Commercial Dog Food - An Introduction to Processed Canine Food

As recently as fifty years ago dogs ate far less kibble than they do today. Kibble was a relatively new product at that time. Prior to that, people gave their dogs scraps from the table or from slaughtering farm animals. They might have gotten some warm milk over fresh bread, perhaps with some cooked meat or raw egg mixed in. As time went on, life got busier. Women, who once had time to make these meals for Fido, entered the workplace after the Second World War. Kibble was a time-saver and it remains so to this day. But is it good for our dogs?

The answer to that question, of course, is as varied as the number of commercial dog foods on the market today. Because both high quality and low quality foods exist, as well as foods that exist somewhere in the middle of these extremes, it is difficult to paint all dog foods with the same brush. The simple answer is that less expensive, low-quality foods are not as good for your dog as more expensive, high-quality foods might be. What is it that makes dog food quality so variable? If it is bad for our dogs, why feed it at all?

Commercial processed dog food is variable because there are few federal regulations that apply to dog food and other pet food. Although a few broad pet and livestock food regulations fall under the auspices of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), many regulations are set by state and regional governments based on the needs of their constituents. Because regulations are so vague, dog food companies are able to use a wide variety of ingredients within the broad federal guidelines.

Variability, however, does not equal "bad." Not every dog will do well on a single kind of food. It can successfully be argued that in the wild every canine does well on a meat-based diet with little variety, but that argument is only partly true. Different prey animals eat different diets, all of which become part of part of the predators' diets. And, in the wild, a canine that has sensitivities to the regular diet may have difficulties in surviving, reducing the variability in a "natural" diet. Commercial diets evolved over time to accommodate many dogs that would not survive in the wild.

Society has changed from the time when people routinely gave home-prepared food to their dogs. The food given to pet dogs at that time wouldn't bear scrutiny now. Most of that food was probably high in sodium and fat. In addition, this food was no doubt unbalanced for pet dogs' health needs. Today's commercial diets, even if they do not address every need for every dog, are vastly superior over the hit-or-miss nutrition that owners once provided to their pets.

Next article: Read and Understand Commercial Dog Food Labels To Identify Better Quality

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Read And Understand Commercial Dog Food Ingredients Label

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