For thousands of years, man’s best friend ate like his teacher. Dogs fed the same foods as man managed to live long lives and the nutrition was simple. The pet food market started with good intentions when James Spratt searched for food while traveling with his dog. She created a dog cake and used meat, beets, wheat, and vegetables so her dog could eat well on the trip. The concept did not take hold until after World War II. Advertising soon appeared, and the preservative-filled dog food was sold with catchy advertisements.

Animal food regulations remain the laws governing the production of dog food. The American Association of Food Control Officials controls the pet food industry and is made up of people who work in the industry and government officials. The agencies require the ingredients on the label to be correct, but do not get involved in the nutrition of dog food beyond the label. Many necessary canine vitamins and minerals are missing from your dry kibble bag. However, companies cannot label their product as “complete and balanced” unless it has a specific nutritional profile.

If the product uses the words with or flavored as beef flavored, the dog food generally contains less than 3 percent of that ingredient in the total content. The misleading wording comes from the marketing department to lead the buyer down a false utopian path. You need to read the label and figure out for yourself how much nutrition your dog is actually getting when he eats that particular dog food.Just like human food, the ingredients on the label list foods by how much they contain and the first in the list. list is the most prominent product on the list. meal.

Many times companies use chemical tests and add additional minerals and vitamins in a quest to reach the magic numbers. Unlike food nutrition, added vitamins often pass through the animal’s body without being absorbed due to the fact that they are not burned.

Often times, food from the processing plant and manufacturing plant smells so bad that dogs turn their backs on it. To fix the problem, some companies give food a good grease spray. Many times, the fat considered unfit for human consumption acts as a glue to retain the remains of other flavors in the food. When you open a bag of dog food, you notice the feeling of grease on the inside of the bag. These scent and flavor additions trick your dog into eating something that might not otherwise get a second look.

Manufacturers today do not allow differences in the bodies of dogs. Each breed has specific needs. For example, if a dog sheds frequently, she needs more protein and B vitamins to increase coat production than the dog that never sheds.

Be careful when shopping for dog food, there are many things in dog food processing that would make your dog cook his dinner and never buy another bag of commercial food. Our canine friends are too precious to receive poor dog food nutrition when so much money goes into their care. It only takes a missing vitamin or nutrient to create malnutrition.