized in some way. What does this actually mean and is it just hype. This article will cover what is in commercial dog food and what to look for when buying it.
There are three things to look for when you are buying commercial dog food. They can help you build a pretty good picture of what the food is made from.
The product must be complete and balanced. A product can be complete and balanced when it satisfies the guidelines that are issued by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). They ensure that the food is nutritionally complete for the type of animal that the food was created for.
The next thing to look for is the guaranteed analysis. This essentially lists the types of foodstuffs in the food. The main part of the food, according to the guaranteed analysis, must be protein. But it should have a variety of other foodstuffs including fats, water and vitamins and minerals.
Finally, the ingredients will give a concrete breakdown of what is in the food. You should look for the main protein source. A good quality dog food should have a meat protein like beef or chicken in it. Make sure that this is the real thing and not something that sounds like chicken or beef.
For instance, something might be described as a beef dinner for dogs, where beef dinner is the main constituent ingredient. It is not actually beef but a formulated ingredient that might only contain a small percentage of beef.
You should also look at the preservatives and additives that go into the food. There is much debate about the safety of some preservatives and the effectiveness of others. Make sure the food is not chocked full of these products and check out the reports on the preservatives that are in the food.
A food manufacturers commitment to it's products should be demonstrated by the labeling that they have on the packaging. It should indicate that the food is complete and balanced, it should list the guaranteed analysis and ingredients. Another quality control indication is a website address where you can find out more information about the product or an address where you can ask for more information.
Learn more details about what is in commercial dog food and other dog health and care issues at http://www.doghealthncare.com
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