AboutPatti Expertise To date, I've owned 7 dogs, all of which have lived into old age.
Having cared for them in all stages of life, I feel I can offer sound advice to other pet owners, and people considering getting a dog.
I am knowledgeable about the AKC (American Kennel Club) dog breeds, training and exercise, caring for sick and elderly pets, feeding, as well as many holistic treatments pets can benefit from.
My only request is that you write me using standard English and punctuation.
Experience My life experience in this field is more like "on the job training" rather than an actual degree in animal welfare. You may benefit from my experiences over the past 30 years.
Aside from the dogs I've owned, I'm also involved in "breed rescue" and have fostered several dogs, all of which have been adopted to wonderful "forever homes".
I find helping people who want a dog very rewarding.
Question QUESTION: Hello, I have been hearing alot about the importance of the source of protein in dog food. What is considered a good protein source? What is considered a bad protein source? Thought you might be able to help. My dog is 11 months old, male (neutered), pit bull mix, 40 lbs. Thanks.
ANSWER: Hi Rachel,
An example of a poor quality source of protein, would be a dog food containing "byproducts". Byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat. Byproducts are much less expensive and less digestible than the muscle meat. The ingredients of each batch of byproduct can vary drastically in ingredients (heads, feet, bones etc.) as well as quality, thus the nutritional value is also not consistent.
Other examples of a poor sources of protein are distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), ground corn germ, corn gluten meal. These are all inexpensive by-products of human food processing which contains some protein but serves mainly to bind food together. It is not a harmful ingredient but should not rank high in the ingredient list of a quality product. You should avoid any food that contains corn (ground or otherwise) as a first ingredient, especially if corn gluten meal is also a main ingredient and no concentrated source of identified meat protein (e.g. chicken meal, lamb meal etc.) is present.
Another thing to watch for in dog foods is the use of a the word "meat", or an organ meat (such as just "liver") that isn't identified as a specific kind of animal meat. Whenever the word 'meat' or the name of an organ appear by themselves (without a species) on a pet food label, there is no way to know which kind of animal it came from. It could be horse liver, goat, duck, pig, or even skunk or other animals of questionable origin.
Just as you should look for an identified source of meat in a dog food, you should also look for specifically named fats and oils such as chicken fat, herring oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, flax oil etc. Non-specific sources such as animal fat, poultry fat, vegetable oil, generic fish oil, or mineral oil should be avoided.
Contrary to what many people believe, meat sources in "meal" form (as long as they are from a specified type of animal, such as chicken meal, lamb meal, salmon meal etc.) are not inferior to whole, fresh meats. Meals consist of meat and skin, with or without the bones, but not containing feathers/hair, heads, feet, horns, entrails etc. Meat meals are basically dehydrated meats that's ground up, and offers more concentrated protein per pound than fresh whole meat because the water has been removed.
Carbohydrates is also a part of any dog's diet. While corn is not acceptable as a main source of protein in a dog food, as a source of carbohydrate it is no better and no worse than other grains in terms of nutritional value and digestibility. That said, many of the best quality dog foods do not contain any corn, and use whole ground grains such as rice, oats, barley, millet etc., potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas.
Preservatives are in almost all dog foods, but you should select a food that is preserved naturally. Look for a food preserved with: Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Rosemary-, Sage, or Clove Extract, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Ascorbic Acid and other forms of Vitamin C. Avoid BHA (Butylated Hydroxysanisole), BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene), Ethoxyquin, TBHQ (Tertiary Butylhydroquinone), Sodium Metabisulphite.
No dog food needs to have added salt, sugars, sweeteners or artificial flavors or colors or dyes.
So when you look for a dog food, ideally, the first ingredient you should see is either a specified meat meal, or a specified fresh meat type followed by a meal. Byproducts of any type are less desirable and only acceptable if they do not make up the main source of animal protein, and only if the name of the species animal is stated (such as. "chicken byproducts" or "beef byproducts" but not "meat byproducts" or "poultry byproducts").
QUESTION: Thank you very much for your detailed response. I had some other questions however. I started switching my dog over to a food called Solid Gold, have you heard anything about this food? Also, right now I am feeding a food based on beef but I noticed there is also formulas from Solid Gold based on Bison, Ocean Fish, and Lamb. Is any protein better than the other? This Solid Gold food says it uses no grains, preservatives, corn, soy, by-products, or other nasty low quality foods, its considered a holistic food. Any comments?
Answer Hi Rachel,
Solid Gold is a really good quality dog food. The other exotic Solid Gold flavors (Bison, Ocean Fish, and Lamb) that you've noted are made for dogs with allergies to common protein and carbohydrate sources. These diets are often referred to as "novel sources of protein". Other brands produce such diets. These days you can even find diets based on Kangaroo, Rabbit and Duck! It's not that these diets are better, some dogs just can't tolerate chicken or beef.
It's best to reserve these novel sources of protein in case your dog ever needs such a diet. The way to pin-point and treat a food intolerance or allergy, is to feed the dog a food they haven't ever received in the past and to avoid foods that contain any similar ingredients. (This is called a Food trial). Soy, like corn and wheat can be a high allergen to some dogs. Grains aren't a bad thing by any means, provided your dog is a healthy dog without an allergy to grains and can tolerate them!
It's really good that dog owners have these over the counter food options these days, in the past owners of dogs with food intolerances really had a hard time of it.
It wouldn't hurt to feed your dog these exotic dog foods if that's want you want to do, it's just unnecessary, and probably cheaper not to.
Feel free to get back to me if you have any other questions.
Regards,
