| Commercial Foods |
Cattledog Dreams
Dedicated to the Care, Training and Placement of Australian Cattle Dogs
What to Look For on the Ingredients List
MEAT: Some form of meat should be the first ingredient on the list. If it isn't, put the
food down and go to the next. Don't settle for "meat meal" either. It must specify the
meat, like "lamb meal", "chicken meal", "beef meal" etc. Hopefully it will tell you the meat
meal is made from all muscle meat (like Azmira dog food does), but that is a rare find.
If it does not specify the meat, the meat protein could come from any source, including
euthanized cats and dogs.
If the first ingredient is a fresh meat rather than a "meal" (bag will just say "chicken",
instead of "chicken meal" for instance), that is okay, but the next ingredient should be a
meat meal, not a grain, otherwise you are not getting a lot of meat protein in the food.
That's because the fresh meats include a lot of water, and water is heavy. Since
ingredients are placed on the list by weight, the manufacturer gets "meat" credit for all
the water in the fresh meat so they can place it before the dry grain on the ingredient list.
NON-GRAIN STARCH SOURCES AND WHOLE FOODS: If the first ingredient is a meat
meal, the next ingredient can be a starch. Dogs to not need starch in their diet, but dry
food (kibble) cannot be made without it. In our opinion, the best foods will not use
grains as starch sources. We also question the use of tapioca as a starch source.
Our preferred starch sources (if they have to be there at all) are sweet potatoes, peas,
and potatoes. If the company uses a grain, try to buy food that uses whole grains rather
than parts of a grain like "rice hulls" "rice flour" etc. That way the grain adds the most
nutrients to the food. Manufacturers like to use parts of grains because they can weigh
them separately and not have to place the grain products ahead of the meat product in
the ingredient list, so beware companies that list grains by their parts.
What to Avoid
CORN, WHEAT, SOY, YEAST, and (maybe) RICE: Avoid foods with corn, wheat and soy
products in any form. These three grains are common allergens for dogs. Even if your
dog shows no symptoms of allergy, these grains can lower their immune system and
cause health problems without you ever suspecting they are the culprit. Avoid them.
Yeast is also suspected of causing some problems, so avoid it too if you can. There is
also some indication that rice may be a problem for dogs. Time will tell!
MEAT BY-PRODUCTS: Avoid food with meat by-products all together if you can, and they
certainly should not be in the top five ingredients. Meat By-Products are not a significant
source of nutrients and are essentially what's left over on the slaughterhouse floor
including feathers, beaks, offal and such. Nothing particularly beneficial for your dog, so
why pay for it?
INGREDIENTS YOU WOULDN'T CONSIDER EATING YOURSELF: If you wouldn't sit down
to a plate of peanut hulls, why should your dog?
MEAT: Some form of meat should be the first ingredient on the list. If it isn't, put the
food down and go to the next. Don't settle for "meat meal" either. It must specify the
meat, like "lamb meal", "chicken meal", "beef meal" etc. Hopefully it will tell you the meat
meal is made from all muscle meat (like Azmira dog food does), but that is a rare find.
If it does not specify the meat, the meat protein could come from any source, including
euthanized cats and dogs.
If the first ingredient is a fresh meat rather than a "meal" (bag will just say "chicken",
instead of "chicken meal" for instance), that is okay, but the next ingredient should be a
meat meal, not a grain, otherwise you are not getting a lot of meat protein in the food.
That's because the fresh meats include a lot of water, and water is heavy. Since
ingredients are placed on the list by weight, the manufacturer gets "meat" credit for all
the water in the fresh meat so they can place it before the dry grain on the ingredient list.
NON-GRAIN STARCH SOURCES AND WHOLE FOODS: If the first ingredient is a meat
meal, the next ingredient can be a starch. Dogs to not need starch in their diet, but dry
food (kibble) cannot be made without it. In our opinion, the best foods will not use
grains as starch sources. We also question the use of tapioca as a starch source.
Our preferred starch sources (if they have to be there at all) are sweet potatoes, peas,
and potatoes. If the company uses a grain, try to buy food that uses whole grains rather
than parts of a grain like "rice hulls" "rice flour" etc. That way the grain adds the most
nutrients to the food. Manufacturers like to use parts of grains because they can weigh
them separately and not have to place the grain products ahead of the meat product in
the ingredient list, so beware companies that list grains by their parts.
What to Avoid
CORN, WHEAT, SOY, YEAST, and (maybe) RICE: Avoid foods with corn, wheat and soy
products in any form. These three grains are common allergens for dogs. Even if your
dog shows no symptoms of allergy, these grains can lower their immune system and
cause health problems without you ever suspecting they are the culprit. Avoid them.
Yeast is also suspected of causing some problems, so avoid it too if you can. There is
also some indication that rice may be a problem for dogs. Time will tell!
MEAT BY-PRODUCTS: Avoid food with meat by-products all together if you can, and they
certainly should not be in the top five ingredients. Meat By-Products are not a significant
source of nutrients and are essentially what's left over on the slaughterhouse floor
including feathers, beaks, offal and such. Nothing particularly beneficial for your dog, so
why pay for it?
INGREDIENTS YOU WOULDN'T CONSIDER EATING YOURSELF: If you wouldn't sit down
to a plate of peanut hulls, why should your dog?
| The Food We Feed Cattledog Dreams could receive free food from any number of dog food companies as a result of our 501(c)3 status. However, we feel very strongly about giving our dogs the best re-start in life that we can, so we currently feed all our fosters fresh and home-made foods that we prepare two to three times per week (see Fresh Food page for recipes), Occasionally, we run out of our fresh food and need to reach for our emergency stash. We keep the following foods on hand for these rare occasions: Natural Balance LID Canned Food and Dogswell Happy Hips Canned Food (we prefer the venison and lamb formulas as these meats are typically raised without hormones) Neither of the above food companies provides any supplemental funding or food in exchange for mentioning them here. Ready-Made Raw A number of companies have come out with good raw food diets that are ready to serve. We have not found one that uses 100% human grade ingredients, so I cannot recommend any over home-made. However, they are a very close second; very, very convenient; and a far better choice than kibble in our opinion. Here are some names to consider: Feed This, Inc! Steve's Real Food Nature's Variety - Raw Food (available frozen or freeze dried) |
How to Pick A Good Dog Food
Picking a good dog food is as easy as reading
the ingredient list!
Though Cattledog Dreams recommends a
home-made diet if you have the time, a good
compromise is to feed a fresh frozen product -
such as the raw products offered by Feed This!
(see below) - or offer a premium canned food
supplemented with fresh and home-
made food (as described under Fresh Food).
Cattledog Dreams does not recommend dry
food because it contains a large amount of
starch and there is no evidence that dogs need
any starch in their diet, and some concern that
grain-based starches can be hard for them to
digest.
Picking a good dog food is as easy as reading
the ingredient list!
Though Cattledog Dreams recommends a
home-made diet if you have the time, a good
compromise is to feed a fresh frozen product -
such as the raw products offered by Feed This!
(see below) - or offer a premium canned food
supplemented with fresh and home-
made food (as described under Fresh Food).
Cattledog Dreams does not recommend dry
food because it contains a large amount of
starch and there is no evidence that dogs need
any starch in their diet, and some concern that
grain-based starches can be hard for them to
digest.
| Other Food Worth Considering Cattledog Dreams does not recommend any kibbles for your dog. However, these companies do produce canned products that you might also consider: Taste of the Wild Natura Innova and EVO Wellness If you have a favorite food you would like Cattledog Dreams to add to this list, please email the product information to jennifer@cattledogdreams.com |
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| For an excellent and more detailed discussion of canine nutrition and nutritional standards, please visit www.best-dog-food-guide.com |
| Updated 2/7/10) |