Why Commercial Dog Food Isn’t Always Healthy for Your Pet

Dogs are a man’s best friend. Some 68% of all US households own a dog; many of them own several dogs. We are a nation of dog lovers, yet pet lifespans have slowly shortened over the years. Twenty years ago, a Golden Retriever would usually live for around 17 years, but today, the average lifespan of a Golden Retriever is only nine years.

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According to Dr. Gary Richter, America’s favorite veterinarian, the culprit is poor quality commercial dog food. You can learn about this in a lot more detail on Pet Food Exposed, but in this article, we are going to look at the reasons why commercial pet food isn’t always a healthy option for our dog.

The Origins of Commercial Dog Food

Up until 150 years ago, people fed their dogs on leftovers, supplemented by anything a dog could scavenge for themselves. Dogs didn’t always have enough to eat, but what they did eat was closer to what a wild dog would consume, i.e. mostly meat and bones.

Commercial pet food manufacturing was created to make use of unwanted by-products from human food manufacturing. Savvy businessmen realized that they could make money from factory floor scrapings, grain husks, and blood. They came up with marketing campaigns and wild claims that their pet food was the best thing for a pet. Not surprisingly, almost all of these claims were completely bogus. The most a commercial pet food could offer was convenience.

Today, not much has changed. Commercial dog food manufacturers are still producing low-quality pet food hyped up with unrealistic claims – and time-poor pet owners are too brainwashed by mass advertising to realize their pet is suffering in the process.

Modern Pet Food Manufacturing

Take a look at the canned dog food or brown kibble you feed your beloved pooch. Is it tasty looking? Does it smell nice? It probably doesn’t look half as nice as the photo on the packaging and it most certainly won’t be doing your dog much good.

Dog food is made by combining a host of ingredients and superheating them until they turn into mush. Even if the raw ingredients include fresh meat and vegetables, the cooking process removes virtually all of the nutrients your dog needs to stay healthy – not that there were many,to begin with!

Pet food has very low-quality standards. As long as it doesn’t cause immediate harm, it is acceptable. Unfortunately, it often contains poor quality meat, grains (which a dog can’t digest), and unnatural ingredients introduced during the manufacturing process.

It’s the canine equivalent of junk food.

Symptoms of Low-Quality Dog Food

In the long-term, poor quality food that doesn’t meet your pet’s nutritional needs will cause irreversible health issues. If you have noticed your dog itching, his stools are smelly, loose, or too hard, and he lacks energy, his commercial diet is probably to blame.

You can change this by switching to a healthier raw food diet supplemented with selected fruits and vegetables, or you can add a diet supplement to boost the nutritional value of his regular food.

Doesn’t your dog deserve better?