Dog Ownership, Nutrition and Care: Dog Food
Dog Food Recall Alerts
This RSS feed is one source of real-time published information on the latest pet food recalls.
Dog Food Basics
Have you ever wondered which dog food brand is the best for a dog? The selection available at supermarkets, veterinarian offices, and pet stores can be intimidating. Between the highly marketed brands on TV commercials and billboards, the recommendation of other dog owners, and a cryptic ingredient list, most of us just choose whatever feels right or within our budget.
The truth is that we can use a lot of the same common sense logic to choosing dog food as we should for human food. The important thing to know is how to decipher an ingredient list on the dog food package.
What's in your dog's food?
Surely you've hesitated before eating certain foods because you question what went into their making. If you ever considered that some of what you eat everyday is probably not fit for human consumption, then be assured that the standards for dog food are even further down on that list.
You can live on fast food, but your quality of life will suffer. Same rule applies to dogs! They are what they eat too.
The definitions of ingredients you will find in any dog food label are extensive and varied. Explaining them all in this guide would make for endless reading, so please refer to the following sources of information on the Internet. They are the best Internet tools to arm yourself with as you analyze labels:
The Dog Food Project
Sabine Contreras, a Canine Care & Nutrition Consultant offers this free on-line resource sporting a wealth of information on this topic. She shares the findings in her research on the dog food industry, food regulation standards, and keeps a watchful eye on product recalls, ingredient shifts and pet food company actions that can affect the quality of specific brands.
If nothing else, the following web pages are an eye-opening experience:
- Commercial Dry Foods: Introduction
- Label Information 101
- Identifying better products
- Ingredients to avoid
- Meat vs. Meat Meal
TIP: PRINT THIS BOOKLET (PDF) AND TAKE IT SHOPPING WITH YOU! 
Books on Canine Nutrition
Big Kibble by
A big, inside look at the shocking lack of regulation within the pet food industry, and how readers can dramatically improve the quality of their dogs' lives through diet. What's really going into commercial dog food? The answer is horrifying. Big Kibble is big business: $75 billion globally. A handful of multi-national corporations dominate the industry and together own as many as 80% of all brands. This comes as a surprise to most people, but what's even more shocking is how lax the regulations and guidelines are around these products. The guidelines--or lack thereof--for pet food allow producers to include ever-cheaper ingredients, and create ever-larger earnings. For example, "legal" ingredients in kibble include poultry feces, saw dust, expired food, and diseased meat, among other horrors. Many vets still don't know that kibble is not the best food for dogs because Big Kibble funds the nutrition research. So far, these corporations have been able to cut corners and still market and promote feed-grade food as if it were healthful and beneficial--until now. Just as you are what you eat, so is your dog. Once you stop feeding your dog the junk that's in kibble or cans, you have taken the first steps to improving your dog's health, behavior and happiness. You know the unsavory side of Big Tobacco and Big Pharma. Now Shawn Buckley, Dr. Oscar Chavez, and Wendy Paris explain all you need to know about unsavoryBig Kibble--and offer a brighter path forward for you and your pet.
ISBN: 9781250260055Publication Date: 2020-12-01
Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by
Over 400,000 copies of Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats have been sold since its original publication more than 20 years ago The book that is the definitive guide to a natural lifestyle for dogs and cats is now completely updated and revised--for the first time in 9 years. Writing with the warmth and compassion that have won them a national following, veterinarian Richard H. Pitcairn and his wife Susan Hubble Pitcairn, noted specialists in chemical-free nutrition and natural healing for pets, show dog and cat owners how to provide the very best in companionship and lifelong care. They now cover environmental matters, including pollutants both inside the home and out, as well as recent hot-button topics, such as Mad Cow disease, Lyme disease, and the West Nile virus. They've updated dozens of recipes for delicious and healthful pet food and treats. With a guide to handling emergencies and an in-depth "Quick Reference" section, they give specific instructions for preventing, diagnosing, and treating a wide range of animal diseases and disorders-with special attention to homeopathic, herbal, and nutritional remedies.
ISBN: 157954973XPublication Date: 2005-09-03
To Your Dog's Health! by
Written by a man passionate about nature and all living creatures, this book reads like a casual conversation you're having with a really good friend over a couple of beers. Someone who you've always respected and knew was really smart, knew what he was talking about.Don't be surprised if To Your Dog's Health! makes you apologize to Fido or Fifi for all the years you just opened up any old can or bag of food, put it in a bowl, and left it for the day. And then you get upset, maybe even mad, when you got home from work, tired and maybe a little cranky, only to discover your pet hadn't touched its food.To Your Dog's Health! just might be your wake up call.
ISBN: 0984301704Publication Date: 2010-02-01
Try before you buy
Some manufacturers make small chips-sized bags of their food and offer them as samples. Ask your local store if they have samples of the food you're evaluating. If not, try contacting the manufacturer directly. It's important to know if your dog will like it too, and samples are a great, FREE way to find out!