Worst Dog Food
If you are wanting to know the worst dog food, the first to do is examine the ingredients.
You can of course, find this information on the bag itself, or you can go to the manufacturer’s website.
The Ingredients List
The ingredients list will show you exactly what is in their dog food. It will list the ingredients starting with the heaviest weight. You want to look for any controversial ingredients that may not be good for your dog. (see below for information about these ingredients).
Analysis List
Look at the Guaranteed Analysis list on each dog food brand. The label will give you the amount of protein, fat, fiber, and moisture content in percentages. In addition some labels, might show you the amount calcium and phosphorus as well.
Next Step Is To Look Out For Misleading Things.
Watch out for clever phrases such as, “Natural”, “Holistic”, and “Human-Grade” that are on dog food labels. These are marketing terms, and don’t have any legal guidelines or standards.
Worst Dog Food - List of Bad ingredients
The worst dog food uses cheap fillers, which can lead to poor health in your dog. They should be avoided and instead, choose high-quality dog food instead.
1. Meat By-Products
Watch out for dog food that list, “Meat by-products” as that is just ground up remains of animal and is not guaranteed high-quality. Another one is “poultry by-products”, which again is a ground-up remains of the chicken and not of high-quality standards.
2. Chemical Preservatives
Here are the main chemical preservatives that can be found in some of the worst dog foods.
Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT
Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)
Ethoxyquin (a herbicide that has been shown to cause medical conditions; kidney and liver damage, cancer, immune deficiency, blindness, and leukemia.
Propylene Glycol (PG) (a type of anti-freeze
BHA and BHT can cause kidney damage and have been proven to cause cancer in both humans and dogs.
3. Bad Additives
Look out for these additives, which are not good for your dog.
Corn, Wheat & Soy
White Rice
Onions
Grapes
Garlic
Sugar
Food Dyes. Many people are waking up to the adverse health effects of unnatural dyes in both human and pet food. You should be sure to avoid Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6, and 4-MIE for certain but you’re best off avoiding dyes altogether—high-quality foods will not use them at all.
PG, or Propylene Glycol.
Rendered fat.
4. Grain-Free Dog Food
One type of dog food that is becoming increasingly popular is grain-free dog food. Some dogs have allergies to grains and research has shown that it can slow down your dog’s digestive system. Make sure you purchase dog foods that do not contain wheat, corn, or soy grains for optimum dog health.
Finding The Best Dog Food
Here are some tips for finding high-quality dog food:
Rather than meal or by-product, look for foods that have Beef, Chicken, Lamb or another protein as the first ingredient. Meal might come later in the list, but it should be the secondary source, not the primary source.
You might have to skip past the big-name dog food brands to find a truly high-quality solution.
Smaller brands might be lesser known to you, but all you have to do is compare the ingredients list to see which food is the best—forget about commercials, marketing tactics, and the “big names” if you truly want to find great dog food.
If you find a dog food that has any food dyes whatsoever, chances are, it’s low quality.
No high-quality dog foods use food dyes in their product because there is simply no reason to (other than human marketing tactics).
Skip any brand that uses food dyes.
In addition to getting the best dog food, you might also need to supplement their diet with a pet supplement to help support their health and give them the full range of vitamins and minerals they need.
Some of the more popular supplements include gels, liquids, and pills that give a range of nutrients to help support joint and overall health.