When you are doing a review of dog food you want to take into consideration the entire list of ingredients but focus a lot of you research into the top five because these are what constitutes most of the dog food weight. You want to see how many of the top five ingredients are sources of protein. Then you can accurately judge what percentage of the overall food is a source of protein. Dogs need lots of protein. When you look at the rest of the list look for things like artificial preservatives, colorings, cheap fillers like wheat bran, and any other ingredients you might be suspicious about.

I am going to randomly choose one of the Evolve dog food formulas and evaluate its ingredients as a review and as a demonstration about what you should be looking for in a the dog food reviews you do. It's important that when we take the responsibility to care for another life that is dependent on us, that we do the best possible to ensure that their quality of life is high for as long as possible.

I've chosen do a Evolve Senior Formula dog food review. So let's start out by looking at the top five ingredients which are:

(1) Lamb
(2) Brown Rice
(3) Ground White Rice
(4) Lamb Meal
(5) Bovine Cartilage

Out of the first five ingredients there are really only two sources of protein. Bovine Cartilage is not a good source of protein but it does provide glucosamine, which is good for joint health. The first ingredient is lamb, that's good, but if you have to take into consideration the fact that the water weight is added. When the lamb is dried for the dry dog food then it should really be much farther down the list. The second ingredient is brown rice, this is a better filler than white rice, it has more nutrients. But the third ingredient is white rice which really has no nutritional value. When you take the second and the third ingredients together they would out weigh the lamb, which is not a good sign. The fourth ingredient is lamb meal, which is a readily accessible source of protein.

Looking over the rest of the ingredient list you will find grains, which are not a part of wild dog's diets. Oats are a decent grain but you will also find rice bran, which is a bad filler. There is something which is disconcerting. The ingredient beet pulp in dog food is very controversial. Beet pulp is a by product of the manufacturing process of making sugar. The discarded beet pulp is used as a filler and to slow the breaking down process of animal fats. But some people say that it puts a strain on the dog's kidneys and it has been linked to other health problems like ear infections. Seeing as how there are less controversial ingredients that could be used in placed of beet pulp, this is a bad sign.

The above dog food review should be an example of what to look for when you do a review of any dog food.