Bad words on dog food ingredient panels

Think that you've got a good food for your dog?  Here's a few simple ingredients that I hope don't appear in your dog's food:

Animal Digest- It's feces.  If it lists a specific animal, it's that specific animal's feces.  Sometimes this is part of an uncleaned intestinal tract.  Some companies just put animal feces into their food to add to the palatibility. 

Animal Fat- Just the generalized term though.  If it lists a specific animal, don't worry about it.  The generalized term however refers to any number of different animal's fat.  This may include someone else's euthanized pets, roadkill, and other disgusting animal's fat.  Part of this problem is that if they are in fact using euthanized animal fat, it can still retain some of the phenobarbital that killed the animal.  This can lead to seizures and even death.

Meat meal- You just don't know what kind of "meat" they're talking about. That's never good.

Animal by-products-  Generally speaking, this is a bad thing.  By-Products can be anything that comes from an animal.  This includes fur, feathers, beaks, bones, organs, and eyes.  The unfortunate thing is, is that crushed bone and organ meat is actually good for the animal.  They're good sources of calcium, protein, and other vitamins.  But unfortunately some companies that list by-products, are using this term.  My recommendation is to stay away from by-products.

Corn, wheat, soy- These are the top three allergies in dogs.  Through insecticides, growth hormones, and other new ways of growing these items, they have developed into the top three ingredients that cause skin irritations.  Dog itches?  See if any one of these ingredients are in your food.  It may not be the issue, but it'll cross it off your list of possible irritants. They also pose another issue.  These ingredients are merely used for filler. It's true that every dry dog food requires a carbohydrate to hold the kibble together, but why settle for a less nutritionally sound one?  Look for something with rice flour, peas, tapioca, potatoes, or sweet potatoes.

Earthborn Dog Food Review

The first clue that Earthborn was going to be a good dog food was when I caught Cooper, my boxer mix, gnawing on the unopened bag as it was lying on my futon, waiting to be put into his food bin.  A lot of the cheaper, lesser quality dog foods are extremely palatable because of all of the excess garbage that dog food companies place into their food to get the dog to eat it.  This is not the case with Earthborn.  Earthborn is a holistic, natural ingredient filled dog food, without all of the filler.  It contains no wheat, soy, or corn.  They even have three lines that have no grain.  The food is all life stage approved, but they do make a puppy line if you chose to go that route.  I chose the adult vantage (with grain) to try with my two dogs.  The kibble size is not nearly as small as some of the other foods I've tried, but it was by no means too big for my boston terrier/beagle mix.  They do have a small breed line if so desired.  The dogs have taken to it well.  Their stools remain tight and small, and they don't seem to have picked up any weight in the month and a half they've been eating it, a common issue with all life stage food.  I've recommended it at the store every time that I've had the "My dog just won't eat" complaint.  So far, every dog I've had an owner try, has eaten the food.  So if you have a picky dog, this is my first recommendation to you.  The protein/fat ratio is 22/12 across the grain line (except for the small breed and puppy),and the grain-free line ranges from 26/15 to 38/20.  So if you're looking for a lower protein, a moderate protein, or a high protein level, they have it for you.  It must cost a fortune, right?  Wrong.  It's priced right below Blue Buffalo and Wellness.  Dogfoodadvisory.com rates it as a 5 out of 5 star food.  I can't disagree with their rating.  I will say that Cooper did have some obnoxious gas at first, but it went away after the second week.  It gets my full recommendation.

Welcome

Welcome to "The Tao of Dog" blog site! This site is going to be dedicated to teaching the average dog owner some useful information based on our experience as dog owners, and pet store employees.  We'll do reviews on dog foods that we've tried, dog treats that we've used, and other dog products that we've had experience with.  We'll also be posting useful information about dogs that we've learned through personal experience and research.  We hope that you'll enjoy, learn, and benefit from this.  Thanks for reading!