Dog Food Comparison

Here’s a realisitic dog food comparison. First between raw, homemade, kibble and canned.

Then we’ll delve into comparisons of commercial foods. Ready?

There are so many choices out there, it boggles the mind.

While I am very happy feeding raw, that may not be your cup of tea.

I want you to be able to choose what is best for you and your dog, considering your time and your budget.

Raw, Home Cooked or Store Bought Dog Food?

First here's a basic dog food comparison by groups from best to worst.

With that knowledge under your belt, you can then decide which one works best for you realistically.

If you can't change to the healthiest choices at the moment, you can always serve them a day or two a week. Every bit helps.

Warning: If you are feeding number 7, you need to continue your dog food comparison with the suggestion at the bottom of this page. (There's also a picture to show you what can happen.)

1.

Fresh raw meats, bones, and organ meats with small amounts of fresh vegetables and very small amounts of fruits.

Include a well rounded vitamin/mineral supplement and omega 3 essential fatty acids.

You can prepare your own raw diet using meat/bone pieces and parts, or you can use pre-prepared ground products.

For a specific how-to book,
you can purchase Going Rawr!

2.

Fresh cooked meats, calcium (to replace those bones), organ meat, with small amounts of fresh vegetables.

Include a vitamin/mineral mix, and omega 3 essential fatty acids. There are several homemade dog food recipe books on the market but I couldn't find one I thought was good, so I wrote a few recipes for you at
Dog Food Recipes.

3.

Ultra Premium commercial canned foods. I say ultra premium because I'm talking about those that are mostly meat which is human quality and no by-products. These have little or no grains and there are no chemical preservatives.

4.

Super Premium grain-free dry dog food like the one Wysong recently came out with called Epigen. It's not only grain free, but starch free.

5.

Premium canned foods. These brands use substantially less meat. Water is often the number 1 ingredient and they use meat by-products (poor quality waste parts). Usually they contain significant amounts of grains and chemical preservatives.

6.

Super Premium kibble like and Canidae, but things change, so you have to keep up to date. Sometimes good dog food makers are bought out by the huge commercial brands and the quality may go down substantially. Innova and EVO, for example were recently bought out by Proctor and Gamble, so I won't recommend them anymore. You may consider it a wise choice to subscribe to the dog food comparison, Petsumer Reports.

7.

Grocery store brands – canned or dry. These contain very little meat, are made with substantial amounts of meat by-products, and primarily consist of grain and grain by-products. The rendered meat used in these products came from condemned animals, ie – animals that were deemed unfit for human consumption.

These products normally contain artificial colors, flavors and chemical preservatives.

I can't list specific brands as bad. There are probably hundreds of them. I was shocked to find out in 2011 the most popular dog food in the world was and probably still is, Pedigree. I cried. Doesn’t anyone read labels?

Dog food manufacturers are fooling you just like they were fooling me.

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Final Comments on Dog Food Comparisons

All those brands you see at the grocery store and big chain pet food stores pay to be on those shelves and spend a lot of money advertising, rather than putting it into the quality of their products.

Do NOT assume the picture on the bag is what's in the bag.

DO assume those added vitamins are a manufactured version that cannot be metabolized and so sludges up the liver while it tries to figure out how to get rid of this foreign substance.

Now, while I believe raw is the best, not everyone has the inclination to do this.

My own husband loves how much better the dogs look, act and feel, but he's still uncomfortable when he sees them chowing down on big pieces of raw meat with bones.

He is afraid someone will choke on those bones, but it's never happened.

He's also not fond of the germs, or how fast his canine son wolfs down his food, but the dogs digestive system is made to address that.

If feeding raw is out of your comfort zone, you can cook for your dog. The less cooking, the better to retain nutrients and enzymes.

If you don't take the time to cook for yourself, let alone your dog, and raw gives you the heebie jeebies, don't give up hope. Just do your homework.

There are thousands of dog foods out there. So many that I couldn't begin to give you any in-depth information. This is why I found someone who does dog food comparison for a living.

Petsumer Reports

~ ~ ~

Buy and download for instant gratification. There are somewhere around 1,700 pet foods ranked for you.

By the way, it is in memory of a beloved dog who died due to commercial dog food. Whatever you chose, may it be an improvement. Now pat yourself on the back and go hug your dog.

And last but not least, add table scraps! I'm not talking pizza. Some plain meat and steamed veggies can add nutrition to that dog diet.

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