dog food anaylsis | GREATDANELADY.COM

Lately, I have been receiving many emails asking about websites that "claim" to be ranking the different brands of dog foods on the market.

First, I must caution you, these analysis are based only on "opinion" and not in science or actual knowledge of small animal clinical nutrition or knowledge of the pet food industry. These so called rankings are based on pet food labels, and label on a bag only gives you 50% of the information - at best. These rankings on the internet are only based on the opinions of those who have an "interest" in animal nutrition.

In order to have even a close assessment of the quality of any pet food, one must run lab analysis of these each of the foods, do extensive feed trials, know where the sources of ingredients come from, the history of the company, what manufacturing plant it is made in, and it's history (fines, recalls, age of manufacturing equipment, quality control etc.), and numerous other factors that effect the products being made.

In short, it is simply impossible for anyone, myself included, to know exactly what is going into your pet's foods. What you read on a label is only 50% of the picture and like most things in life, nothing is black and white. This means in order to have even a close assessment of a product you not only need a vast amount of knowledge about animal nutrition, it also means you need to be involved in and understand the pet food industry itself.

I tell my puppy buyers, if you really want to know about how to select a good food for your pet, educate yourself. Start with Sabine Conterres's website www.TheDogFoodProject.com she is not going to tell you "you need to feed this food" nor will she rank them. She will educate you about ingredients and discuss internet myths about this industry and let you draw your own educated conclusions. It's an excellant site and she does a terrific job.

As most of you know, I have a list of better foods at my website for my puppy buyers. I tell them what I am using and why I use it, but also offer a list of other options as well as my criteria for selection.

This is the criteria I use for brands to be listed on my list of better foods. This list is also a work in progress, it is not all inclusive as new foods come out all the time, I like to see a solid 2-3 year history before it goes on the list. I remove foods for numerous factors which can involve recalls, changes of ownership, changes in sourcing, changes in manufacturing plants and lab anaylsis that is not on par with the labeling. I also look at the ethics and mission of the company and if that changes it effects the list.

MY CRITERIA:

Feed trial results - the company's - and my own feed trials.
Laboratory tests on guaranteed analysis
Philosophy of the company
Ethics of the company
Truth in advertising
Company focus is on making a good product and not on "image" and margins.
Positive marketing as opposed to "fear or negative" marketing techniques.
The manufacturing plant's history of safety
The company is independently or family owned

When you work "in the industry " it is easier to get accurate information than if you are simply a pet owner. So please do not base your opinions on someone else's "opinion" of quality. Be an educated consumer for your pet read and ask questions, do not rely on others to make important decisions for your pet's future. Being involved as a consultant in the industry for 20 years has allowed me to have information the average pet owner will never have. This is why my website is critical for my puppy buyers.

Dog Food Analysis