Dog Food Rating - Know What’s Inside

The practice of dog food rating is a fairly recent concept. This rating is provided by various sources some of who are independent reviewers while some are just people trying to make a point that the product they offers is best.

Dog food is rated from scale of 1 -6 with a rating of 1 being very poor while a 6* rating show that the food is of superior quality.

When rating dog food, the rating company or individual pay particular attention to the ingredients used in making the dog food, their nutritional value and may also give an overall opinion on just how good the food is.

Dog food that has been rated highly is usually better for dog especially those suffering from some medical conditions that require certain diets to be followed such as diabetes whereby strict care should be given for diabetic dog food.

It is also advised to buy dog food with a fairly good rating as they give your dog good quality nutrients and are less likely to bring problems to your dog in the long run.

Ingredients are listed by weight, that is, ingredients that make up most of the dog food will come in first while those that are least in quantity will come in last. Dog food with high rating usually has high quality sources of meat listed as the first ingredients. In dog foods with lower ratings, you will most likely find low quality proteins listed first or a carbohydrate source.

In an attempt to confuse potential buyers, some people try to go around this by splitting their carbohydrate sources or meat sources so as to make the ingredients list look better. Rating companies also take this into account. Ingredients that come from the same source such as chicken and chicken meal are considered to be the same. To get the total amount of meat in such a list, simply add up these two sources.

Highly rated foods are usually premium foods that use only the best quality ingredients in making their food. Ingredients that cause allergic reactions such as wheat and soy are usually not present in most of these brands. The carbohydrate source in such foods may typically be rice or oats.

Nutritional balance is also necessary in any dog's diet. One sided foods that provide too much of some food while leaving out essentials will be rated lower. Nutritious food should be balanced and thus it should contain the minimum level of the food groups that are necessary.

On the other hand, these foods avoid excesses of other nutrients. Basically, too much of a single thing is never good for health. This rule not only applies to dogs but also to humans.

Some people may also base their ratings on how long the food manufacturer has been in business, any scandals that the company may have had in the past. While people have the freedom of expression, ratings based on such principles are not worth your time as a dog owner since you want a rating which tells you what kind of food is best for your dog not if the manager at the manufacturing palnt was fired for coming to work late.

A good criterion for rating dog food is on basis of nutritional content of the food as well as its availability and affordability to you as the dog owner. If you are adverse to buying commercial dog food, you might want to consider these homemade dog food tips as an alternative solution.

Just a reminder, make sure you check out the free dog life saving video below, you'll be so glad that you did: 

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