August 11th, 2009 | 
Author: 
Have you ever taken a look at the ingredients listed on a bag or can of commercial dog food? If so, depending on which brand you looked at, chances are you wondered how it could be healthy. Sadly, the truth is that most commercial dog foods are no healthier for your pet than a bag of potato chips is for you. So, before you allow your dog to take another bite of that chow you have been giving them, you should read this article on choosing a healthy commercial dog food.
Commercial dog foods are a great convenience but what you are gaining in convenience, you might be losing in the health of your pet. Luckily, there are some commercial foods that are nutritious too. When push comes to shove, you should make sure the food you are feeding your dog is the best out there. This will require you to do your research on the subject. Not only should you familiarize yourself with the ingredients, but you should also familiarize yourself with the brands that are available.
The first thing you need to do is understand what the best ratio of food components is for your dogs diet. For example, it should be about fifty percent meat, ten percent grain and about forty percent fruits and vegetables. When you choose a pet food that is close to this ratio, then you have probably chosen a food that will meet your dogs nutritional needs.
As you are looking at the ingredients, you should make sure that meat meal protein sources are at the top of the line. Basically, meal is meat that has been pre-cooked. When you are looking at low quality foods, you will generally find a meat ingredient first. That meat ingredient will be followed by a number of fillers and by-products. Yes, meat has been listed as the first ingredient, but there are more fillers and that changes the ratio, so you want to avoid anything that has a lot of by products or fillers listed.
When choosing a commercial dog food, preservatives are necessary in order to keep the dog food from going stale. However, those preservatives should not artificial chemicals. Did you know artificial chemicals could cause cancers? In fact, you should avoid any foods that have chemical preservatives such as BHT, BHA and Ethoxyquin.
Typically, healthy commercial dog foods are going to be more expensive, but your dog may actually eat less of them since they are not loaded with fillers that have no nutritional value and, therefore, it takes less food to meet his nutritional needs. You want to look for foods that are natural and/or organic as these will be free from toxins. Feeding a healthy commercial food to your dog may cost a bit more, but you will be paid back with lower vet bills and a healthy dog that lives a long life.
Problems With Commercial Dog Food
Many dog owners have concerns about the ingredients and nutritional value of commercial dog food. The poor quality of the protein content and the presence of chemical preservatives are common problems with manufactured dog food.
How Dog Food May Affect Your Pet’s Health
Today there is no way to concretely determine the health consequences of commercial dog food and grain based diets.