When it comes to looking after our four legged family members, the idea of not being able to provide them with a nutritionally adequate diet that will spare them those dreaded visits to the vet. Giving your dogs quality meals is a really important part of achieving a good quality of life; hence we have researched the 10 worst dog foods out there and why you should avoid them.

The 10 Worst Dog Foods:

10. Alpo

This brand, while having been around for over 80 years now, has most certainly disappointed many consumers. They have been found to use plenty of artificial additives and meat by-products in their wet food products.

On the other hand, their dry food products use unsuitable plant proteins and attempt to add bulk through cornmeal. They also had numerous product callbacks. One, in particular, was due to concerns related to melamine contamination.

9. Great Choice

While it is marketed for its affordability, it may not be giving your dog the same kind of value for money. With a reliance on fillers such as soybean protein and cornmeal, as well as artificial additives, flavors, and by-products of meat and bone meal, it’s clear to see why it made it onto the list.

8. Purina Dog Chow

This is another brand that prides themselves on value for money; however, they choose to pad out their products with artificial flavors, preservatives and other ingredients such as bone meal, ground up soybeans, poultry remnants, and whole grain wheat. Not exactly what Fido imagined for dinner.

7. Beneful

This brand attempted to differentiate itself through the fact that their dry pellets are produced to come in a multitude of shapes, colors, and sizes, thereby making your dog’s diet a little more interesting. What they fail to mention is the additional fun ingredients added into the pellets that your dog most certainly did not order, such as poultry by-product meal, pieces of the poultry, and pork digestive tracts. Don’t forget that artificial additives and soy are just a few of the offensive ingredients within the beautiful pellets.

6. Pedigree

A brand that purports to offer a wide variety of products formulated for the wide variety of dog breeds and health requirements through the various stages of the dog’s life cycle. Firstly, there has been little differentiation found between the ingredients on the product labels. To add further insult to injury, corn is the main ingredient listed on each product, but is a well-known dog allergen.

5. Royal Canin

Founded in 1968, this brand has many product differentiations catering to many niches and even offers breed specific pet food. However, they list corn or wheat as the key ingredient in quite a few of their dry foods. In other products, they list a meat by-product as the first ingredient. Furthermore, they have had multiple product call backs for a variety of reasons namely high levels of Vitamin D3 and melamine contamination.

4. Hill’s Science Diet

Available in veterinary practices worldwide, and formulated with specific health concerns in mind, this is usually a top choice in the minds of consumers when it comes to healthy dog food. But they make use of a large amount of corn, soybean and other grain fillers within their products as well as artificial additives, leading to a decrease in the quality of their food.

3. Kibbles ‘n Bits

As one of the most popular worst dog food brands in the US, this was a bit of a shocker, while they are purported to be made with mostly meat, they are in fact far more dependent on grains, artificial ingredients, and preservatives, along with meat by-products.

2. Ol’ Roy

Priding themselves on great taste and being highly affordable. However, on close inspection of their product offerings, it is plain to see a keen reliance on carbohydrate fillers, such as corn, wheat and ground up soybeans to add bulk to their product. Other non-advertised ingredients include high amounts of artificial additives and by-products from chicken instead of chicken pieces.

1. Diamond

This is only for the Original Diamond product line of dog food and not their other ranges.  Marketed as being high quality without the high-quality price, however, while they do add many essential minerals that your best friend desperately needs, the food manufacturer makes abhorrent use of grains within the dry ingredients along with many artificial ingredients.

Goodbye Worst Dog Food, Hello Healthy Kibble!

1. Wellness Core

The dog food brand advocates supplying dogs with completely grain free products that are high in meat. As that is the diet they would be eating out in the wild, they need additional nutritional supplements to help bolster your beloved companion’s system.

2. Acana Regionals

This company is intent on producing dog food that has a minimum 70% meat based product, loaded with fruits and veggies, with very few carbohydrates. The ingredients are sourced locally and the diets are designed to follow the same kind of diet that our furry friends and ancestors consumed had they been in the wild a few thousand years ago.

Your dogs should be eating a diet high in meat, but low in carbohydrates, artificial additives and other by-products of animals. Avoid giving the worst things to feed your dog. If giving your dogs the best nutrition possible is something you are really passionate about, why not try out one of the recommended food brands today. Just stay away from these 10 worst dog foods, if possible.