What Toxic Dog Food To Avoid and Not Feed In Your Canine Diet

As was pointed out earlier, our dogs are just like any other living organism on the planet when it comes to dietary needs. Just like other creatures, there are certain things that you should not feed to your pet. It is commonly known that dogs should not eat items that contain chocolate. It is less commonly known, however true, that raisins and grapes are also toxic to dogs. Not all inappropriate ingredients come from homemade diets or snacks, however. Some commercially produced diets may also contain ingredients that are not suitable for your dog’s consumption. Two such ingredients are excessive proteins and chemical preservatives.

Excessive protein: Many times dogs get too much protein in their diet. At times, this excess is by design: dog food companies put too much protein in their food to ensure that dogs get a sufficient amount in their diet. Dog foods that are formulated for dogs with a high level of activity, sometimes called “performance foods,” also contain what would otherwise be considered an excessive amount of protein.

In most cases, should a dog consume more protein than needed by his or her body, the excess protein is excreted in the dog's urine and the dog is no worse for the wear. At one time it was believed that excess protein damaged a dog's kidneys; however, it is now known that damaged kidneys have difficulty processing protein, not the other way around.

Similarly, it was once thought that dogs that showed aggression did so because they had too much protein or maybe meat in their food. The theory was that meat provided too much energy for most dogs to handle effectively. However, it is not the food that makes the dog aggressive. Rather, the aggressive dog is affected by having a high- or moderate-protein diet. Some dogs that show certain kinds of aggression can be helped by feeding low-protein diets.

Chemical Preservatives: It is not unusual for preservatives to be present in commercial dog food. Dog food produced by major dog food companies sometimes sits on shelves for months before being served. Preservatives in dog food can be beneficial in preventing mold-related fungus that can cause severe illness in dogs that consume it. Preservatives themselves are not the problem, then.

The need for preserving the nutritional value of the commercially produced food also has created reliance on chemical preservatives, however. Some of these chemical preservatives are harmful to the dogs that consume them, even in small amounts. These preservatives, such as Ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT have been investigated for their links to certain disorders. Ethoxyquin, in particular, shows some evidence on that preservative being linked to cancer.

Some research has been done on the effectiveness of replacing chemical preservatives with natural preservatives such as vitamin C, also called "ascorbate," and vitamin E, which is also called "tocopherol."

Next article: Quick and Easy to Prepare Homemade Dog Food Recipes