Are the dog food popularity rankings on the Internet a lie?
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If you search for keywords such as "popular dog food" or "recommended dog food," you will get a huge number of search results.
Dog food is introduced in an easy-to-understand ranking format, but did you know that many of these are "affiliate advertisements"?
Not everything is a lie, but it is true that they are not just recommending dog food to users out of kindness, but that they do have a system in place in which they receive a commission if the recommended food leads to a sale on that page.
What is affiliate advertising?
◆ Maybe the top rankings are due to high advertising rewards?
Affiliate marketing is an online business that promotes and encourages sales of various products on websites and blogs run by ordinary people.
For example, if you see dog food being introduced on a website, become interested in it, click on it, and then purchase the dog food on the sales website that the link leads to, the website operator will receive a commission of "yen per purchase."
Of course, advertising costs vary depending on the product.
This means that the site operators may be ranking dog foods that have a high commission rate rather than genuinely good dog foods at the top of the rankings.
◆ However, not all the information is completely false.
Just because affiliate articles are advertising businesses doesn't mean that all of the information is necessarily a lie.
At the very least, most of the information about ingredients listed in the article is provided by the manufacturer and is official information.
Also, even if an affiliate tries to promote dog food from a manufacturer with a low post-purchase satisfaction rate (bad reputation) by lying, the affiliate will not receive any compensation if the food does not actually sell.
The contents written are not all nonsense, and can be said to be trustworthy to a certain extent.
However, the methodology for ranking remains questionable.
It is possible that dog foods with high commission rates are ranked high. Also, high-quality dog foods that do not advertise through affiliates do not even make it to the top because affiliates do not receive any income even if they are introduced and sold.
It's important not to just believe affiliate articles, but to check the ingredients yourself!
Ultimately, it is important for pet owners to be able to properly check the ingredients and judge whether they are safe or not.
However, it is not that difficult if you just keep in mind the main points. When you want to determine whether a dog food is safe, check the following points.
◆ Is the main ingredient high-quality animal protein?
Animal protein is essential for dogs to build muscle, shiny fur, and strong claws. The higher the quality of the dog food, the higher the price tends to be.
As a general rule of thumb, the safety of animal proteins can be determined as follows:
・We recommend using labels such as "XX raw meat" or "XX meat" . This is the case when meat from the same part that is generally eaten by humans is used. It is safe, secure, and fresh animal protein.
- Avoid labels such as "meat by-products" <br>Meat by-products in dog food are mostly leftovers after human food has been processed. Of course, there are parts that are not edible for humans that are highly nutritious for dogs, but the biggest problem is that the ingredient ratio is not clearly stated, indicating whether the nutritious parts are being used or the parts with little nutritional value.
Since the label only says "meat by-products," we cannot recommend dog food that uses this as its main ingredient.
- Avoid expressions such as "XX meal" . Meal is meat that has been rendered (ground up and processed at high temperatures) from meat by-products (parts that cannot be eaten by humans).
By law, meal may contain 4Ds (animals that have died from disease) if harmful microorganisms are removed by heat treatment.
For example, chicken meal may contain the innards, hair, and comb of birds, and in the worst cases, even feces and meat from animals that have died from disease. It doesn't necessarily mean that it contains such inferior ingredients, but on the other hand, we can't say for sure that it doesn't. We can't recommend it unless we know the ingredients by checking the label.
Avoid foods that are made primarily from plant-based grains such as wheat and corn .
Cheap dog foods often contain a lot of grains such as corn and wheat to keep costs down and increase bulk.
Grain protein contains low amounts of some amino acids, and dogs have difficulty digesting grains, so they can have a negative effect.
Grains can also cause allergies, so it is important to choose grain-free or gluten-free foods.
◆ Does it contain any dangerous artificial additives?
Additives include preservatives, coloring agents, antioxidants, moisturizers, etc. Many of them contain substances that humans would also want to avoid, such as those that have been identified as carcinogenic or hazardous to infertility.
You should avoid dog foods that contain the following additives:
・Potassium sorbate (preservative)
・Red 102, Blue 2, Yellow 4, Yellow 5 (coloring agent)
・Titanium dioxide (additive)
BHT, BHA, ethoxyquin, propyl gallate, propylene glycol (antioxidants)
Although it may be a little more expensive, you should choose dog food that contains as few artificial additives as possible.
Find out if the dog food is right for your dog
Please be aware that whether your dog likes the dog food or not does not necessarily correlate with whether the dog food is suitable for him or her.
In some cases, artificial additives such as flavorings are used to make the food more appealing.
Here's how to check if it fits:
Do you experience repeated diarrhea or vomiting?
- Are you experiencing any allergic reactions such as itchy skin?
If you have an allergic reaction, you need to identify the source of the allergy.
Besides grains such as wheat, certain sources of meat, which are animal proteins, can be allergens.
After consulting a veterinarian, switch to dog food that does not contain ingredients that can cause allergies.
For safe and secure additive-free treats, come to Bow Wow Place
This time, we explained the actual state of dog food rankings on the Internet.
At Bow Wow Place, we set certain standards and only stock dog food and cat food that we recommend and highly recommend.
Get 2% points back when shopping at Bow Wow Place!
If you are looking for safe and secure food for your partner, please come to Bow Wow Place.
