Dog Food Rating - How to choose good food?
Dog Food Rating - How to choose good food?
Why is it important for you to read the entire article?
• Many of our clients are puzzled of all the variety and recommendations and tend to ask similar questions, so we decided to write a comprehensive article that will eventually help you choose the best food for your beloved dog , we will help you avoid common mistakes that may harm your dog's health, If after reading this you will have further questions the AnimalShop team will be happy to assist you at 073-7260769
• 30 years ago, life was much more simple, television had just a few Channels and there were only a few dog food products in the country.
• Since then, the market has changed dramatically and we hear almost every week about a new brand of dog food that is marketed in the country with vigorous promises and new announcements on the foods quality and its wonderful features.
• The target audience is divided mainly into 2, those who rush to try new and open-minded products and those who and are loyal to the old brands.
• The purpose of this article is to give you the tools to judge which are good foods for dogs and how you should objectively approach the process called dog food comparison without weighing the amount of advertisements you have seen, the outer appearance of the packaging or how many years the product has been on the market.
• We assume that you have already realized that a dog needs to eat food that is made for it especially and a diet based on leftovers can harm its health.
• Even if your veterinarian recommends one food, the pet store recommends a second one and your friend swears that another brand is the best, you need to understand for yourself how to choose what to give to your dog, you will need to do some reading and research which will result with you finding the product that suits you best.
How is the rating process done abroad?
• Mike Segman is the thinker of the food rating concept, he is the person behind the popular site Dog Food Advisor, the thing that ignited the site establishment and the food rating is the fact that his beloved dog died of food containing deficient wheat gluten from China that poisoned and killed thousands of dogs that were fed over 100 Canadian And Americans brands.
• After recovering from the depression in which he sunk, he decided to investigate the issue of pet food companies control, and soon found out that these companies had virtually no reporting regulations that required them to declare which food ingredients were used in dog recipes.
• Raw materials can come from anywhere in the world, including third world countries, with little supervision and monitoring of the components quality.
• After being shocked by the data to which he was exposed, he decided in 2008 to set up the site to rate the various dog products in the United States and Canada and to quickly alert dog owners about companies that carry out a recall (removing a product from the shelves for fear of infection or poisoning) to save dogs lives.
• The site takes pride in not receiving money to raise ratings and so its reviews are authentic.
Severe problems with the abroad rating method
• We have some criticism of the way foods are rated abroad, usually the higher the percentage of protein and fat the higher the food rating will be.
• In our perspective this method misses the purpose, a dog needs to get the food that suits it, an urban dog who spends most of its time lying down at home, does not need food with intensive energy and calories filled with protein and fat.
• If given such food, in the short term, it may suffer from diarrhea on a regular basis and quickly become overweight and suffer obesity and in the long run suffer from kidney failure that cannot withstand the protein synthesis load.
•Also, cereal-free food will usually get a higher rating, but among these foods there are also many differences.
• Each dog should receive the food that suits him with the amount of nutrition that suits his age, size, level of physical activity it performs and some unique needs it has.
Of course, numbers are not the whole story and there is a huge difference between the different protein and fat sources and how they affect the dog's body, about high quality and low quality components we will discuss later in the article.
Who rates dog food in Israel?
• There is currently no independent body or website in Israel that publishes dog food review that is not biased or disinterested.
• When we try to understand the nature of the product, we rely on information from abroad, what is written on the packaging, the quality of the company that manufactures the products, the country of production, the production facilities and if they meet international food production standards and, of course, most important, the experience and reviews we have on the product.
• At the end of the day the dog should eat and finish the food with pleasure, after which we should check that the food does not cause unwanted reactions such as diarrhea, vomiting, allergies, abdominal pain, hair loss etc. And the last step is to see if the food comes out easily without causing the dog discomfort.
• There is no substitute for experience, amazing food on paper will sometimes be only mediocre in reality and food that will initially look like ordinary can prove to be excellent value for your money.
What must be checked when choosing dog food?
• First of all, the most important thing is to take the bag and look on the back at the list of components, no matter how sparkly and inviting the packaging and sentiments we have for the brand's name, there is no substitute for the right raw materials!
• If you speak English then you have an advantage, there is often a major difference between the Hebrew and English label, words like flour tend to be omitted so that chicken flour becomes fresh chicken or chicken, unfortunately this phenomenon is also common among the most popular and common brands in Israel.
• The first rule is to look at the first ingredient on the list, by law, the ingredient list should be in lessening quantity order so that the largest amount in the food is the first ingredient the smallest amount in the food is the last ingredient.
• In super-premium foods, the first ingredient changes; sometimes it will be animal meat and sometimes it will be cereal or rice.
• Fresh meat or fish that has not been processed except for bones removal will be considered to be of the highest quality and will typically only be in ultra-premium foods for dogs.
• The higher quality brands will declair that they use locally sourced raw materials, so you can know where these raw materials come from, understand what inspection processes they go through, and understand the ingredients source and quality.
Cats and dogs and need animal protein
• In order for the food to be considered of high quality; the first ingredient should be real fresh meat or fresh fish, these raw materials are the most expensive of the food ingredients, but also the most important.
• After fresh meat, the best ingredient will be dried fish or meat, then fish and meat flour, and the least wanted ingredient in quality on the list whice is best avoided when choosing the type of food, is flour made of fish and meat by-products.
• By-products are the leftovers of the food industry, they go through a long processing processes in which they are extracted of a lot of the nutrients and sometimes are added unwanted chemicals to them.
In order for food to be considered high-quality, it is important that it does not contain any by-products or contain just a little.
What is the origin of the carbohydrate and fibers???
Corn - the immediate suspect
• At this point we would like to give some background about the famous corn plant – at the beginning of the last century corn was significantly strengthened when US government began to subsidize its growth, soon the US food industry began to make almost everything out of corn, starting from cornflakes, snacks and bread to food for farm animals and pets.
• The corn also served as a cheap source of fructose syrup for sweetening chocolate and candies.
• The huge boost for the status of corn was given back in the days when there was no awareness of its low nutritional values; corn contains unhealthy simple carbohydrates and fibers that are hard to digest.
• Now back to dog food – due to its subsidized price, corn is staring in the list of ingredients of many foods, sometimes companies try to manipulate it by splitting the corn into several ingredients to conceal it in the list, for example food can contain corn, corn flour, corn gluten flour, etc. But, if we put together the total amount of the corn ingredients, we would find that the first component is actually corn.
• In order for the corn to be easy to digest by the dog's stomach, it must go through long processing that involves high-temperature cooking so that the dog's stomach would be able to tolerate it.
Therefore, the rule of thumb determines that the more corn the food contains the less recomended it will be.
Soy - a poor protein source
Another ingredient we would prefer to avoid is soy, soy contains inferior plant proteins that do not absorb well and can affect the hormone balance in the body. Dogs are meant to eat animal protein and not plant protein.
Wheat
The well-known wheat is also a cereal that we want to consume in moderation and would like to see that it is not one of the first ingredients in the food, whole wheat is richer in fibers and therefore will be better than wheat or wheat gluten flour.
White / whole rice
Although it has certain advantages, white rice is also an ingredient of lesser quality, it contains a low amount of allergens and suits sensitive dogs, it absorbs fluids and thus makes solid excrement, we prefer foods containing whole rice or brown rice that contain more nutritious fibers, minerals and vitamins.
Oats – healthy grains
Oat meal is an outstanding source of complex carbohydrates, it is rich in nutritious fibers and makes excrement softer and encourages the digestive process. It is considered an excellent ingredient in dog food.
Fruit and vegetables - always a good sign
• A book can be written about the characteristics and ingredients of each fruit, vegetable and herbs and how they influence the body.
• Nowadays, a large variety of fruits and vegetables can be found in dog products.
• Because these components are mostly made up of water, after the cooking process they will lose most of their weight and will therefore usually appear in the middle of the ingredients list but their importance should not be underestimated.
• Usually, in high quality foods, we will find a combination of a few fruits and vegetables in the ingredients, in the most successful recipes we may even find 3-5 kinds of dried fruits and vegetables.
• Dried fruits and vegetables are considered expensive ingredients and they contribute in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, nutritious fibers and high quality carbohydrates, they make food more natural, nutritious and delicious.
How to choose the right food?
• First, it is important to choose a product that is appropriate for the dog's age, breed and size. Second, it is important to consider whether the dog is suffering from any sensitivities or allergies, for example, if the dog is allergic to chicken, then we will take food that contains fish and not chicken.
• Of course, if the dog suffers from a certain medical condition it will need a specific type of food to address the problem.
• The next step is to determine what your budget is; ultra-premium foods are significantly more expensive than super-premium but will not necessarily have significant advantaged over them them.
• We usually recommend the super-premium food that his main ingredient is real meat and that the recipe relies on a small amount of cereal carbohydrates such as wheat and rice.
• This way the dog enjoys food that is in the upper range of the super-premium level, close to ultra-premium, but is much cheaper.
• After choosing the preferred product, it is important to let the dog try the food and see how he responds, if it does not show any side effects then the food can be given on a regular basis.
• If the dog suffers from gas, diarrhea or vomiting, you should stop and change the food type*, sometimes at the beginning of feeding the dog it may suffer from diarrhea since there are certain foods that require time to adjust and need a gradual transition.
How much fat and protein does the dog need in its food at any stage of life?
• Dog nutrition changes from dog to dog and it is not an exact science but there are common ranges in which it is possible to judge which are high quality foods for dogs and what the least recommended products are.
• These ranges are a recommendation only and can be slightly exceeded, it is important to understand that rating good dog food is something that does not really exist, there is no one product that suit all dogs and each case needs to be examined separately.
Puppy dog from age 6 weeks to a year
• 26-34 percent of protein in the food, the younger the puppy is and the smaller the breed is, it needs a higher protein percentage, as one year approaches the amount of protein needed decreases, larger breeds need a lower protein percentage.
• 15-22 percent of fat in the food is the recommended range for puppies.
Adult dog from age 1-7 at a normal activity level
• 23-31 percent protein, small breeds need more protein than medium and large breeds.
• 13-18 percent fat in food is the recommended range for adult dogs
Adult dog from age 1-7 at a high activity level
28-35 percent protein is the suitable range for active dogs
17-24 percent fat.
Senior dog over 7 years old
20-26 percent of protein is the recommended amount for a senior dog that is usually less active and experience a decrease in metabolic rate.
11-17 percent fat is recommended.
Senior dog will need food that contains less energy and calories in order not to gain weight.
Overweight dog and neutered dog
• 23-30 percent of protein is recommended, the amount of protein does not lessen in order to maintain the dog's muscle mass.
• 7-14 percent of fat is recommended; the small amount of fat reduces the amount of energy in the food and leads the body to a caloric deficit which causes weight loss.
• Neutered and sterilized dogs experience a decline in physical activity together with a decline in metabolic rate and will need foods with values similar to those of a fat dog.
Which food is recommended for dogs? The million dollar question
• First of all, experience is the best teacher, the price of the food will not always indicate if it is nutritious and if it is of high quality and you will probably need to do some trial and error to find what is good for your dog.
• For a certain dog a certain food can be exceptional and amazing and for another dog with other necessities and reactions to food ingredients it will not fit and might even cause a lot of side effects like allergies,itching, dandruff and dermatitis.
• There is not one pattern that suits all dogs and a recommended list of ingredients that will fit 100%.
• We can say, besides that the main raw material will be meat and that the amount of simple carbohydrate and cereals will be low, that for most dogs chicken protein is just fine and combined with the right ingredients it will be excellent.
• If the dog is a bit allergic to chicken or you feel that it has intensive hair loss and less well-groomed fur than it used to have, you can look for a recipe that also contains salmon. Salmon is less allergenic than chicken and is better for fur and skin due to the fatty acids it naturally contains.
• Dogs that have mild digestive problems or gas can try formulas that are based on lamb / lamb with rice, this combination proves itself time and time again with digestive problems.
• If the dog is very allergic and you have tried some protein sources and everything did not fit, the dog probably needs regular hypoallergenic food and if that also did not work then the solution is probably hypoallergenic medical food for dogs.
• If you have switched to very high quality and expensive foods with a high percentage of protein and the dog is laxative for no apparent reason for quite some time without the veterinarian detecting any medical problems, its body is probably unable to digest the amount of protein and try food with a moderate amount of protein.
What are the best selling brands in Israel for dogs?
These are the best selling and most popular brands in Israel, this does not mean that they are the best or most affordable, there is also an option where food from a relatively unfamiliar brand will be excellent and the dog will respond to it very well and therefore we need to examine every case on its own.
Royal CANIN - Israel's oldest and most recognized brand
Acana - Israel's first brand at market ultra-premium food
MONGE - the European food giant recently landed in Israel
Natural Delicious - high quality ultra-premium products from Italy
Pro Plan - among the best selling products for dogs and cats in Israel
Go! – High level food Made in Canada
Taste of the Wild - American food made by Diamond the veteran company
Hills Science Plan - a huge variety of products and a highly experienced company
Vet Life - The medical line of the Italian company Pharmina
