All Natural Dog Foods

No Such Thing as the Average Dog

Before we begin any comparison between commercial and all natural dog foods, we need to clarify one fact: There is no such thing as the average dog.

All dog food comes with basic feeding instructions regarding how much and how often to feed your pet, but when you consider the differences between breeds, how can blanket feeding instructions be correct?

Each breed has distinct nutritional needs based on their physiology. Some dogs have more coat than others; some breeds are very muscular while others are not. Sporting breeds often produce more skin oil to make their coats resistant to water and cold weather. How can one feeding plan fit all?

Size seems to be the only issue taken into consideration with most feeding instructions, so it's up to owners to figure out what is truly the best feeding plan for their dogs.

Understanding Labels

You may believe you understand a dog food label and ingredient list as you read it, but do you truly? The dog food industry has its own definitions for many of the terms used on their labels, and you may be surprised to learn what they actually mean.

According to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), the regulatory body for dog food manufacturing:

• "Real meat" can be applied to any dog food product that contains a mere three percent real meat in the total mix.
• "All or one-hundred percent meat" translates to ninety-five percent meat in the product, or a mere seventy percent after all moisture is extruded from the product.
• "Flavored" can be used regardless whether the product contains any real meat. The flavor must simply be barely detectable to qualify, and can be achieved by using substandard by-products from the animal in question, be it chicken, beef or turkey.

By these definitions, many commercial formulas may not be as healthy, tasty and nutritious as the label might suggest.

Commercial vs. All Natural Dog Foods

Let's take a look at the ingredients allowed in standard commercial mixes and all natural dog foods.

Commercial Dog Food

According to the AAFCO, the meat sources used in commercial dog foods can come from a number of sources, most of them not fit for human consumption. The greatest portion comes from slaughter house leftovers after the choicest sections of meat are removed from animal carcasses.

The leftovers are "denatured", temporarily preserved with a substance that makes it unfit for use by humans.

Denaturing can involve the use of toxic chemicals such as:

• Carbolic acid
• Creosote

Additionally, the AAFCO allows the use of other meat sources in dog food such as:

• Diseased animals
• Dying or dead animals
• Euthanized pets
• Road kill

Many dog food brands include a large amount of inexpensive grain fillers in their formulas because they help boost profit. The problem here is that grains, especially corn, are often hard for dogs to digest so they pass through the system delivering little nutrition along the way.

This means that although the food is labeled as containing the proper amount of balanced nutrition, your dog's system may not be able to properly digest the food to adequately render all that nutrition from it.

All Natural Dog Foods

Although still produced commercially, products labeled as "all natural dog foods" are held to higher AAFCO standards.

By definition, these products may only contain ingredients derived from animals, plants and minerals. These ingredients may be processed, as long as that process doesn't include chemical rendering. Additionally, these products may not contain chemical or synthetic additives.

Products labeled as "natural", "organic" or "holistic" dog food:

• Contain human-grade ingredients
• Do not contain additives such as dyes and synthetic preservatives
• Are often baked, increasing digestibility

The following table lists some well known brands of natural dog foods, but as a consumer it is up to you to read the label of any food you consider feeding your dog. Judge for yourself whether a particular brand is truly safe and natural.

Homemade

The surest way to know whether the food you feed your dog is truly all natural is to make it yourself.

BARF is an acronym for bones and raw food. This feeding plan involves serving your dog fresh raw beef and/or chicken, complete with the bones. Yes, bones can pose a danger for your pet, especially when they are cooked and brittle, so use your own judgment about feeding them to your pet.

The BARF diet also includes serving fresh veggies and a limited amount of fruit, mainly apples and pears. Keep in mind that some of the foods we eat ourselves are not safe for our pets. You'll find a list of restricted foods here.

Conclusion

It's easy to understand how all natural dog foods may be a better alternative to some of the standard dog food mixes on the market, but determining what is truly "natural" may not be quite as easy. Carefully read each dog food label to determine which brand is best for your pet.