Dogs need the right combination of ingredients in their food so even if you see ingredients that claim their food has “meat” you still have to wonder WHAT meat? Where did it come from?

Seventy percent of pet owners we surveyed didn’t know all the ingredients in their dog’s food, including the very ingredients at the heart of the Purina lawsuit. Not only that, there are more brands to choose from than ever, most of which pet owners know very little about.

Safety has always been a problem for dog food. Since the 2007 recalls on Chinese-sourced food, many consumers began reading labels to see where their food was coming from, but even ingredients sourced in the U.S. can be unsafe.

Ingredients from rendering facilities, for instance, should be avoided. You’ll recognize these ingredients on the label under generic terms like “meat” and “meat meal.” In California, they’ve given them the appetizing name of “dry rendered tankage.” So why avoid them? It’s almost impossible to tell what’s being rendered: it can be road kill, zoo animals, and sometimes even spoiled meat from the grocery store that’s still wrapped in plastic.

Just verifying all the ingredients in your food are “safe” doesn’t mean they are good. Dogs need the right combination of protein, fat, moisture, fiber, and nutrients to live healthy, happy lives. The wrongingredients in the wrong combinations can lead to a host of health problems, both physical and mental.

When we made our picks for the best dog foods, we looked at all varieties: dry, wet, homemade, dehydrated, and frozen raw varieties. No matter the type of food, the most important determining factor is still the ingredients. After that, what matters is what’s best for you and your dog.

According to the experts we interviewed, there’s no indication that specific breeds need specific diets. What you feed your dog is dependent on his or her size and activity level. Foods formulated specially for small dogs, for example, are beneficial because the smaller pieces of kibble are easier for them to eat and digest.

After putting in 1,400 hours of research and analyzing over 2,219 formulas, we discovered even some of the most popular brands still make food with unhealthy or unsafe ingredients. Of the 2,219 formulas we looked at, only 121 met our standard of approval — about 5 percent overall. With so many choices on the market, it’s as important as ever to read labels and make informed decisions.

The good news? There are 121 great formulas to choose from, and they represent the best of what the industry has to offer.

A little frightening, isn’t it? One thing is for certain, we have been reading labels a lot more lately!

For more material on this article, including a list of what you should look for in your pet food, what your dog can do without, and which dog food brands passed the researchers various tests….. please go to Reviews. It truly does contain a great deal of important information any pet own should take to heart!

We love our dogs so let’s feed them right and keep them around for a long, long time!