The Fatal Weakness of All Dog Food Rating Systems - Family - Pets

Introduction

There are various dog food rating systems on the Internet that claim to provide a listing of the best to worst dog food available on the market.

One popular method assigns points to "good" and "bad" ingredients in dog food to arrive at a final rating for pet food. Other methods allow consumers to rate food based on their pets' preferences or the experience one has had with a particular brand. Still other methods rate food for their meat content or whole vegetable or whole grain content. Some rating entities even contact the manufacturer to determine the sources of their ingredients.

The major weakness of most dog food rating systems

Each one of these methods could be critiqued on their own merits; however even without their proper downsides, most suffer from one overriding weakness: - A majority of the dog foods they rate are not genetically appropriate for your pet.

For starters we must contend with the fact that most conventional pet food is made under highly processed conditions. The resulting kibble, which has gone through an abnormal heating and cooling process, differs dramatically from natural food in its normal state.

You don't need a dog food expert to corroborate this fact for you. You know it instinctively from the foods you prepare daily for human consumption.

For example, if you've ever made lemonade by squeezing the lemons yourself you know it tastes qualitatively different (and is better for you) than some processed concoction you buy at the supermarket (a smiling actor notwithstanding).

Secondly, for all of the positive points or ratings that are given to foods with whole grains, they are still nevertheless starches. Starches are wonderful for plant eaters, but are not a natural food for carnivores. Yet many companies routinely use starches as fillers or as protein substitutes or because it helps the ingredients in the kibble to adhere.

The wonderful carnivore's anatomy (i.e. your dog's body)

Think about your dog's anatomy for a second.

First, it bears repeating often that your dog is a descendant of the wolf, a carnivore if there ever was one. I suspect that if a wolf in the wild came across some splattered kibble left by a camper with a dog, they would not know what to do with it.

Secondly, a dog's teeth are sharp and jagged, which means they are primed to tear through flesh, bones and fat. In addition, they have what is known as a hinged jaw, allowing them to swallow large chunks of food (i.e. the whole tiny, crunchy, pellet thing goes against their very nature.) Finally, there are no flat molars in a dog's mouth, making the grinding of vegetable matter quite difficult.

Thirdly, a dog's digestive system is short, and its powerful stomach acids, allow for the easy digestion of protein and fat. (This is why good homemade recipes call for lots of meat.) Grains, vegetables and other starches, however require further breakdowns which a short digestive tract is not able to handle as well. The result of all the starch in most pet foods is gas and smelly stools.

Conclusion

Dogs are incredible creatures, with amazing anatomies, whose real need is genetically appropriate food. The problem with most dog food rating systems is that they are giving high marks to a manufacturing process that ultimately fails to address this need.

Only a diet of fresh, natural, homemade dog food recipes begins to reverse this critical shortcoming.

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