With the many commercially prepared pet foods available on today's market, it is often quite difficult to tell which ones are better than others and why. First of all, you can't judge by advertising which are the good and bad pet foods. Many advertisers spend millions of dollars per year advertising inferior foods. Unfortunately, a good indicator on quality of food is price. Low priced foods are not always, but most often, the lowest quality foods on the market.

Normal adult canines need a diet that is roughly one quarter protein and one fifth fat. Ensure the protein did not come from scraps or "junk". Additionally, if your animal is young, or well outside the "average size", you should check whether special food is necessary. This topic should be addressed during your next meeting with the vet.

In order for you to make an informed decision, you must know which ingredients are better than others. When you look at a pet food label, the following are the kinds of ingredients that you are looking for: Human Grade Ingredients Chicken meal, Turkey meal, Fish meal, Rice, Potatoes, Lamb meal, Potatoes, Rice, Sunflower Oil, Vegetables and others. Good dog foods first four ingredients should not be grains, but should consist of things like meat and proteins. All these are present in pedigree dog food and Flint River Ranch dog food.

Be sure to see if it says that chicken is the main ingredient and not chicken meal. Chicken only refers to the fact that the entire chicken goes towards the overall protein value. Chicken meal differs in that the protein is cooked down to a version that is not appropriate for your pet in that it does not have other byproducts such as vitamins and fatty acids. These byproducts are essential ingredients in dog food.

Some of the ingredients that you don't want to see on your dog food label include: Inferior protein which consists of but not limited to variations of the following: Wheat, Corn, Chicken by-products, Soy, Gluten. These ingredients are hard to digest and can cause health problems later on if used for a long period of time. Sugar is another ingredient that you want to stay away from.

Remember to always follow the recommendations on food your vet gives you, and be prepared to discuss this with your vet also. You would expect your vet to know all of this information, but the truth is many vets are not taught this in veterinary school, but receive their information and facts from some commercial pet food manufacturers. On some occasions when dogs reach a certain age or have certain health conditions they need a special prescription diet. These diets may, or may not, contain the proper nutrients that dogs need, as well as often being more expensive then other foods. The dog's health will begin to decline if owners switch to a commercial dog food brand instead of the special diet due to cost or other concerns. The veterinary staff knows what's best to keep your particular dog healthy.