The dog food recall in 2007 caused millions of dog owners heartache with the thought of unknowingly feeding their dog contaminated dog food. Various dog food recall reports indicated the numbers of affected cats and dogs almost reached the 40,000 mark across the U.S. alone. Dogs became extremely sick or died due to the contamination of commercial dog foods with an industrial chemical – melamine, used to make plastics and fertilizers. This chemical was found in more than 100 brands of dog food that were recalled in Canada and the USA sating back to mid-March. Check and make sure your dog’s food is not on the dog food recall list.

In our fast-paced society, it’s sometimes hard to find the time to search for a good commercial dog food. You want the best for your doggie but with all the different brands and varieties of dog food out there, how do you decide which is best for your best friend?

First, we have to learn “how” to read the labels on the dog food. Understanding the way the AAFCO, (the Association of American Feed Control Officials) sets standards and guidelines for dog food and nutrition products is very important. By first understanding this, we will be armed with the knowledge to “read between the lines” on dog food labels. The AAFCO will give its approval to both low and high quality ingredients, and unless you know exactly what's in the commercial dog food your feeding your dog, you might think everything is just fine. Bad dog food with sub-par ingredients could be making your dog sick.

We have to pay close attention to avoiding these types of dog foods because many of them are masked with euphemisms and phrases such as “Moist, chewy” or “contains vegetables,” among many more. These marketing tactics are designed to "mask" the true ingredients. Keep in mind that the large dog food manufacturers pay people good salaries to come up with the words which will entice you to buy their products. You need to know how to read the ingredients behind the descriptions, and decide if you should really be feeding your best friend those types of dog food.

In order to keep our best friends healthy and happy, we need to stay up to date with what’s going on in the dog world. A good idea is to check the dog food recall list and see if your dog’s food is listed. If it is, then don’t feed your dog that brand of food again.