You + Pet Food
All pet food manufacturers have one very important thing in common – they want you to buy their food!
To this end, every manufacturer wants you to believe that they have the best, most perfect food for your dog. And to do this they are marketing, not to your dog, but to you.
In an avalanche of pretty bags, “human grade” ingredients, and colossal guilt trips from all sides – what’s a human to do?! Our best tip – figure out common marketing tricks so you can shop smarter.
Pet Food Marketing – Common Tricks and Tips
- Pet Nutrition Myth Busters: How to Select the Best Food for Your Pet (Tufts Alumni) YouTube presentation about how to select pet foods amidst all the current marketing
- Short History of Pet Food Marketing (Pet Food Puzzle Guy) YouTube video about the trends he’s seen in pet marketing from retired pet supplies and pet food distributor representative
- Top 10 Pet Food Lies That Work on You! (Pet Food Puzzle Guy) YouTube video about current marketing tricks from a retired pet supplies and pet food distributor representative
- WSAVA Webinar: Pet Food Propaganda and How to Avoid It (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) Webinar about trends in pet food marketing and how this affects consumers
Reading a Pet Food Label
We’d argue manipulating pet food labels is the number 1 trick used by manufacturers today. Tips on how to evaluate a pet food label below.
- How to Read a Dog Food Label (American Kennel Club) A primer on how to read a pet food label
- How to Read Pet Food Labels (AnimalDocRea) YouTube video series by a small animal veterinarian about how to read pet food labels
US Pet Food Regulations
- “Complete and Balanced” Pet Food (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) Explains what “complete and balanced” actually means
- FDA’s Regulation of Pet Food (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) How the FDA regulates pet food – mostly a legislation overview
- Understanding Pet Food (Association of American Feed Control Officials) All about pet food regulation, labels and requirements in the United States
The Modern Dog Library 