How to Choose a Great Pet Food

I have recently been nominated as the home grocery shopper since I am the fortunate one in the household with a covid vaccination. Not a bad chore, but one that brings me a fair amount of anxiety.

I always thought the anxiety stemmed from being around lots of people at the large, imposing grocery store, but it’s not! I discovered yesterday at my foray to the grocery store that too many choices are what actually bring on my shallow breating and sweaty palms.

There are SO MANY varieties of things to choose from! Why do we need SO many choices? I often get completely overwhelmed at the sheer scope of things that I have to choose from in my life every day.

The same can be said for our choices about pet food. Walk into a pet specialty store, even a small one, and you will be greeted with rows and rows of shelves with choices from garbage, to overpriced garbage, to actual quality pet food. Here’s how to choose a great pet food.

How to Choose A Great Pet Food

What to Look for in a Quality Dog Food

Like the grocery store, the dog food store often has an overwhelming array of choices. Most dogs will gobble up anything you put in front of them. To choose a quality dog food, you have to train yourself to read the labels and be educated about the ingredients in those foods. Reading the labels can get overwhelming; check out this article on reading pet food labels from Hound 101. The process is broken down nicely for anyone to understand.

A quality diet is more expensive, but will pay off in spades with your dog’s improved health, longevity, and overall wellness in the long run. If you feed your dog a quality diet it is very likely that you will save on vet bills over your dog’s lifespan.

I wholeheartedly recommend fresh food additions to a quality kibble. Many human foods can be added to your pet’s food to boost the nutritional value. See my previous blog post about additions for your pet’s food for some easy ideas!

Quality Ingredients

Many pet foods begin with cheap, corn-based fillers as a first ingredient! Look at the label; the first two to three ingredients should be identifiable meat-based sources. That means “meat meals” or “meat and bone meals” should be excluded, as they are not identifiable. If the label says, “turkey meal” or “chicken meal”, that’s much better as raw ingredients have to be turkey or chicken rather than some mystery meat. Avoid foods with excess chemical preservatives and cheap fillers like corn, wheat, and soy.

The American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has developed nutrition profiles for all life stages of pet foods. To produce food commercially, manufacturers’ formulations must be complete and balanced according to AAFCO’s nutrient profiles. You want to look for ingredients that don’t just meet, but exceed AAFCO’s standards and are of high-quality. A good place to start is Dog Food Advisor, an unbiased rating site for commercial dog foods. Choose a food that receives a 4 or 5 star rating from Dog Food Advisor.

Quality Manufacturing

When choosing quality pet food, the manufacturing process also plays a big role. Pet food manufacturing facilities are rarely inspected. When they are, they are given plenty of warning so that facilities can be cleaned. In the video above, you may notice how grungy and dirty the machinery is. This is likely after the plant was warned of a film crew coming and subsequent cleaning. Consumers also rarely have access to inspection reports from pet food facilities, so we really don’t know the whole picture.

While it’s impossible for us as consumers to get a look at facilites firsthand, and I myself have never toured a pet food manufacturing facility, there are some rules of thumb to choosing a high quality manufacturer.

• Choose small companies: Smaller companies will have a much more hands-on approach to their manufacturing. Smaller companies are also more likely to have better quality control, manufacture their own food rather than outsourcing it, and catch small issues before they become full blown recalls.
• Choose foods that are sourced and manufactured in the US or Canada: Some huge companies have their foods sourced or manufactured in China. Chinese plants are not regulated like US plants. When you look on the label, you can usually find where the ingredients are sourced and the food is manufactured. If the ingredients label says made from globally sourced ingredients, be extremely wary. Even worse, if you can’t find where the food is sourced from and manufactured, call the company and ask where their food is made or avoid it altogether.
• Choose grain free formulas to avoid mold issues. Foods that do not have grains are not as likely to be plagued with aflatoxin molds. These molds grow on grains like corn and wheat as they sit in feed silos waiting for manufacturing.

Feeding Over Time

I remember back to the days when my vet told me to just keep feeding the same food to avoid digestive upset. That standard has changed! Now, it’s OK and even recommended to change your dog’s food periodically so that they’re exposed to different ingredients, proteins, and nutrients. This is also a way to try different brands or types of dog food. Just like us, our dogs enjoy some variety and their health benefits too!

Be aware of serving sizes and calorie counts. While transitioning to new food, feed an increasing amount of the new food and less of the old. A good time to try this is when you’re near the end of a bag of food. Once you find a few varieties tht your dog enjoys, feel free to rotate through those.

Try something new! It has taken me a long time to get over that belief that my dogs should eat the same thing every day if it’s working for them. I’ve tried rotating their food several times over the last few months. Both dogs have experienced pleasant side effects. Big Oliver has gained some healthy weight, stopped burping, blowing room-clearing farts, and his shedding has come almost to a stand still. This was a dog who would lose a full dog’s worth of hair each week! Wally has retained his svelte and sleek summer sighthound body rather than the winter pork roll he typically experiences. His teeth are also gleaming white at almost 4 years old!

In the past 6 months, my dogs have enjoyed venison, fish-such as salmon and sardines, poultry-including chicken and turkey, beef burgers, some raw, some kibble, some fruits, and lots of veggies. It’s rewarding watching them eat with gusto and knowing I’m doing my best to give my Best Friends the health and wholesome nutrition they deserve.

Don’t be afraid to try something new. Your Best Friend will most likely be over the moon happy to try a different food, plus you will know that you are doing all you can to give them the gift of good health.

Meet Fannie!

Fannie is a lover of a Golden Retriver! She’s a young girl, at only 9 months old. Fannie loves snatching socks and parading around with them, playing fetch, and keepaway (a dog’s favorite game), and most of all, snuggling. Fannie is experiencing lots of new delicious foods including bananas, apples, and BFK food and treats. Thanks for being adorable, Fannie!