Health and Wellness

Kibble

Feeding your Pyr:  Part 1

One of the most asked questions I see on social media is "what should I feed my Pyrenees?"  In this series we will explore a variety of feeding information shared by GPRS's amazing volunteer Yi-Hsuan Wu.

There are hundreds of dog food brands on the market, how do you pick the one that's right for your dog's needs?  

We'll focus on a few basic points and hopefully this information can help you navigate the mass of dog food brands.  We start with dry kibbles, which are often selected because of the convenience and lower cost comparing to wet, dehydrated, or raw food.

"No one needs to know how the hot dogs are made," (from Fraser, 2002).

It is a good idea to understand how dry kibbles are made generally, so you can pick the best one for your beloved dogs.  Just like you and me, there is not a single best food for all the dogs.  You might need to try multiple brands and/or multiple flavors to find the one(s) best suited for your dog.

Let's start with the ingredients.  Modern dogs are omnivores that can obtain nutrients from both plant and animal origins.  Flipping over a bag of kibbles to read the content, you would find a mixture of ingredients usually from both plant and animal origins.  There are a few key points to look for:


1.  There should be named animal protein(s) such as "chick" or "beef", instead of "poultry" or "animal meat".  These ingredients should be in the front of the ingredients which are listed by the order of weight before processing.  Named "meat meal" (such as chick meal) is a concentrated form of fresh meat which contains a lot of moisture.

2.  By-products should be avoided.  By-products usually include internal organs, trimming, or parts that are left over from producing human food.  In a perfect world, the by-products could be highly nutritious.  With good pet food practice, most reputable companies will list the individual parts as the ingredients instead of "by-products".  Without a clear list of what the by-product includes, it is better to avoid it.

3.  Corn, corn meal, soybean meal, wheat gluten are an economic efficient way for manufacturers to boost the protein value.  However, the protein from these plant sources often lack on of more essential amino acid which cannot be manufactured by the body for proper growth and function.  Furthermore, the mass subsidies of the crops often involve genetic modification as well as heave commercial pesticide usage.  If you can afford a better animal protein, it is best to avoid these ingredients in your dog food.

4.  Not all grains are bad.  Not all legumes are good.  The process of making kibble requires some sort of starch to bind all the ingredients together.  Different carbohydrates have different glycemic index values.  The glycemic index rates the effect of a specific amount of a food on blood sugar compared with the same amount of pure glucose.  Lower glycemic food increases blood sugar in a lower amount than food with higher glycemic index values than lentils or chickpeas.  Depending on your pet's specific condition, a higher glycemic index value carbohydrate might be easier to digest and soothing for sensitive tummy.  Or if your dog has a pesky yeast infection (itchy paws, itchy ears with waxy buildup), you might want to pick a carbohydrate with a lower glycemic index so to limit the food for the yeast.  Legumes in general provide higher fiber and has a lower glycemic index which tends to maintain a better energy level (no rush of blood sugar).  However, if your dog has sensitive stomach or tends to be gassy, this might not be your dog's cup of food.

5.  Added sweetener, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives (such as BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin) are not required in your dog's food.  It is a good practice to avoid foods that require artificial flavoring to attract your dogs.

6.  Based on the activity level and the age of your dog, you might need to select food that is for a specific life stage.  Great Pyrenees dogs are generally considered a larger breed dog which should be kept on the lean side during growing phase to ensure proper skeletal growth.   Most Great Pyrenees dogs also have a slower than average metabolic rate, which means they require less amount of food than the recommended serving size listed on the back of the dog food.  Although most of the Pyrs I know will not turn down extra food if you let them!

Now that we have covered the basic points to look for in the ingredients, let us talk about the process.  The Science Channel produced a series of "How it's Made" videos and you can see the basic version of how pet foods are made here.  The process is similar and was adopted from the process of making cereal for people.  Once the ingredients are sourced and delivered into the manufacturing plant, the ingredients will be combined following specific procedures to produce the certain style of kibbles.  The procedure usually includes several major steps:

1.  The dry and wet ingredients are combined and blended in the mixing machine.
2.  The mixed and blended slurry then is transported through a heating chamber to add or remove moisture for the desired temperature and consistency.
3.  The semi-solid slurry continues into the extrusion process which the slurry is pushed through a specific die to form the specific shape and then cut into the rough kibble form.
4.  The wet kibbles are then moved through a conveyor belt passing through the drying chamber to reduce the moisture content to roughly 10% by weight.
5.  Following the heating process, the kibbles are moved through the cooling system and subsequently into the flavoring system which sprays additional flavoring uniformly onto the kibbles to entice appetite.
6.  The final step is to transfer kibbles into the package system and to prepare them for a test/hold procedure before delivery to your local stores for sale.

The basic extrusion process accounts for the majority of the dry kibble brands.  In general, most companies have their own recipes and call for slightly different process including but not limited to the sources of ingredients, the additional mineral/vitamin pack (nature or synthetic), the cooking temperatures and time, the final flavor enhancing spray, etc.  Some companies also use baking instead of extrusion to form their kibbles.  The baked kibble tends to be larger and airier than extrusion kibbles.

Depending on the scale of the manufacturers, some companies might have their own processing facilities and some companies might have their kibbles manufactured in other co-packing facilities.   This applies to both pet food and treats.  Many companies also own multiple brands of kibbles that you see in the store or through online retailers.  For example, Diamond pet food owns its own brands (Diamond, Diamond Naturals) but is also manufacturing for Taste of the Wild as well as the Costco's private Kirkland line.  Bigger companies like Diamond or Mars usually own multiple plants across the country.  

Yi-Hsuan, Henry, and Haku

In order to know where your particular kibble line is manufactured, you might have to call the company and request that specific information.  Champion pet food (Orijen and Acana) owns its own manufacture plants in Alberta Canada as well as a new plant in Kentucky to produce their own brands.  One of the reasons to know where your kibbles are made is related to produce recalls.  Even though all manufacturing processes should require proper monitoring and inspection, there will be times when things don't go as planned.  Knowing where the dog food is manufactured, you can be on guard for potential issues.  A recent recall from Evanger's pet food also resulted in Party Animals pet food recall.  The souring of the ingredients and supplement is also worth taking into account.  Reputable companies will be happy to supply their sourcing info to the public.  The catastrophic 2007 melamine recall is something no one would want to see happening again.

Now you know how the kibbles are made, how do you pick the right kibbles for your dog?

Yi-Hsuan Wu


[End part 1]


While you work on these basic details about kibble, check back soon as in the next Health and Wellness posts we will explore more about choosing your dogs' food including allergy and food sensitivities, canned food, as well as information on feeding your dogs a raw food diet!