Most dog owners are rightfully worried about the quality and safety of the food they give their pets, with many going to great lenghts to find the best and most expensive dog food on the market. Basically, they are doing everything in their power to avoid food that could in any way harm their beloved pooches.

The problem is, however, that all dog food commericals and websites for dog food manufacturers claim that their products are the best. With so many brands out there, how can we know for a fact that a particular food is really the best, safest, and most nutritious?

We have turned to DogFoodAdvisor.com. for some much-needed help.

The editor and creator of the website, Mike Sagman, decided to find out the truth behind dog food after a personal tragedy. In the late 1990’s, Sagman and his family had adopted a shelter dog named Penny, nursed her back to health and fell madly in love with her. It all started like so many heartwarming adoption stories, but ended in a tragic manner. She passed away in 2007 after ingesting food that eventually claimed the lives of thousands of dogs. The shocking events led to the largest pet food recall in American history.

Mike states:

“Pet food companies aren’t legally required to disclose anything about where they get their ingredients. So, even though a pet food label says ‘Made in the USA’, the ingredients themselves could legally come from just about anywhere… including China.”

He soon discovered that pet food manufacturers use numerous harmful ingredients, including agricultural waste, food industry by-products, diseased and dying cattle, out-of-date grocery store meats… the list goes on and on.

These are some of his tips:

Tip 1: Never give your dog food that contains unidentified meat ingredients. Such foods will usually have the following names: meat meal, meat by-products, meat and bone meal, animal fat, and animal by-product meal.

Tip 2: Quality dog food always has to include the words ‘complete and balanced’ on its label.

Tip 3: Never buy any dog food that is extremely high in fat. A reasonable amount of fat is good for your dog, but certainly not too much. When purchasing food, divide the amount of fat by the amount of protein (the fat-to-protein ratio) – the higher the ratio, the higher the fat. The majority of dog foods have a 50 to 70 percent ration, and anything higher than that is dangerous to your pet.