I would like to say that statement is obvious but not so for most people who buy manufactured dog food. Off the shelf in shiny plastic bags.
Manufactured dog food is mostly grain based because it is a good filler and makes the bag look big.
The way you judge the true cost of a bag of kibble should be by the amount of meat they bother putting in it. If you put in HALF the contents as meat, this is considered an extreme premium item and can cost you more than 4 to 5 times the cheapest bags of grain on the market.
The fact that the premium brands have a higher percentage of meat, as their main reason why they can charge so much should high light to you what the real ingredients should be in every bag of dog food.
What is dog meat?
Dog meat should be the same as human grade meat. If you wouldn’t eat it, why trust your dog to eat it?
You can always go to the butcher to buy your dog meat, as its main meal rather than a snack or a treat. There is no reason why a dog shouldn’t eat only meat and offal and bones (except you won’t be making any big dog food manufacturing corporations profits)
In the nutrition section of this website I show many tables showing the exceptional nutrition (in protein, fats and vitamins and minerals) but I guess most people (who are actually omnivores) wouldn’t eat meat unless they thought it was good for them either.
The only limitation with dog meat type is what you can afford. If you stick to the major varieties they sell in dog food packs, then you should get moderately cheap meat (go to a bulk butcher not the super market).
There is potential that grains don’t have enough vitamins and minerals in them (the reason they add a lot to dog food) so it would be the same for meat potentially. This is why I add a single human vitamin tablet to my dogs raw meat meals at night.
What meat cant you feed your dog?
I actually feed my dog mainly kangaroo based healthy dog treats at night time, because kangaroo meat is too expensive to feed him as his main meal, AND he doesn’t like it!
Here is the shocking truth about meat. Dogs as carnivores crave and need meat to live.
Everything else (vegetable matter) is just filler and packaging. Grain alone cant provide the amino acids dogs require (the only reason dog food makers put meat in their product at all).
Why doesn’t my dog like some meats (particularly game meats)? Because he is not a breed like a golden retriever or staffy that will eat anything put in front of them (a slight generalisation).
AND because I didnt expose my dog to game meats as a puppy, when their taste buds and brains are forming opinions. THIS is why dog food manufacturers DEMAND you feed your dog their pellets for the first year of your dog’s life, to hopefully restrict your dogs taste for the actual natural food, called meat.
HOWEVER my dog loves kangaroo jerky as dog treats, because it is dried, has a great chewy texture and its smell is massively amplified when you take the water out of it.
