I’m sure most people have read a nutrition label for at least one product they’ve ingested. But can you recall how much of your pet’s food label you have read and investigated? How much of their diet, snacks, and health have you really considered? We are exposing label secrets and lies that’s listed right on the package.

It’s hard for some to imagine that man’s best friend would have just as complex a system as we do. It’s been a long road for pet food, but it’s wonderful that we’re getting a better handle on what is best to feed them. Scientists have worked and researched better ingredients and diets that can help with the goal of elongating your pet’s life.

The best advice for proper nutrition is to do proper research and talk to your veterinarian about your dog’s specific needs. These needs can be determined by age, breed, weight, health conditions, family history, and a whole list of other things just like our own diets. 

Dietary Needs

You’ve seen dog food bags that are separated by age (puppy, adult, senior, all life stages), by breed (small breed, large breed), by diet (low-cal, L.I.D, high protein) and all of this can definitely be overwhelming to new and experienced owners. By best assessing your pet, you can help narrow down this mountain hill of options.

Let’s take an example of an 8-month-old Great Dane puppy versus an 8-year-old Maltese senior dog. Both of course are dogs but have a very different set of feeding requirements than each other. Looking at just a few things helps us to know that the puppy would benefit from a large breed puppy formula while the senior dog would benefit from a small breed senior formula.

Size and Age

These formulas are individually tailored to each dog’s health and have different levels of protein, fat, and calories that would best suit their dietary needs. A senior dog does not require as much protein as a young puppy that is still growing and developing, while a puppy (excluding large breed formula) may not require as much joint supplements as a senior dog.

In the case of large breed versus small breed, the larger kibble size helps the dog to slow down while eating and has higher amounts of necessary joint additives to help with proper growth. The small breed formula has smaller pieces for smaller mouths and usually focuses on less fats and protein to help prevent obesity.

Sensitive Stomachs

Dogs that have allergy sensitivities can rely on an L.I.D or limited ingredient diet formula to help cut out anything causing a reaction or help parents to find out what their pet’s allergy may be. With pets that have an obesity issue, there are low calorie or diet formulas that will aid in helping your pet lose weight and have a healthier disposition. With all of this, it’s important to know how to read the label of your pet food and understand the ingredients that are listed. 

What comes first?

When reading your food labels, the most important thing to consider is the order of ingredients listed. They will be listed by “quantity in terms of product weight, liquid measure, or count, depending on the formulation of the food” (Burke, 2021). To put it basically, if beef is the first ingredient listed, then the majority of the formula is beef. However, the same applies to if you see an ingredient like corn gluten meal, which can be used as a filler but probably shouldn’t be the majority. 

Exposing and Meeting the Real ‘Meal’

Coming to the topic of the term ‘meal’, most seem to worry about what this could mean for the item. Meal actually means that most of the water content has been removed, therefore it is more weight of the actual ingredient. To put that simply, if you see beef meal instead of beef as the main ingredient, there is actually more beef in the beef meal formula because of the weight removal of the water but the same weight quantity of the product. 

By-products Secrets

By-product is also something to not necessarily cause concern. While most high-quality brands will not include any by-products, these brands that do and are certified by the Association of the American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) usually contain high-quality by-products that “do not include hooves, hair, floor sweepings, intestinal contents, or manure” but are “organ meats and entrails, which often contain more nutrients than the muscle meat consumed by humans”(Burke, 2021). If you’re still feeling overwhelmed, the best option is to talk to your veterinarian and just look for high quality ingredients as the first items listed. It is important to note how things are listed as well. 

Label Lies

Corn is an ingredient that can be listed a few different ways, such as kibble corn, flaked corn, or ground corn, and these are to confuse about how much corn is actually in the product. Same can be said if the name includes, entrée, dinner, or platter as these can have misleading amounts of the actual protein source. 

“Beef flavor” simply implies that there is enough beef in the product to flavor it (less than 3 percent)” (Burke, 2021). So just keep these in mind when trying to figure out how much protein is actually in the product. Once you’ve combed over the ingredients, it’s important to note the level of proteins and fats as well as other vitamins and supplements in the food that are tailored to your dog’s specific needs. 

We haven’t even gone over wet food, dry kibble, raw diet options, and homemade kibble. I’ll be making individual posts on these topics, so as to not overwhelm the readers with everything at once. We just needed to cover the basics of nutrition and we can get more into the nitty gritty as our journey continues. 

To Wrap It All Up

I often am seen as a dog food snob and I would say I’m actually proud of the title. To be called a snob, means I care about the quality of food I am giving my pet. I want them to live the longest and best life possible with me. My dearly missed 17-year-old Maltese mix Grampa was guaranteed to eat better than me because I did much more research and planning into his meals. This was necessary because I made all his life choices for him and he couldn’t actually tell me what he wanted or needed. All I could do was talk to my vet and find the best options for his individual concerns.

I feel that his tailored diet was one of the reasons he lived to such a wonderful ripe age. It really matters what we put into our bodies, so why wouldn’t it matter what we put into our most loved companions? We treat them like our babies and family, so why not feed them with the same standards.

Burke, A. (2021). How to read a dog food label. American Kennel Club. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/how-to-read-a-dog-food-label

For other helpful and informative articles click here:

https://www.lugaruk9training.com/why-does-my-dog-throw-up-in-the-morning/

https://www.lugaruk9training.com/best-digestive-supplements-for-dogs/