Dog Food Ratings
If you are looking for dog food ratings that will give you a short and sweet answer to you question you may end up a bit frustrated. Although there are some sites that provide information or comparisons of different dog foods, most are created and run by dog food manufacturers and are little more then a marketing gimmick to increase sales. When rating dog foods it is important to focus your comparisons first on the necessary components dogs need for good health and second on avoiding potential health hazards.
Dogs need several nutrients to survive, namely: amino acids (that come from proteins), fatty acids (from fat), carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and quality water. Here is a brief review of the nutrients that you should be comparing.
There are ten amino acids that dogs cannot produce on their own and must get from food sources. Dogs can often tell when a food lacks amino acid and will often avoid eating that food. Quality protein should be derived from animal meat rather than "animal byproducts".
A dog cannot create fatty acids necessary to sustain life and must also eat enough of these dietary fats to provide for internal functions like carrying fat soluble vitamins, enabling cellular function, visual and brain function, the health of the skin and coat, and resistance to disease and infection.
Dogs get some of their energy (calories) from fat and some from carbohydrates in glucose, fructose, starches and dietary fibers. An adult dog's diet can include up to 50% carbohydrates but it is preferable that no more than 4.5% comes from fiber.
Puppies require more than twice the calories of an active adult dog. Pregnant Dogs require 33-66% more than an adult dog, while nursing dogs may require 2-4 times as many calories depending on the number of puppies being nursed and the length of time nursing. Older less active dogs may require 20% less calories than middle aged adult dogs.
Many vitamins and minerals are essential to your dogs health including: Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid and Folic Acid.
The essential minerals include: Choline, Calcium, Chlorine, Iron, Copper, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Zinc, Manganese, Selenium and Iodine.
These vitamins and minerals provide nutrients necessary for nerve impulse transmission, muscle contraction, strong bones and teeth, cell signaling and enzymatic reactions, just to name a few.
If the dog foods you are rating do not contain these essentials they should be discarded. Once you have determined that the dog foods you are comparing include these essentials, focus your dog food rating efforts on the quality and quantities provided by each prospective dog food.
