nutrition
How to choose a dog food
The options
Complete-and-balanced kibble
Extruded dry food formulated to AAFCO nutrient profiles, ideally with a feeding-trial AAFCO statement.
Pros
Cons
Wet / canned
High-moisture complete diet, useful for dogs with low water intake or post-surgery recovery.
Pros
Cons
Prescription / therapeutic diet
Formulated for a specific medical condition, kidney disease, urinary stones, food allergy work-ups.
Pros
Cons
The WSAVA five-question framework
WSAVA's Global Nutrition Committee publishes a one-page checklist for evaluating any pet food manufacturer. The answers should be available without a phone call.
- Does the manufacturer employ a full-time qualified nutritionist (PhD or board-certified DACVN/ECVCN)?
- Who formulates the diets, and what are their qualifications?
- Where are the diets manufactured, and are quality-control measures published?
- What specific quality control measures are used (ingredient testing, finished-product testing)?
- Will the company provide a complete nutrient analysis, on request, of the specific product you're feeding?
A brand that won't or can't answer all five doesn't clear the bar, regardless of marketing.
What the label actually tells you
- AAFCO statement, confirms the food is complete and balanced for a defined life stage. Prefer 'feeding trials' over 'formulated to meet' when both exist.
- Guaranteed analysis, minimum protein and fat, maximum fiber and moisture. Useful for comparing within a category, not across (wet vs dry).
- Ingredient list, sorted by weight pre-cooking, so it overstates fresh meat. Don't read too much into the top three names.
- Calorie content (kcal/cup or kcal/can), required by AAFCO and the only number you need to calculate portions.
What to ignore
- Buzzwords without regulatory meaning: 'human-grade', 'holistic', 'super-premium', 'ancestral'.
- Ingredient-splitting tricks that push meat up the list by breaking grains into three sub-types.
- Front-of-bag claims that an ingredient is 'first', re-read after rehydration, the math shifts.