Dog food fillers can be hard to define and are often subject to trends. However, the ingredients typically thought of as dog food fillers (corn, wheat, soy, rice, etc.) don’t actually fit this description. In fact, they provide essential protein, vitamins and minerals.

10 quick & easy food boosters you can add to your dog’s meals to improve their health

• Raw Eggs.
• Goat’s Milk.
• Kefir.
• Sardines.
• Pumpkin Puree.
• Bone Broth.
• Fresh Vegetables & Fruit.
• Fermented Vegetables.

animal fat
14. Rendered Fat. Also called animal fat, rendered fat is a very low-quality ingredient in dog foods. While fats from animals can be healthy for your dog, “animal fat” or “poultry fat” comes from unidentified animals, which in the pet food industry often means 4D – dead, diseased, dying, or disabled – animals.

Ingredients to avoid:

• Corn and wheat gluten.
• Meat and grain meals and by-products.
• BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole)
• BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene)
• Ethoxyquin.
• Food Dyes (Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6, 4-MIE)
• PG (Propylene Glycol)
• Rendered fat.

Fat (meat or oil) Carbohydrates (grains or vegetables) Calcium (dairy) Essential fatty acids (egg yolks or oatmeal)…Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cups brown rice.
2. 1 tablespoon olive oil.
3. 3 pounds ground turkey.
4. 3 cups baby spinach, chopped.
5. 2 carrots, shredded.
6. 1 zucchini, shredded.
7. 1/2 cup peas, canned or frozen.

The best way to ensure that your dog is getting the right amount of calcium and phosphorous is to provide them with meat that’s still on the bone. This can include ingredients like chicken wings, turkey legs, tail bones, neck, whole fish and much more. Even whole animals, such as rabbit or chicken, are a great source.

Fat Trimmings and Bones Fat trimmed from meat, both cooked and uncooked, may cause pancreatitis in dogs. And, although it seems natural to give a dog a bone, a dog can choke on it. Bones can also splinter and cause an obstruction or lacerations of your dog’s digestive system.

Fat content should be between 12-20% of the dry weight of the total diet. If you need to supplement your pup’s diet, you can utilize Volhard’s Krill Oil, a great source of Omega 3 fatty acids or Volhard’s Coconut Oil. You could also utilize cold-pressed safflower oil, a good source of linoleic acid.

There are many uses for rendered products, but one of the widespread uses in the United States is to make low cost meats for dog and cat foods. This means your dog or cat could be eating other dogs and cats among other inferior 4-D animals not fit for human consumption.

Fillers offer no nutritional value so they aren’t necessary for the health of your dog. Furthermore, filler ingredients can actually be very hard for your dog to digest and may cause a range of digestive issues like bloating, diarrhea, and food allergies. Here is a list of filler ingredients to avoid:

A rendering plant is a processing operation where dead animals are recycled into products such as human food, pet food and industrial materials.

Copper Sulfate: Copper sulfate is added to dog foods to supplement copper, a crucial trace mineral that supports your dog’s brain, heart, kidneys, and bone health. Copper sulfate can accumulate in the liver of your dog and lead to toxic overdose, so it is best to avoid this ingredient as a source of copper.