Reading Labels

You read labels for yourself why not for your dog? Just like people there is some really important information you can find just by looking at the label of the dog food. I'm going to quickly go over some of the information you can find all around a bag of dog food. It's amazing what you can learn just by reading the the front label.

First I'm going to go into just some general terms that you can find on the front of the bag to help you determine what type of food can be better quality. Dog food companies have certain regulations they do have to follow, however they are no where near the quality of human grade food. All of them must comply to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) rules, but some go a step further and adopt the AFFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) standards. Here are some AFFCO rules to look for when buying your next bag of dog food.

Product Name Rule: or 95% rule.

(Example: Beef for dogs)

95% of that product must be the named product. (beef!) If more than one item was named, like duck and sweet potato, then both items must equal a total of 95% with the first ingredient being the dominate of the two.

25% or "Dinner" Rule

(Example: Beef Dinner for Dogs, Beef Formula Dog Food)

25% of this product must contain the named ingredient. (Beef) 'Platter', 'Entree', 'nugget' and 'formula' are also used within this rule. If more than one ingredient is named then at least 3% of each ingredient must be added.

3% or "With" Rule

(Example: Dog Food With Beef)

At least 3% of the ingredient must be used in the product. This label is the one that is most confused with the 95% rule.

"Flavor" Rule

(Example: Beef Flavored Dog Food)

A specific percentage is not required under this rule. Meaning they can use anything as long as they can make it taste like beef! 

Now that we know that we can move onto reading labels. Labels have even more information. They are required to have a list of every ingredient that is in the product. Thats great information, because you wouldn't believe how many bags of food will say it's beef and the second ingredient is CHICKEN! That's not good if your dog has allergies. So always make sure to read labels! Also always feel free to ask your Veterinarian. 

Here you can see an example of a label. (I just pulled this one off Google.) You can clearly see the list of ingredients. Also you can see the Guaranteed Analysis. That is where you can see the percentages of what is in the dog food. For a dog to be healthy they need a food with at least 20-21% Crude Protein (minimum). Some People say less others more. That percentage was told to me by a Veterinarian family friend. Another good thing to look for is Omega-3 (or 6) Fatty acids. While the AAFCO does not recognize it as an essential nutrient it has been proven to help improve skin and coat. It's not necessary but can be helpful. Also not all dog food has a calorie content section so that I am not sure about. Just ask you Vet if you feel like you need to know that information. 

Now I'm going to get a little gross because companies like to present their product in the best light that they can. I'm going to quickly rip apart some of their terms and break down a few ingredients that I think really need some light shed on them.

By-Product that term can very from batch to batch. It's basically all the parts of animals that can't be used for something else. A great example would be the big name grocery stores. They sell meat, but never a whole chicken. I'm talking feathers, feet, heads and all that. So instead of losing money they will sell it to dog food companies and that's what by-product meal is. Just lots of ground up nasty animal parts. I personally wouldn't want to eat that, why should I let my dog? He is my best friend after all. 

Another cruel trick is whole chicken. Well when we think whole chicken we think of something like a dressed thanksgiving dinner, or a chicken hot off a rotisserie. That's not how a dog food company see it. They see a chicken as a chicken. An entire chicken that is dead. Not dressed, or de-boned or anything. A chicken with feathers, feet, a head and all that other stuff chucked into a massive food processor. Yuck! That's why you need to read the labels. While by product or meat meal isn't necessarily bad for your not, it's not the best either.

Another myth I want to quickly put away is that feeding raw or homemade diet is expensive. I just paid under $30 to make enough food for at least a moth if not more. Most brands of dog food like Iams and Pro-Plan go for much more.

Disclaimer: I am not a vet, I do not claim to be an expert. This is collective information I have gathered for reputable sources over my years of working with dogs.