10 Surprising Myths About Dry Dog Food

by Justin Palmer

Myth #1: Kibble Cleans Your Dog’s Teeth

Imagine if your dentist told you that all you needed to do to clean your teeth was eat cookies! Wouldn’t that be nice?

Sadly, its impossible for a food that contains nearly 50-60% carbohydrates (as nearly all dry foods do) to clean your dog’s teeth. The carbohydrates inside kibble are in fact the reason why your dog’s teeth need to be cleaned in the first place!

As many feeders of fresh foods can attest to, dental care is far easier for your dog if you do not feed a diet consisting of 100% dry food. Raw, meaty bones are an excellent way to scrape your dog’s teeth clean. Just make sure to never give your dog cooked bones, which can splinter and cause intestinal damage.

Myth #2: Your Dog Should Eat The Same Dry Food Their Entire Life

This is perhaps the most pervasive myth that the pet food industry (and even some veterinarians) willingly perpetuate. I would argue feeding your dog the same dry food diet (no matter what the quality) is a risky proposition comparable to feeding yourself fast food every single day. No matter what the quality, dry food equals processed food, and processed food should never make up 100% of the diet for any dog.

Rotating foods offers several benefits to your dog. First, it ensures they are receiving a wide variety of nutrition from varying proteins and other ingredients. This rotation of ingredients can help prevent allergies from developing later in life. Secondly, rotating foods ensures that any contamination or ingredient imbalance will not affect your dog as severely as if you fed one food their entire life.

Many dog owners fear switching diets because they’ve seen what happens to their dog’s poo when changing foods. This is understandable, but digestive upset often signals your dog’s microbiome isn’t in tip top shape (quite possibly from a pure kibble diet). A dog with a healthy gut should be able to rotate ingredients and foods, just like people do.

If you are rotating or switching foods, alw