Dry Dog Food Buyers' Guide
Now we've seen eight of the very best dry dog foods that money can buy, the next question is which one is right for you and why.
To answer this, we really need to look in-depth at what makes a great dog food. Not only will this help you to decide which of these products is right for you and your dog, but it will also give you the information you need to be able to pick between future products.
The Goals of a Good Dry Dog Food
Let's start with a broad overview, by looking at the big picture and seeing what makes a good dry dog food to begin with. The answer is that the best dog food will be one that is highly nutritious and ideally as close to ‘natural' as possible.
Like humans, many dogs have fallen victim to the trappings of modern food. That means highly processed meats, an abundance of added flavorings, and a general lack of nutrition. The result is that your dogs will be eating food that they enjoy and that packs them full of energy – but which ultimately fails to provide their bodies with the fuel they need in order to operate at full throttle.
Let's consider processed meat for instance. By ‘processed' we mean meat that has been transformed to a nearly unrecognizable degree from its original form. That means that it might be mixed with other ingredients (like other meats, fats, or carbs), it might be ground down to a pulp, and it might have lots of additives and preservatives. It could also have been stored for a long time, and cooked to the point where much of the nutrition will have been lost.
The bottom line is that it is only somewhat meat at this point. A lot of the benefits are gone but it still tastes satisfying to the dog.
What does this do in the long run? It makes dogs feel constantly unsatisfied and hungry. In the short term they enjoy the food (and want more and more of it – thanks to all the added salt and sugar) but eventually their body starts to suffer as a result of not getting precisely what it needs.
This in turn means that your dog will eventually start to deteriorate in small ways – their nails and hair might not be as shiny, their teeth might decay quicker (even the lack of proper chewing is bad for dogs!), and they may gain weight.
In the worst cases, your dog can get something called "pica" where it lacks the nutrients it needs so badly that it starts to try and get them from strange places – eating grout out of the floor, or chewing at wood!
A good dry dog food avoids all of this. And you know how it provides the best nutrients? Simply by mimicking the dog's natural diet as far as possible, while avoiding additives.
Ingredients And Things To Look For
So, what should you look out for on the ingredients list? What are some of the signs of a good dog food? Here are some key points to keep an eye out for.
Protein
Protein is what a dog uses in order to build its muscle and even its skin. When humans or dogs eat protein, they will break it down into its constituent parts known as amino acids. These are then reconstituted in order to form muscle.
Of course, protein predominantly comes from meat and this is the most preferable option by far.
Omega 3
Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid that the body uses for a number of purposes. Among other things, omega 3 is used to create more flexible and porous cell walls (called cell membrane permeability) which not only makes them more resilient to damage, but also helps to encourage the communication between cells and the absorption of nutrients.
Glucosamine
Glucosamine prevents the break-down of cartilage and connective tissue. This is important as it can help to look after your dog's joints and tendons as they get older – both things which can often deteriorate otherwise.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants travel freely throughout a dog's body and combat substances known as ‘free radicals' through a chemical reaction that neutralizes their effect. This is important, seeing as free radicals can otherwise break through cell walls and cause serious damage. Worse, if they reach the center of the cell known as the nucleus, they can cause damage to the DNA and thereby lead to mutations that are associated with cancer.
The simple math here is that more antioxidant = fewer free radicals = longer lifespan and greater health.
Nutrients
You'll see a lot of dry dog foods that list huge numbers of nutrients and claim to include things like vitamins and minerals. While this is always a great benefit (these micronutrients perform a large number of highly beneficial jobs in the body), it's also true that your dog's body can only make proper use of them if they are added in the correct way.
Fortified nutrients often exist in the wrong combinations or quantities in order to be properly absorbed – they have ‘low bioavailability'. Therefore, in order to get the most from these ingredients, the best way to get nutrients is from fresh vegetables and fruits!
Things To Avoid In A Dry Dog Food
There are also a few things to avoid when you consume your dry dog food – ingredients that actually make the food less healthy.
Meat Meal
Meat meal is a form of meat that is made by grinding down all kinds of bits of meat and smelting them in a vat. You'll take the meat and flesh and sometimes even the bone and boil it to create something new. This will still contain nutrients, but is likely to be less nutritious than real, fresh meat.
Perhaps the best way to look at the inclusion of meal in addition to real meat in terms of whether it is more important to get lots of good food, or to avoid the bad food.
It's not that meal will do any harm as such, but rather that it is often used to replace real meat, when in fact it is a poor substitute. Not only that, but meat meal will often be used interchangeably with the worse ‘meat by-product'.
Meat By-Product
This is meat meal made from all the "cast-offs" that are left-over from human meats. Take all the bits the humans don't want, melt them down, and you have meat by-product. This is far less nutritious, less tasty, and potentially even slightly harmful.
Grains
Grains include things like corn, wheat, soy, etc. While these again aren't necessarily bad for your dog, they're also empty calories that provide little nutrition. The simple fact is that dogs wouldn't have eaten these grains in the wild and they are really just padding.
Not only that, but grains are also harder to digest – particularly for dogs with pre-existing sensitivities.
A Few Last Considerations
Before we finish up, there are a few more things to look out for on the packaging when it comes to your dog food, and a few last factors to take into account also.
Firstly, consider whether the food is aimed at your dog's size. Is this a food for large dogs, small dogs, or all dogs? Be a little wary of dry dog foods aimed at dogs of all sizes, as these are not balanced to provide the optimal number of calories. Think carefully too about your dog's age and whether this is taken into account.
Of course, you should also think about whether your dog will like the food you are giving them. Dogs enjoy food that is crunch and flavorsome, though keep in mind that some more sensitive, smaller dogs will struggle with larger bits of food.
Think about the price, the size of the packaging, and the value. Likewise, look out for dry dog foods that come with useful packaging – packaging that can be resealed for instance will help you to get more from the dry dog food without storing in potentially harmful plastic containers.
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