Dog food is a very important subject for dog owners, who want to give their pets the most nutritious and tasty food possible. There are a large range of dog food products on the market, including a number of variants on dry dog food and wet canned dog food.
Along with these commercial products, there are also a number of alternate food items that can be used for dog food, including raw meat, human leftovers, frozen food, and dehydrated food. Technically speaking, dogs are omnivorous, although the vast majority of dogs have a large preference for meat and are often described as carnivorous. In terms of commercial dog food, it is important to obtain products that have a well balanced mixture of meats, grains, and nutritional additives.

Other than commercial wet dog food and kibble, some of the other alternatives that can also be fed to your dog include raw meat, human leftovers, dehydrated food, frozen food, and vegetarian food. While dogs are naturally not vegetarian, some people do attempt to turn their dogs into vegetarians through the provision of other high protein foods. However, this is not recommended by dog nutrition experts, most of whom recommend a diet with lots of meat and grains. Some of the most common ingredients in commercial dog food products include grain, gluten, meat, bone meals, offal, animal by products, and grain fillers. The actual ingredients vary from company to company, with more expensive brands often having a larger content of real meat, real grains, and healthy additives.

Commercial dog food can be easily split up into either dry dog food or wet dog food, with dry dog food also known as kibble in the United States. Dry dog food contains about 6-10 percent of moisture by volume, which can be compared to about 60-90 percent for wet canned food. Commercial canned dog food is cooked during canning, making it commercially sterile. As a whole, wet dog food contains a greater concentration of protein and fat when compared to a similar amount of dry dog food, which is the reason it is always included on recommended diet lists for all types of canines.