Have you ever looked at your dog food ingredients label? If you think it is hard to understand, you’re not alone. But what you don’t know about what is in your dog food could cause health problems for your dog. You only want the best for your pet, but his current dog food may actually be harming him.

Sometimes is seems like you need a degree to figure out all the ingredients in your dog food. What do all these terms mean? The dog food companies basically tell you not to worry about it – they will take care of your beloved pet. But consumers got a terrible wake-call with the massive pet food recalls over the last few years. They may know what is best for our dogs, but that is not what they are giving us. Thankfully, more organic and all-natural pet foods have been springing up, giving us healthier dog food choices.

But it’s not hard to figure out what is in your pet food so you can compare with other brands. Here are some of the more common “tricks” to reading dog food ingredients lists:

1. Ingredients are listed by weight, by law. So the first 5 – 10 ingredients listed are the main ingredients in the dog food. Good ingredients will equal a good dog food.

2. Look for natural preservatives, such as vitamins E and C (also shown as tocopherols and ascorbic acid). Inferior dog foods still use BHT, BHA, and Ethoxyquin. These chemical preservatives have been banned from use in human food.

3. Since ingredients are listed by weight, a dog food with a lot of one ingredient (especially one that is not a quality ingredient, for example, corn) is allowed to be broken into different parts and listed separately. For example, you might see corn flour, corn bran, and corn gluten meal all listed somewhere in the dog food ingredients list – yet they are all derived from corn. Why not just say corn? Why break them up? Because the weight of the individual components will weigh less, so they can go further down the ingredient list, making them look like they are not a key component of the dog food. Sneaky? Yes. Underhanded? Yes. Legal? Yes.

4. We all want to see a meat listed as a top 2 ingredient. That way we know our pet will get the good protein he needs. But really, you want to see the meal of that meat listed instead. If a meat is listed by itself, then its weight is measured complete with liquid. That makes it very easy to put as a #1 or #2 ingredient. But when the food is actually processed, the liquid is removed, so weight-wise, it might actually fall down to #3 or #4. A meat meal is weighed after the meat has been dehydrated. So you get more of the animal protein and nutrients in the meat meal than you would just the meat.

As confusing at it seems, it will really pay off in your pet’s health and well-being if you can understand the ingredients and what you are actually feeding him. If you figure out your current dog food is nothing but garbage, don’t despair. Just keep looking at the ingredient labels on various foods until you find one that you think is better. The more educated we become in what we are feeding our pets, the better quality ingredients and natural preservatives will become available. Knowledge is the key.

Learn how to keep your dog healthy by deciphering the dog food ingredients list. Visit the Healthy Dog Food blog to learn more about healthy dog food ingredients and how to find the best dog food for your dog to stay in good health, naturally.

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