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Most dry dog and cat food needs to be 50 percent grain (or more) to hold the little pieces of kibble together. By feeding your dog dry kibble everyday, you could be giving him 100 percent more grain than he would naturally eat in the wild. This is due to the fillers added to dry dog food to hold the pieces together. Many dog foods on the market contain fillers/grains that are questionable in quality and nutritional value. Plant proteins can be more difficult to digest, are less palatable, may offer less nutrition and grains are lower than vegetables on the digestibility and nutritional adequacy scale (Boxer World). Animal by-products and artificial preservatives should also be avoided when choosing a healthy diet for your pet.
Fillers in Dog Food

Fillers and grains used in lower-quality dog foods consist of corn, brewers rice, beet pulp, feathers, and cotton hulls often have little nutritional value for your pet and some are only used to hold the dry kibble together or to help your dog feel fuller, thus less hungry (think ‘diet’ foods). The following is a partial list of the grains and filler definitions used in the pet food industry today according to the American Association of Feed Control Officials (for a complete list, including the good ingredients, click here).

Corn: Unspecified corn product.

Corn Gluten Meal: The dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm.

Brewer's Rice: The dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not to exceed 3 percent.

Beet Pulp: The dried residue from sugar beets.

Dr. Jean Hofve, who specializes in veterinary nutrition, states that corn, corn meal, and corn gluten meal should be avoided because they are used as high-calorie fillers and substitutes for higher quality animal protein sources in cheaper pet foods (Animal Wellness Magazine, 2005).

In addition, Whole Dog Journal published a comprehensive list of dog foods that are ‘approved’ by their standards of super-premium, human-grade ingredients. According to the author, consumers should stay away from partial grains and by-products, especially if there is more than one and if they appear higher on the ingredient panel (because there is more of it). Beet pulp is used as a source of fiber and it swells up to 10 times its original size when it come into contact with fluids. This slows the movement of food through the digestive tract and in effect, allowing more time for moisture to be absorbed. Basically, it is used as a stool hardener to prevent diarrhea, which in turn can prevent owners from knowing if their dog is sick.

Animal By-Products

Animal by-products are also commonly used in dog foods. These are parts of an animal that are left-overs from the human food chain. They can include intestines, chicken heads, lungs, livers, kidneys, duckbills, chicken and turkey feet, feathers and bone. Ingredients listed as chicken, beef, poultry, and animal by-products are not required to include actual meat. The following ingredients are things to watch out for when selecting a dog food.

Animal Digest: Material that results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed.

Animal Fat: Is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".
The Whole Dog Journal article, ‘The Right Stuff’ states that ‘animal fat’ is a euphemism for a low-quality, low-priced mix of fats of uncertain origin. If the ingredient panel doesn’t tell you which animal an ingredient came from, don’t buy the food. Animal fat can also be preserved with BHA, which is an artificial preservative suspected of causing cancer.

Meat By-Products: The non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves.
Chicken By-Product Meal: Consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.

Other Resources:
www.animalwellnessmagazine.com
www.whole-dog-journal.com
www.boxerworld.com/feeding

** Disclaimer: My intent in writing these nutrition articles is not to stir up controversy, although this topic is always controversial. My intent is to provide resources that are not written by actual dog food companies, and encourage pet owners to research and educate themselves about what they are feeding their pets. Remember, your pet’s behavior is directly correlated to what he or she eats, so please do your own research, and ask a lot of questions. Most importantly, do not believe what you see on TV or those clever marketing campaigns.