Dog nutrition guide.

Feeding your dog is one of the simplest things you will ever have to do. If you lay dog food, dog treats, or dog cookies down your dog will eat them. But what is in your dog food.  You’ve probably pulled dog food off the shelf and tried to decipher the ingredients, nutritional value, and the marketing strategies implemented on the bags or boxes. We’ve compiled a brief list of items that are commonly on bags of dog food. They can be confusing so we’ve put together some quick information on what they really mean.
Life Stages: This is a crucial part of your dog’s diet and nutrition. Dog food should be different for a puppy, a young adult, and an older dog. In each stage of your dog’s life they need a new dog diet.

Vet Endorsed: This is a marketing scheme through and through. Dog food manufacturers always employ veterinarians. These veterinarians are paid to “endorse” products.
AAFCO Standards: AAFCO stands for "Association of American Feed Control Officials."  The AAFCO set’s standards for which dog food must conform. They do not, however, endorse products. When you see this seal, you should know that it means that the dog food manufacturer has met the “minimum” requirement of the AAFCO standards.
Ingredients: Unless you have a strong background in dog diet and nutrition, this list of ingredients won't be of much help for you when it comes to making dog food choices. You can tell more about dog food nutrients by checking out the Guaranteed Analysis. The ingredients are listed in descending order based on their weight order, but this can be misleading as products can be broken down and reported later on the list.
Guaranteed Analysis: This information about the dog food can be found in table form. Dog food manufacturers or distributors are required to list minimums of protein and fat, and maximums of crude fiber and moisture. Unless they provide additional optional information, you won't know how much fat is actually in the average serving.

Now that you’ve got an idea of what dog food labels and lists of ingredients actually mean, it’s time for you to start reading them for what they are. You now know not to get sold on “Vet Endorsed” or “AAFCO Standards”, because they’re not worth the paper they are printed on. On the other hand you should buy food that is “Life Stage” specific because dogs need different kinds of nutrition at different stages of their life. Also important in your dog food is diet dog food. When your dog is overweight diet dog food is a great solution. You should not curb their eating because you will deprive them of the nutrition. Keep feeding them a normal amount of food, but make sure it is diet dog food.

Buying dog food can be tricky, we hope this list will help you pick the right dog food for your dog.