I. Good Color Means Good Dog Food
The color of pet food, particularly dog food, can partially reflect the types and structure of its ingredients. Dogs are primarily carnivorous omnivores, so high-quality dog food should resemble the color of meat. Meat, after high-temperature extrusion, will turn brown or dark brown. Therefore, dog food with a higher meat content will be darker than food with a lower meat content. However, pet food made from pure chicken exhibits a different pattern. Good chicken meal is actually lighter in color because it contains only pure chicken breast meat and no chicken bones, offal, or other byproducts. Furthermore, advanced pet food manufacturing technology allows for the addition of coloring agents to mimic the color of "meat," making it increasingly difficult to judge the quality of pet food solely by color.
Many pet lovers sometimes emphasize the vibrancy and glossiness of dog food's color-what is traditionally considered "good-looking." While this is a normal human aesthetic, it doesn't apply to pet food, such as dog food. Dogs have weak eyesight and are colorblind. In their visual world, it's like a black-and-white television image. Therefore, the vibrancy, attractiveness, or appearance of dog food colors are largely irrelevant. Humans perceive the world through sight, and subjectively imposing these aesthetic standards on dogs demonstrates ignorance of animal science and misleads consumers about dog food.
When buying dog food, it's necessary to check its external color. Carefully examine the surface for signs of mold or spoilage, such as a whitish tinge from long fur or the presence of green mold. The beauty of the food's color itself is unimportant. Therefore, the common belief that good dog food is always dark and light-colored dog food is always bad is a misconception.
II. Inconsistent Shape Means Poor Dog Food
Many pet owners like to judge the quality of dry, extruded dog food solely by the shape, size, regularity, and uniformity of the kibble. This is also incorrect. Dog food is manufactured from a variety of raw materials through a series of deep processing procedures, belonging to industrialized mass production. A crucial step in this process is extrusion, which involves the instantaneous release of moisture from the kibble, causing variations in shape. This process is therefore quite random. Furthermore, if the kibble contains a high proportion of real meat, the meat shrinks differently even when kibble is of the same shape due to high temperatures, making it difficult to ensure that every kibble is completely uniform. Theoretically, plant-based foods like corn, starch, soybeans, and flour offer far greater shape control than meat. Therefore, kibble with higher starch content is more likely to have a consistent shape and a uniform appearance. Of course, if the kibble diameter and length vary significantly, that's a different story, indicating a lack of basic quality control management in pet food production. Whether the shape is square, round, long, or short may be a matter of personal preference, but it has no effect on our beloved pet dogs. The best kibble is one that is appropriate for their physiological stage and of a normal size for easy eating-not so small that they can't reach it, nor so large that they can't finish it.
In short, judging the quality of dog food by observing the uniformity of its shape and size can be somewhat reasonable. It reflects the manufacturer's control over the pet food pelleting process and indirectly indicates the company's scale. Normally, if you grab a handful of food and the pellets appear to be roughly the same size and shape, it's acceptable. Overemphasizing that all pellets are round or square, completely identical in shape and size, is putting the cart before the horse.
III. Smooth-surfaced dog food is always good.
Dog food is primarily made from meat and many other ingredients, containing a lot of meat fiber. The necessary grinding is required for manufacturing. However, many pet owners insist on a finer surface for the pellets, the better. This is a very incorrect view. First, dogs don't like overly fine food. Furthermore, many pet owners like to soak dog food in water before feeding it to their pets. If the food is too fine, the starch will cause it to become sticky and difficult to chew, which is a major problem for dogs. Dogs prefer slightly harder food to soft, sticky food. Overly refined food can negatively impact a dog's palatability.
Therefore, dog food doesn't necessarily need to be extremely fine. A slightly rougher surface is often a sign of meat fiber, and coarser kibble often indicates a higher meat content. A large amount of plant starch filler, combined with special food additives, will make the kibble surface very smooth; it's best to avoid such kibble. Generally, high-quality dog food kibble has a surface that is neither too rough nor too fine; some minor bumps are normal.
IV. A dog food that doesn't smell good isn't good.
Many pet owners like to smell their pets' food first when choosing dog food, which is normal and necessary-it's a natural human habit. However, it's wrong to let your own nose dictate the dog's choice. We know that a dog's sense of smell is more than 40 times stronger than a human's, and they can distinguish the most prominent odors. They are also more sensitive to acidic substances. Therefore, dogs have different preferences for food smells. Humans tend to like fragrant or milky smells, but dogs prefer the smell of meat and fish. Many dog food brands understand human preferences and cater to them by using various synthetic flavorings to create a fragrant milky or other flavor. However, this flavor is not the most appealing to dogs, thus greatly affecting the palatability and reducing the pet's love for the food.
