Not all that long ago, selecting a dry food for your dog was pretty simple. What brand (singular) did your local pet supply store carry? What size bag did you want? And would you like some help out with that, maโam?
Today, making a choice of dry dog foods can be immensely more complex that is, if you buy into the notion that not all โcomplete and balancedโ diets are equal. There are millions of people, after all, who think that all dog foods are alike, and that youโd have to be an idiot to spend $30 or $40 or $50 on the same-sized sack of what you can buy for $7.99 at WalMart.
Weโre here to testify that there is a difference between those $7.99 foods and the high-dollar products. And, while the task isnโt exactly brain surgery, choosing the best foods for your dog requires your attention and consideration of numerous factors.
First things first
Our task today is to dispense with a common misconception one so prevalent, that even many veterinarians swear itโs accurate. Many people believe that all dog foods that are labeled as โcomplete and balancedโ are equally appropriate and healthful for your dog. Itโs so not true.
โComplete and balancedโ sounds good unambiguous in its assertion that a product so labeled contains everything, in just the right amounts and proportions, that a dog needs to live a long and healthy life. But, as Bob Dylan sings, โThe truth was far from that.โ
In reality, there is a huge amount of variation in the nutrient levels of pet foods that are labeled โcomplete and balanced.โ Iโd like to start taking the quotation marks off that expression, believe me, but I just canโt. The phrase must be taken with a handful of salt. Yet few ever stop to question how itโs possible for a food containing, say, 42 percent protein and 22 percent fat (like Innova Evo), to be just as โcomplete and balancedโ as a food containing 21 percent protein and 4 percent fat (like Purina Kibbles and Chunks).
Maybe youโre okay with that; maybe you expect to see disparity in the amounts of macro-nutrients (protein and fat) in dog foods, especially since there is so much variety in their ingredients. It may surprise you to learn, though, that there is also a wide range of micro-nutrient (vitamin and mineral) levels represented in different โcomplete and balancedโ dog foods.
And it may shock you to learn that a food can be labeled as โcomplete and balancedโ even if it contains nutrient levels that are deficient, excessive, or imbalanced enough to cause illness in a dog fed a sole diet of that food for a number of years! Iโll explain how this is possible and youโll see why I canโt take the quote marks off the phrase in question.
Which test did it pass?
Pet foods can earn the right to use the โcomplete and balancedโ nutritional adequacy statement in one of three ways: by successfully completing a feeding trial, by meeting the โnutritional levelsโ requirements as set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), or through a so-called โfamily member.โ
288
No matter which method is used to prove its adequacy, the โcomplete and balancedโ claim must specify the population of dogs the food is supposed to be able to sustain: adult dogs (a โmaintenanceโ claim); puppies (โgrowthโ); gestating or lactating females; or dogs in โall life stagesโ (all of the above).
In an AAFCO feeding trial, the candidate product is fed to a minimum number of dogs for a specified period. For the food to pass the trial, no more than 25 percent of the dogs can be removed from the study for โnon-nutritional reasons or for poor food intake.โ No dog in adult studies can lose more than 15 percent of its body weight during the trial. In the trials that include puppies, the pups must gain specified percentages of weight. The test dogs must also pass other fairly liberal tests of their โhealth.โ (Note: We described feeding trials in much more detail in โOn Trial,โ April 2005.) If the food passes, it gets to carry a statement that looks like this:
The second way for a food to earn the โcomplete and balancedโ appellation is to demonstrate (through laboratory analysis) that the food contains a concentration of nutrients that meets all the minimum levels, and does not exceed the maximum levels, of certain nutrients determined by AAFCO to be necessary to maintain the intended canine consumers. If all of the values for each required nutrient fall into the ranges approved by AAFCO, the food gets to carry a statement that looks something like this:
You could say that nepotism is the third method of achieving โcomplete and balancedโ status. If a manufacturer can demonstrate that a new product bears a โnutritional similarityโ to one of its products that has already passed an โall life stagesโ feeding trial, the new โfamily memberโ can be labeled with the same feeding trial claim.
288
Problems with each test
Each method of qualifying for a nutritional adequacy claim has its faults, to wit:
– Foods that pass feeding trials are not required to contain minimum or maximum levels of any particular nutrients. Therefore, itโs possible for a food to sustain dogs long enough to โpassโ the trial, but fail to demonstrate an ability (in real-world, long-term use) to promote optimum health. As one example, mineral excesses may take a year or more to cause noticeable health problems, but a food that claims to provide complete and balanced nutrition for adult dogs (a โmaintenanceโ claim) may have passed only a 26-week test.
There is also an AAFCO feeding trial (at least 13 weeks long) for products intended for dogs during gestation and lactation and another that tests puppy diets (10 weeks). To earn the right to claim nutritional adequacy for dogs of โall life stages,โ a food must undergo all three trials sequentially, for a total of 49 (or more) weeks. If it passes, its label can state, โAnimal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that (name of product) provides complete and balanced nutrition for all life stages.โ
Many experts regard the โall life stagesโ feeding trial as the best proof we have of a foodโs ability to perform. But again: Even a year-long feeding trial may fail to reveal faults that can cause serious health problems if fed as a sole diet for a long period.
– Foods that meet the โAAFCO nutritional profilesโ qualification can lack palatability and/or digestibility. If dogs donโt like the smell or taste of the food, they wonโt eat enough of it to gain its nutritional benefits. Also, the nutrients contained in a product may not be present in a form that the dog can digest. The AAFCO nutrient profiles themselves contain a problem: Not many lay people are aware that the profiles allow for a wide range of values. Far from being some sort of industry โstandard,โ or offering suggestions for optimum nutrition, they actually offer only broad guidance.
The profiles outline minimum values for each nutrient currently proven to be required for dogs. Also included are maximum values for eight minerals and three vitamins, out of concern for potential toxicosis if excessive levels of those nutrients are fed.
The spread between the allowed minimum and maximum values reveals just how far the industry is from consensus about โidealโ nutrient levels or, perhaps, how little research has been conducted in this area.
This latter explanation is actually offered by AAFCO itself, to explain why more maximum nutrient levels are not defined: โThe absence of a maximum should not be interpreted to mean that those nutrients are safe at any level. Rather, it reflects the lack of information on nutrient toxicity in dogs and cats. Establishing a maximum level implies safety below that level and to set a maximum arbitrarily might prove worse than no maximum at all.โ
One of the most striking gaps occurs in the levels allowed for iron. The minimum value is 80 mg per kg; the maximum is 3,000 mg/kg. One can well imagine that a food containing something near the minimum will perform very differently from one containing an amount closer to the maximum allowable level.
These profiles are better than nothing; they get a pet food maker into the ballpark. But in our opinion, itโs farcical to qualify all the products with such a wide range of nutrient levels as โcomplete and balancedโ especially with the common mistaken inference that all the products carrying that statement are somehow equal.
– Foods that use the โfamily memberโ route to qualification are not required to be distinguished from the family member that actually passed the โall life stagesโ feeding trial. This seems like the sneakiest path to a nutritional adequacy claim. There is no way for a consumer to learn which food in a manufacturerโs โfamilyโ was the โleadโ product the one that actually passed the feeding trial and which ones are hanging on its coattails. Imagine: a food that is identified as having met the most stringent test, without having been tested at all.
The concern here is that a food might appear โnutritionally similarโ enough to its lead product to garner access to the approved โfamily,โ while lacking some vital characteristic that was key to its predecessorโs success.
Other claims you might see
There are a few other claims seen on pet food labels. Here is an interesting one:
If the label states that the food is โintended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only,โ it can mean the maker really intends for the food to supplement other products, that it really isnโt complete or balanced. But the statement is also used sometimes when the food has some nutritional values that are out of the range of the AAFCO profiles, and it hasnโt yet passed a feeding trial. Here is another:
288
Notice anything missing? Itโs lacking the AAFCO reference! Without referencing either the AAFCO nutritional values or AAFCO feeding trials, it has to be lumped into the category of products that carry no statement about their completeness. In these cases, you are totally on your own.
288
Final consideration
One last thing: Feeding trials (especially the three sequential trials needed to garner an โall life stagesโ claim) are wildly expensive. The pet food industry giants have the resources to conduct these trials routinely, and as a result, most of their foods carry the โfeeding trialsโ claim. Again, this statement carries the most weight with many veterinary nutritionists (even though the food may not meet all the AAFCO โnutritional levelsโ values). Smaller, independent companies the ones that make the foods we tend to like often conduct their own, informal feeding tests to work out palatability and digestibility issues, but canโt easily afford to conduct AAFCO-protocol trials. Thatโs why many products on our โtop foodsโ list carry the โnutritional levelsโ claim.
Compare for yourself!
We hope weโve inspired you to go take a gander at that last bag of dog food you bought or, more importantly, to examine the labels of several foods before you buy the next bag. Weโve been busy examining labels ourselves. On the following pages, weโve listed dry dog foods that meet our selection criteria. Our methodology is described in โWhole Dog Journalโs Dry Dog Food Selection Criteria,โ right. Regarding our list of foods, please also consider the following:
– the foods on our list are not the only good foods! The list is offered as a starting place and for its value as a comparison to products you may find in your area.
As an addendum to this point, if the variety we describe doesnโt suit your needs, check its makerโs website or call their toll-free phone number to get information about the other varieties in the same line.
– We have presented the foods on our list alphabetically. We do not โrank orderโ foods. We donโt attempt to identify which ones are โbest,โ because whatโs โbestโ for every dog is different.
– The proof is in the pudding. If your dog does not thrive on the food, with a glossy coat, itch-free skin, bright eyes, clear ears, and a happy, alert demeanor, it doesnโt matter whether we like it or not.
And if your dogโs health or attitude sours under the influence of a certain food, stop feeding it, note the ingredients, and find another food that contains different ingredients. Keep your notes! Sometimes it takes several years of detective work to find products that really suit your dog.
– Remember that quality comes with a price. These foods may be expensive and difficult to find. Contact the maker and ask about purchasing options. If the customer service representatives are less than helpful, move on to another product. As youโll see from our list on the following pages, there are plenty from which to choose.
