Publisher's Synopsis
2011 - Nearly 1,500 dog foods in this newly updated 2nd edition. Now featuring QR codes for smart phone integration and quick online access to all pet food manufacturer websites. This is the complete reference guide that includes the nutritional information and ingredients to nearly 1,500 different dry dog foods that are commonly sold in the United States. You will easily be able to compare between several different dog foods and make the most educated choice for your dog. Selecting your dog's pet food just might be the most important thing you do for your dog. Your dog can't choose the food and depends entirely on you to make the right choice. Since your dog is going to be eating the same food every day and every meal, make sure your selection is a good one. Imagine if you had to choose a single meal to eat everyday for every meal. You might not do that well on a fast-food diet - a much better choice would be a healthy and wholesome one. A high-quality dog food that is appropriate for your dog's current life-stage can be the difference between a healthy dog and one that requires frequent and expensive trips to the veterinarian for chronic nutrition-related problems. Many animal health care professionals agree that the most common cause of skin and coat problems (besides external parasites) can be attributed to food sensitivity reactions from poor quality ingredients in commercial dog foods. The AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) standards for a "Complete and Balanced" pet food are very basic and these "Complete and Balanced" foods still may not be appropriate to feed your dog. This all depends on the ingredients - grains verses meats. The most important way to evaluate a dog foods is to choose the ones with the right ingredients. Understanding the ingredients can be very difficult. With this guide, not only will you know exactly what is in your dog's food, but you will also understand what the ingredients are and what they are doing for your dog's well-being. A dog food grading system is good and useful to weed-out the poor quality foods so that you have an easier time choosing between the higher-quality foods. The highest scoring dog food may not be the best-suited one for your dog. Each dog has basic needs, but some may require specific formulations for optimal health. All of this can be very confusing for dog owners. If a dog does well on a dog food with no secondary health problems, then the food might be adequate for the dogs well-being and for the dog's current life-stage. Remember: a dog's different life-stages require different nutritional formulations and a switch in foods may be necessary a few times during your dog's lifespan. Switching diets can be hard on some dogs and can cause digestive problems and diarrhea. Some owners automatically attribute these problems to the new food, which may not be the case. To help reduce this problem, a mixture of the two foods can be fed before completely switching. The health benefits from a new food may not be noticeable for 3-8 weeks.
