Canine Nutrition
Canine Nutrition & How to Read Dog Food Labels
What goes in the bowl shows up everywhere else: in your dog's coat, gut, energy, and even behavior. This guide covers the basics of canine nutrition and how to read dog food labels, so you can see past the marketing on the front of the bag.
Canine Nutrition Fundamentals with Terra Ruiz, Pet Food Nutrition Specialist
Why a Dog Trainer Cares About Food
As Licensed Family Dog Mediators, we look at the whole dog. In the L.E.G.S.® model that means Learning, Environment, Genetics and Self, and a dog's body and health fall under Self. Training sits on top of a stable foundation: structure from you, a healthy body, and a steady mind. Food is part of that foundation.
Signs your dog's food may not be working
- Weight problems, either over or under
- Inconsistent stools, very large or frequent stools, or strong odor
- Heavy shedding, patchy or dull coat
- Itchy skin, dry spots, discoloration
- Ear, skin, eye or urinary infections that keep coming back
Three Things to Know About What Dogs Eat
Dogs are facultative carnivores
They can digest plants but are built for meat. Dogs have little to no amylase in their saliva (the enzyme that starts breaking down starch), teeth made for tearing and shearing, and a short digestive tract like other carnivores.
Dogs don't need carbohydrates
Dogs can digest carbs, but they have no dietary requirement for them. Applied Veterinary Clinical Nutrition says carbohydrates "are not essential," a 2024 review in Animal Frontiers agrees, and the 2006 National Research Council guidelines set no minimum.
Fresh food is easier to digest
Most kibble is made with high heat and pressure, which can damage some proteins and nutrients. That's why vitamins and minerals are often added back after cooking.
How to Read a Dog Food Label
The name on the front of the bag follows rules set by AAFCO (the Association of American Feed Control Officials) and the FDA. One word can change what's inside.
"Beef Dog Food" must be at least 95% beef, not counting added water.
"Beef Dinner," "Entrée," "Recipe" or "Formula" means beef only has to be 25%. If two proteins are named, together they must make up 25%, and each has to be at least 3%.
"Dog Food with Beef" only has to be 3% beef.
"Beef Flavor" has no minimum. The beef just has to be detectable. The word "flavor" must be printed the same size, style and color as the ingredient name.
Real Labels, Real Lessons
Ingredients are listed by weight before cooking. Fresh meat is about 70% water, so it can sit at the top of the list even though much of that weight cooks off. Meat meal is a more concentrated protein. Here's what else to look for, using four real labels.
Add up the grains
Brands can split one ingredient into several forms so each one lands lower on the list. Add them up to see what the food is really made of.
Here, four of the top five ingredients are grains or grain by-products, and the first animal protein is a by-product meal.
Medium Adult
- Brewers rice
- Chicken by-product meal
- Oat groats
- Wheat
- Corn protein meal
- Chicken fat
- Natural flavors
- Dried plain beet pulp
Check what comes after salt
As a rule of thumb, everything listed after salt makes up less than 1% of the food.
The "superfoods" pictured on the front of this bag (kale, chia, pumpkin, blueberries, oranges, quinoa) all come after salt. This bag also lists rice twice.
Beef Meal & Rice Formula
- Beef meal
- Grain sorghum
- Ground white rice
- Dried yeast
- Egg product
- Rice bran
- Cracked pearled barley
- Chicken fat
- Dried beet pulp
- Natural flavor
- Flaxseed
- Potassium chloride
Preservatives, dyes & mystery meat
BHA and BHT are chemical preservatives. Artificial colors are there for you, not your dog, since dogs mostly see blues, yellows and grays. Unnamed meats like "meat and bone meal" don't tell you which animal they came from.
The "Vegetable" in this food's name (peas and carrots) comes after salt.
& Vegetable Flavor
- Whole grain corn
- Meat and bone meal
- Soybean meal
- Animal fat (preserved with BHA and citric acid)
- Whole grain wheat
- Corn protein meal
- Natural flavor
- Dried plain beet pulp
Vitamins from food, not a premix
Most kibble adds back a synthetic vitamin and mineral pack after cooking. Look for foods that get their nutrients from whole ingredients instead.
This is the food we recommend. A named meat comes first, it's preserved naturally, and the ingredient list has no synthetic vitamin or mineral pack.
Canine Beef Meal Feast
- Beef meal
- Millet
- Chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols)
- Yeast culture
- Pumpkin seed flour
- Spray dried pork liver
- Alfalfa nutrient concentrate
- Montmorillonite clay
- Spray dried porcine plasma
- Dried kelp
Ingredients as listed by each company or its retailers, October 2026. Formulas change, so always check the bag you buy.
How to Figure Out the Carbs in Dog Food
Carbohydrates aren't required on the label, so do the math from the guaranteed analysis. If ash isn't listed, ask the company.
Carbs in our four example foods, with the water removed
Nature's Logic's number is from its own published analysis. The others are worked from each bag's guaranteed analysis, using 6–8% ash because ash isn't listed. Guaranteed analysis gives minimums and maximums, so these are close estimates, not exact amounts.
Your Dog Food Label Checklist
- The food's name
Tells you which rule applies - The top 4 or 5 ingredients
A rule of thumb: the first few make up most of the food - Fresh meat vs. meat meal
Fresh meat is mostly water - Ingredient splitting
Add up corn, wheat, rice and soy - Legumes
The FDA has investigated a possible link to heart disease (DCM) - Named animal proteins
"Beef meal," not "meat meal" - The salt divide
Everything after salt is under 1% - Carb math
100 − protein − fat − moisture − ash - Vitamins & minerals
Whole foods vs. a synthetic premix
Our Ranking of Dog Food Options
- 1Custom diet from a qualified canine nutritionist
- 2Commercial raw
- 3Base mix plus raw
- 4Cooked
- 5Freeze-dried
- 6Dehydrated
- 7Canned
- 8Kibble
Variety! Variety! Variety!
Canine Nutrition FAQ
Do dogs need carbs?
Is kibble bad for dogs?
What does "Chicken Dinner" mean on a bag?
How do I figure out the carbs in my dog's food?
Can you help me pick a food for my dog?
Not sure where to start? Book a free intro call and we'll talk it through.