With so much news about tainted dog food over the recent years including the use of downright toxic ingredients, many dog owners have rightfully decided to take the matter into their own hands. Many top commercial brands regularly come up with glitzy ads about how their dog food provides the perfect balanced diet for your pet, but one should always examine food labels wisely to ensure that there aren’t any harmful ingredients listed.

That’s why it helps to pay attention to the latest news in dog food ratings to make sure you get the best dog foods for your pet.

Typical Dog Food to Avoid

It’s can be tricky to find dog food that is nutritious and affordable at the same time, since most of the more affordable brands use

substantial amounts of harmful preservatives and processing techniques that often destroy valuable nutrients. One idea is to invest in better, quality brands such as Rachel Ray dog food or Wainwrights dog food, which is always guaranteed to be free of artificial preservatives.

Additionally, a many dry dog food companies use dangerous fillers, which increase the mass of the ultimate meal but significantly reduce its quality. Some of the more typical fillers are corn and wheat flour, which can trigger allergies in dogs and generally don’t have any essential nutrients favorable to your dog’s health. Wainwrights dog food even has a grain free variety to assure customers of its quality, while Precise dog food has opened the Precise Naturals® line with the same ideology. Authority dog food and Nutrisca dog food are other major brands that have followed the same line.

What is the Best Dog Food?

According to any dog food advisor, the best-canned dog food is one that contains many minerals, vitamins and fiber naturally. That’s why it is very important to read the labels and search for foods with the most effective ingredient ratio. Prepared wet dog food should mimic the kind of raw food diet

for dogs found in the wild, such as 10% whole grains, 50% veggies and 40% meat. Always be sure that meat is found at the top of the ingredients list.

One word you want to avoid at all costs is “meat byproducts”, which have many parts of animals that lack nutrition and remain indigestible by your dog. These can dramatically alter the ideal nutritional ratio that quality dog food should possess. Meat ingredients should always comprise of whole meats made from animals such as chickens, lambs, ducks, bison, salmon or beef. The addition of many fruits and vegetables are also a welcome bonus.

Whichever brand you’re thinking of buying, remember to always check the list of ingredients to make sure that they are real identifiable ingredients that comply with the high standards of the dog food industry. This generally equates to no grains and no byproducts.

Another common trend nowadays is to create one’s own raw food dog recipes by taking fresh, raw meat and mixing it with organic vegetables from a garden. Some people believe this equates to a healthier dog with a stronger, lean body. This can truly be the best dog food for puppies that are still growing as long as you are careful not to throw in any uncooked bones – these can have splinters that can cause your dog harm.