Dog Food Ingredients

A good way to start when selecting a quality pet food is to look at the first 5 ingredients. These make up the bulk of the food and should contain at least 3 identifiable sources of meat and no by-products. An identified meat should always be the first ingredient (Chicken, as opposed to "poultry" or beef meal as opposed to "meat meal").

Ingredients are listed by weight, with the heaviest items listed first. Keep in mind that "chicken" with it's water content will be heavier than "chicken meal" but you actually get more meat in the meal (because it doesn't have the water included in the measurement). In some cases, the second item on the ingredient list will actually be the bulk of the food (especially if it is a dry item) because the water/juices of the first ingredient will likely get cooked off.

The more meat and quality ingredients that are in the food, the less you'll need to feed. So while high quality foods seem expensive, you'll need to feed less and there will be less of your money ending up on the lawn. Grains, especially corn, are fillers that have minimal nutritional value compared to their bulk and mostly end up on your lawn in your dog's waste.

The dog's activity level should also play a part in food selection. A "couch potato" dog (a dog with low overall energy output) needs different amounts of protein, fat and calories than a performance dog (a dog with an overall high output of energy).

Dogs need to gain, maintain or lose weight and the food selection should reflect that. Look at the Kcal/cup on the foods you like and pick the one with lower Kcal for a more sedate dog or the higher Kcal for a dog that needs to gain weight or that has high energy output.

Look at the "best by" date once you find some food you like and pick the one with a date that is farthest away (at least 6 months away) since most dry foods have a 12 month "best by" date when they are manufactured.

Rotating the meat source in the food that gets fed about every 6-8 months is recommended so that if one mix is lacking in something, hopefully another type will provide it.  Some people solve this issue by always buying 2 or 3 types or brands of food and mixing them. That way they don't have to try to keep track of how long they have fed each kind. But this works best if you buy all smaller bags or if you have a large number of dogs to feed.

Then there's taste. If a person has a picky dog, then the quality of the food doesn't mean a thing if the dog refuses to eat it!

No food is perfect for every dog. They are formulated to be good for the MAJORITY of dogs. If you have a dog that doesn't fall into that majority, you might need to switch foods till you find the one that suits them best or use supplments (For example, studies are finding that Taurine is a key component to good health in dogs. However, how much an individual dog needs varies greatly.) I'm sure there are other nutrients that fall into this category too.

Considering that village/feral dogs often survive on human waste and garbage, dogs can be very resilient, but to thrive takes a bit more work. Especially for high energy and/or performance dogs that are doing strenuous or aerobic activities on a regular basis.

Top items to avoid (no particular order):

By-Product- An ingredient produced in the course of making a primary food ingredient; A secondary or incidental product. Feathers are a by-product of poultry meat processing. Feathers which are removed from the carcass during production of meat are then hydrolyzed (pressure cooked with steam until they become a gel) which makes them an acceptable feed grade ingredient. Hydrolyzed feathers have been assigned the IFN (International Feed Number) 5-03-795 and can appear on a label as "poultry by-products." Other items considered as by-products include: chicken heads, duck bills, chicken/turkey feet, bone, cottonseed hulls, corn cobs, peanut hulls, citrus pulp, weeds, straw and cereal by-products. Items identified as beef, chicken and meat by-products are NOT required to include any actual meat. Rendered meat can be any rendered mammal meat including dogs and cats that were euthanized or died from disease, restaurant grease and butcher shop trimmings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendering_(food_processing

Mill Run- An ingredient consisting of residue left after the primary food product has been extracted during a milling process. A "corn mill run" would be pulverized blend of the husks and cobs which are left after a milling process has removed the kernels.

Digest- An animal feed grade ingredient that must be made soluble with the use of heat and moisture. Since these ingredients are not soluble/digestible in their natural state they require this manufacturing process before they can be used in food. An example would be Feet of Poultry (IFN 5-07-947) When an ingredient list shows "Poultry Digest" it could contain this or similar ingredients.

Gluten- The sticky substance in wheat or corn starch that gives the starch it's tough elastic quality. It is used to hold together the pulverized composite of animal feed grade ingredients.

Ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT- Chemical additives used as preservatives. Ethoxiquin is regulated as a pesticide and cannot be added to human food. BHA and BHT are linked to cancer and tumors (especially fast growing and deadly squamous-cell stomach cancers in animals with light colored fur) and may cause behavioral changes. It is not easily cleared from the body, so build-up of the toxins over time can cause the most health problems.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/a/bha-bht-preservatives.htm

Corn- This can be found in many forms within pet food from whole kernel to by-product meal. Just as with humans, corn is very hard for pets to digest (comes out the same as it went in) and it adds very little if any nutritive value. In other words, the more corn a food has, the more you're paying for what you clean-up in the yard. Corn is also a cause of many allergic reactions in pets from itchy coats/ears to more serious allergy effects.

Ingredient definitions: (Association of American Feed Control Officials AAFCO definitions where available)

Apples
Ascorbic Acid- stabilized form of Vitamin C (natural antioxidant which works synergistically with vitamin E)
Alfalfa Meal - the aerial portion of the alfalfa plant, reasonably free from other crop plants, weeds and mold, which has been sun cured and finely ground.
Animal Digest - material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed.
Animal Fat - is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".
Barley - consists of at least 80 percent sound barley and must not contain more than 3 percent heat-damaged kernels, 6 percent foreign material, 20 percent other grains or 10 percent wild oats.
Barley Flour - soft, finely ground and bolted barley meal obtained from the milling of barley. It consists essentially of the starch and gluten of the endosperm.
Beef (meat) - is the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle, and is limited to that part of the striate muscle which is skeletal or that which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh.
Beet Pulp ("beet pulp, dried molasses" and "beet pulp, dried, plain") - the dried residue from sugar beets.
Biotin- A B vitamin involved in the synthesis of fatty acids, non-essential amino acids and purine
Blueberries
Borage Oil- vegetable oil
Brewer's Rice - the dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not to exceed 3 percent.
Brewer's yeast- dried non-fermentative yeast (Saccharomyces) resulting from the brewing of beer. Source of protein and vitamins
Brown Rice - unpolished rice after the kernels have been removed. Not a complete AAFCO definition.
Calcium Carbonate- Mineral supplement containing 38% calcium.
Calcium Iodate- most stable form of iodine; contains 63.5% iodine
Calcium pantothenate- pantothenic acid- a B vitamin
Canola Oil- oil obtained from the pressing of rapeseed. Lowest saturated fat, Omega 3
Carrots
Cheese- Quality protein source. No more than 10% of the fat may be other than milk
Chicken - the clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.
Chicken By-Product Meal - consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.
Chicken Fat- Fat obtained from the tissues of chicken during the rendering process
Chicken Liver Meal - chicken livers which have been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size.
Chicken Meal - chicken which has been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size. Does not contain by-products.
Choline Chloride- Complex B vitamin
Copper Proteinate- chelated source of copper necessary for the absorption and transportation of dietary iron
Copper Sulfate- non-chelated source of copper, not as absorbable as copper proteinate
Corn - unspecified corn product. Not a complete AAFCO definition.
Corn Bran - the outer coating of the corn kernel, with little or none of the starchy part of the germ.
Corn Flour- entire corn kernel ground or chopped. Source of carbohydrates and fiber
Corn Germ Meal (Dry Milled) - ground corn germ which consists of corn germ with other parts of the corn kernel from which part of the oil has been removed and is the product obtained in the dry milling process of manufacture of corn meal, corn grits, hominy feed and other corn products.
Corn Gluten - that part of the commercial shelled corn that remains after the extraction of the larger portion of the starch, gluten, and term by the processes employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup.
Corn Gluten Meal - the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm.
Corn Syrup - concentrated juice derived from corn.
Cracked Pearl Barley - cracked pearl barley resulting from the manufacture of pearl barley from clean barley.
Dehydrated Alfalfa meal- aerial portion of the alfalfa plant. High in vitamin K
Dehydrated Eggs - dried whole poultry eggs freed of moisture by thermal means.
Dicalcium Phosphate- antioxidant approximately 20% calcium and 18% phosphorus
Digest of Beef - material from beef which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed tissue. The tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice.
Digest of Beef By-Products - material from beef which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed tissue from non-rendered clean parts, other than meat, from cattle which includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hoofs.
Digest of Poultry By-Products - material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed tissue from non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice.
DL-methionine- Amino acid needed for growth and protein synthesis, may acidify urine (lower Ph)
Dried Animal Digest - dried material resulting from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed animal tissue. The animal tissue used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto.
Dried Egg product- Dried whole poultry eggs freed of moisture by thermal means. High quality protein
Dried Kelp - dried seaweed of the families Laminaricae and Fu-caeae. If the product is prepared by artificial drying, it may be called "dehydrated kelp".
Dried Milk Protein - obtained by drying the coagulated protein residue resulting from the controlled co-precipitation of casein, lactalbumin and minor mild proteins from defatted milk.
Dried Reduced Lactose Whey - no AAFCO definition available.
Dried Whey - the product obtained by removing water from the whey. It contains not less than 11 percent protein nor less than 61 percent lactose.
Feeding Oatmeal - obtained in the manufacture of rolled oat groats or rolled oats and consists of broken oat groats, oat groat chips, and floury portions of the oat groats, with only such quantity of finely ground oat hulls as is unavoidable in the usual process of commercial milling. It must not contain more than 4 percent crude fiber.
Ferrous Sulfate- non-chelated source of iron
Fish Meal - the clean, dried, ground tissue of un-decomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil.
Fish Oil- obtained from fish; source of long chain omega 3 fatty acids
Flax- very rich in short chain omega 3 fatty acids
Folic Acid supplement- A B vitamin
Ground Corn (ground ear corn) - the entire ear of corn ground, without husks, with no greater portion of cob than occurs in the ear corn in its natural state.
Ground De-hulled Oats - presumably ground cleaned oats with hulls removed (ground oat groats). Not an AAFCO definition.
Ground Wheat - presumably a coarser grind of wheat flour. Not an AAFCO definition.
Ground Whole Brown Rice (Ground Brown Rice) - the entire product obtained by grinding the rice kernels after the hulls have been removed.
Ground Whole Wheat - ground whole kernel, presumably equivalent to AAFCO's Wheat Mill Run, Wheat Middlings, Wheat Shorts or Wheat Red Dog, whose principal differences are in the percentage of crude fiber.
Ground Yellow Corn - same as ground corn, except that the corn used is yellow in color.
Iron proteinate- chelated form of iron
Kelp- natural mineral supplement. Source of vitamin K and iodine
Kibbled Corn - obtained by cooking cracked corn under steam pressure and extruding from an expeller or other mechanical pressure device.
L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate- Ascorbic acid derivative, source of vitamin C
L-Carnitine- helps burn fat and maintain muscle mass
L- Lysine- Amino Acid
Lamb- Flesh of the lamb with or without bone
Lamb Bone Meal - (steamed) dried & ground product sterilized by cooking un-decomposed bones with steam under pressure. Grease, gelatin and meat fiber may or may not be removed.
Lamb Digest - material resulting from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed lamb. The tissue used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed.
Lamb Fat - obtained from the tissues of lamb in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".
Lamb Meal - the rendered product from lamb tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
Linseed Meal - the product obtained by grinding the cake or chips which remain after removal of most of the oil from flaxseed by a mechanical extraction process. It must contain no more than 10 percent fiber. The words "mechanical extracted" are not required when listing as an ingredient in the manufactured food.
Liver - the hepatic gland (of whatever species is listed).
Magnesium Oxide- source of magnesium
Manganese Oxide- non-chelated source of manganese, not as absorbable as Manganese proteinate
Manganese proteinate- chelated source of manganese
Manganous oxide- non-chelated source of manganese
Meat and Bone Meal - the rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents, except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
Meat By-Products - the non rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves.
Meat Meal - the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
Monosodium phosphate- mineral supplement containing approximately 21% phosphorus and 32% sodium
Natural Flavor- Clean animal tissue or the material from the chemical and/or enzymatic breakdown of clean animal tissue.
Niacin supplement- B vitamin
Oatmeal- broken and finely ground oat groats along with a small amount of hulls.
Peas .
Potassium Chloride- mineral supplement containing approximately 52% potassium and 48% chloride.
Potassium citrate- sodium salt of citric acid- source of potassium
Potatoes
Poultry By-Product Meal - consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
Poultry Digest - material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed poultry tissue.
Poultry Fat (feed grade) - primarily obtained from the tissue of poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting. It shall contain only the fatty matter natural to the product produced under good manufacturing practices and shall contain no added free fatty acids or other materials obtained from fat. It must contain not less than 90 percent total fatty acids and not more than 3 percent of un-saponifiables and impurities. It shall have a minimum titer of 33 degrees Celsius. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the word "preservative(s)".
Powdered Cellulose - purified, mechanically disintegrated cellulose prepared by processing alpha cellulose obtained as a pulp from fibrous plant materials.
Pyridoxine hydrochloride- Vitamin B6
Riboflavin- Vitamin B12
Rice Bran - the pericarp or bran layer and germ of the rice, with only such quantity of hull fragments, chipped, broken, or brewer's rice, and calcium carbonate as is unavoidable in the regular milling of edible rice.
Rice Flour- soft, finely ground meal obtained from milling rice
Rice hulls- outer coating of rice; fiber
Sodium bisulfate- salt
Sodium caseinate- solid material obtained from milk by precipitation, source of protein
Sodium Selenate- source of selenium
Soy Flour
Soybean Hulls - consist primarily of the outer covering of the soybean.
Soybean Meal (De-hulled, solvent Extracted) - obtained by grinding the flakes remaining after removal of most of the oil from de-hulled soybeans by a solvent extraction process.
Soybean Meal (Mechanical Extracted) - obtained by grinding the cake or chips which remain after removal of most of the oil from the soybeans by a mechanical extraction process.
Soybean Mill Run - composed of soybean hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls which results from normal milling operations in the production of de-hulled soybean meal.
Sunflower meal- source of vitamins, calcium, iron and fiber. Up to 24% protein
Sweet potatoes- whole potatoes and pieces obtained from the processing of potatoes for human consumption
Tallow - animal fats with titer above 40 degrees Celsius.
Taurine- essential Amino Acid important for canine health
Thiamine mononitrate- Vitamin B1
Tomato Pumice- A solid residue that remains after juices are extracted; source of fiber and Vit. A
Turkey - Clean combination of turkey flesh and skin with or without bone, does not contain feathers, heads, feet or entrails.
Turkey Meal - the ground clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.
Vegetable oil- oil obtained from the seeds of plants
Vitamin A acetate- vitamin A
Wheat Bran - the coarse outer covering of the wheat kernel as separated from cleaned and scoured wheat in the usual process of commercial milling.
Wheat Flour - wheat flour together with fine particles of wheat bran, wheat germ and the offal from the "tail of the mill". This product must be obtained in the usual process of commercial milling and must not contain more than 1.5 percent crude fiber.
Wheat Germ Meal - consists chiefly of wheat germ together with some bran and middlings or short. It must contain not less than 25 percent crude protein and 7 percent crude fat.
Wheat Mill Run - coarse wheat bran, fine particles of wheat bran, wheat shorts, wheat germ, wheat flour and the offal from the "tail of the mill". This product must be obtained in the usual process of commercial milling and must contain not more than 9.5 percent crude fiber.
Whey - the product obtained as a fluid by separating the coagulum from milk, cream or skimmed milk and from which a portion of the milk fat may have been removed.
Yucca schidigera extract- derived from the juice and stalk of yucca plant. May reduce fecal odor, significantly reduces ammonia production, increase in organic matter digestion.
Zinc oxide- source of zinc
Zinc proteinate- chelated source of zinc