You want to look for meat – real meat, not by-products. Stuff like chicken meal or fish meal is also good as it’s a dried/ground/powdery form of the actual meat product. You want health veggies – not just fillers, and you want to make sure the vitamin/mineral sources are NOT from China. If it’s a fish formula, you probably won’t want a salmon product as the salmon used in dog foods are farm raised instead of the more nutritious ocean-caught. Tip-top premium foods will use organic meat sources & free-range chickens (yes, there are companies out there that do this). AAFCO standards aren’t as useful as they may seem – they’re simply an industry recommendation. You will also want to look into what kind of facilities they use for manufacturing the food. Many premium dog food companies use exceptionally clean facilities that adhere to higher standards like EU Certifications. Lastly, you’d want to avoid foods that are high in GMO’s. Look are websites. I have a list of some great companies with great websites that give a lot of info (I’ve done projects on dog foods, etc) if you’re interested. Just PM me.
