Our dry dog food comparison page is for all those who want to compare dog foods and dog food ratings by looking at the dog food ingredients for one, and price for another.If you really want to do an indepth comparison of dog food. Petsumer Report does the hard research into which companies use good quality human-grade food, leaving you with the best information and each dog food with a rating up to 5 paws!
Good dog food will promote longevity, vitality, healthy coat, clear eyes, regular bowel movements, healthy teeth and clean breath. This is why it's important to compare dog foods and taking the time to read our dry dog food comparison to fully understand what they are eating.
While many foods may seem like the best option based on packaging promises, we will show you what to look for - from good and bad ingredients when doing a dry dog food comparison. So you can choose which is the healthiest option for your dog.
Plus you can also go to Petsumer Report where they rate dog foods with 1 to 5 paws. Saving you time, or as an addition to your own research.
Many manufactured dog foods (canned OR dry) contain cheap 'filler' / by-products that are less than desirable for your pet.
What works for me, is that I give my doggies my home-made food 1-3 times a week, depending on the time availability that I have to make the food. I feed my home-made softer food, followed by a top quality dry kibble for teeth cleaning. This is a great compromise for a working owner who doesn't have the time to make their own dog food. Check out my dog food recipe.
Good quality dry dog food contains essential vitamins, and they help to clean their teeth too!
This page is meant to help you select and do your own dry dog food comparison, fashioned to your dogs dietary needs.
Note: Remember when choosing dog food, the most expensive is not necessarily the best, and the worst is not necessarily the cheapest. A dog food that we use is is very reasonably priced, and very healthy. Our dog Patches has a very sensitive stomach and can only handle another brand.
We start out our dry dog food comparison by looking at the first ingredient.
1) Protein - The first ingredient should be a meat protein.
Protein is important for muscle repair and long lasting energy.
Preferably a smaller animal such that they would eat in the wild - such as lamb, or chicken, NOT beef. Beef is ok in smaller amounts ideally, but not as the first ingredient.
Protein amounts should be 22-24%, although this percent will depend on your dogs age and any medical conditions such as diabetes or kidney problems etc.
Protein from quality meat ingredients is the single most important part of your dog's diet.
An important part of our dry dog food comparison to remember is that the first ingredient listed should be a specified meat meal, or a fresh meat type (ex. Lamb), followed by a meat meal (ex. Lamb meal).
Lamb OR Lamb Meal?
Some people prefer to not feed their dog a meat meal thinking that it's a by-product. But from experience, I've found that I've raised healthy long-living dogs, and the first ingredinet was lamb meal.
Meat sources in meal form are not bad for the dog food, but only if derived from a specified type of animal. You see meat meal consists of meat and skin, and possibly some bones, but nothing else.
Good animal proteins are listed in best to worst:
Here are the protein ingredients you should avoid:
2) Carbohydrate - The next non-meat ingredient should be a carbohydrate. Carbohydrates can originate from grains like barley, rice, wheat, oats and corn, but also alternative sources like potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas or tapioca.
Note: Many dog foods have corn, corn meal, corn gluten as the first ingredient. Just like many human foods that add corn as a filler, it is not nutritious and you do not want it to be a main ingredient.
Here are the carbohydrate ingredients you should avoid:
3) Fats And Oils - A good percent of fat is 14% for a moderately active dog. If your dog is less active or has a fat intolerance, this amount should be lower.
A dog's skin and coat will remain healthy with some fats and oils in ther dog food. Proper brain development is helped by fats and oils in their diet.
Fats and oils must be specifically named and of high nutrition.
Some good ones are:
Here are the fats and oils you need to avoid when buying dog food:
Note: Dogs will love lard and beef tallow, but these are high in saturated fats and low in fatty acids (which are needed for a good diet).
4) Dietary Supplements
Additional supplements such as vitamins and minerals are added to the food to give an overall healthier food with all essential nutrients for good health.
The food you choose needs to have a "Guaranteed Analysis" to show nutrient amoutns of:
This analysis is needed to be shown for the AAFCO (association of american feed control officials) dog food nutrient profile.
The food should be free from artificial flavour, colour, low in salt and low in preservatives.
The AAFCO (the governing body for the feed industry) do not allow dog food manufacturers to to list the quality of their ingredients on the packaging (ex. human grade food or not).
If you want to know the quality of the dog food ingredients, more in depth research needs to be done. This is very time consuming. The Petsumer Reportlooks into the quality of the ingredients to know if they're human grade or not.
You should do your homework by reading anything you can about the manufacturer of a particular dog food you are interested in buying when doing dry dog food comparison shopping.
DO not be afraid to call up the manufacturer and see if you can talk to a real person.
How much should you feed your dog?
The dog food should also have a table with the dogs weight and daily intake of food per cup.
Satisfaction guarantee. If they list a phone number, they stand behind their product.
Expiry date - check that the food is before the expiry date.
A final note:
If your dog wont eat the food, then maybe there is something wrong with the food, or they just don't like it. They have tastebuds too. If they dont like it, find something else.
Every dog is different. If the food isn't agreeing with the dogs digestive system, try a something different. First buy a smaller bag of quality food that says 'for sensitive stomachs'. Always, change the new food gradually with the current food mixed together over a few days. Give the new food at least one week so your doggy's tummy can adjust. If it still doesn't agree, try one more food, or take your pooch to the vet.
If your dog continues to have troubles try some quality name brands that offer dog foods for sensitive stomachs. Choose the food using the dry dog food comparison guidelines above and also thePetsumer Report for additional information.