Guide · How to choose
How to choose a dog food.
There is no single “best” dog food. There is a method for evaluating any bag honestly - the same one the PetScored rubric runs. Eight steps, mostly on the back of the bag, none of them on the front.
- 01
Find the AAFCO statement first
Flip the bag over and find the AAFCO adequacy statement - it says the food is either “formulated to meet” a nutrient profile or validated by a feeding trial, for a specific life stage. This is the one claim with legal weight. No AAFCO statement, or a vague one, is a reason to walk away. Everything on the front of the bag is marketing until this is confirmed.
- 02
Match the life stage honestly
Puppies need a statement covering growth; adults and seniors eat from maintenance; all life stagescovers both. There is no AAFCO “senior” profile - senior foods are maintenance foods with marketing on top. Large-breed puppies specifically need the growth statement that includes large-size dogs, because the calcium ceiling matters for their joints.
- 03
Read the first five ingredients - ignore the rest of the front
Ingredients are listed heaviest-first, so the first handful is most of the recipe. Named sources (“chicken,” “lamb meal,” “brown rice”) tell you more than vague ones (“meat,” “animal fat”). PetScored does notpenalize grains, by-products, or meat meals by default - named organ meats are nutritious and meat meals are concentrated protein. “No fillers” and “no by-products” are fear-marketing, not nutrition.
- 04
Check the guaranteed analysis against your dog
The guaranteed analysis lists minimum protein and fat and maximum fiber and moisture. An active or working dog burns more and can use higher protein and fat; a sedentary or overweight dog needs less. These are minimums and maximums, not exact values - useful for comparison, not precision.
- 05
Do the calorie math
The calorie-content statement (kcal/kg or kcal/cup) drives how much you feed and the true cost. A cheaper bag with low calorie density can cost more per calorie than a pricier, denser one. Run it through the feeding calculator - every PetScored scorecard also shows cost per 1,000 kcal versus its category.
- 06
Check the brand's recall history
A clean label means nothing if the plant has a contamination history. Manufacturer practices - recalls, FDA warning letters, plant ownership, source supervision - are why PetScored weights Brand Trust at 25%. Check the brand in the recall index before you commit.
- 07
Discount the front-of-bag marketing
Most front-of-bag words are unregulated or contested. “Grain-free” has no proven benefit and an open FDA question; “holistic” and “premium” mean nothing legally; “vet-recommended” usually traces to a paid survey. See exactly what each one means in our marketing-claims reference.
- 08
Compare on the same rubric
The point of a rubric is that every food is judged the same way. Browse the full catalog at /dog-food/browse, see curated picks for what your dog needs at /best-for, or put two foods head-to-head at /compare. The score is reconstructible from the public methodology, so you can argue with it.
What matters less than the internet says.
A lot of dog food advice online is folk wisdom dressed as science. PetScored does not penalize grains, named by-products, or meat meals; does not credit “grain-free,” “holistic,” or “naturalness”; and does not score for biological appropriateness, glycemic load, or inflammation - because the label cannot prove any of it. We score what is on the bag and in the public record, and we say so when we cannot.
Common questions.
FAQ
Frequently asked
What's the single most important thing on a dog food label?
The AAFCO adequacy statement on the back of the bag. It's the only claim with legal meaning - it tells you the food is nutritionally complete for a specific life stage, either by formulation or by a feeding trial. If it's missing, that's a reason to choose something else.
Is grain-free dog food better?
There's no evidence grain-free is better for typical dogs, and the FDA has an open investigation into a possible link between grain-free/legume-heavy diets and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). PetScored doesn't credit grain-free as a benefit and doesn't penalize grains. Unless your vet has diagnosed a specific grain allergy (rare), grain-free is positioning, not nutrition.
Are by-products and meat meals bad?
No, not by default. Named organ meats (liver, heart) are nutritious and are technically by-products; meat meals are concentrated, rendered protein. PetScored does not penalize named by-products or meat meals. 'No by-products' is a fear-marketing claim, not a nutrition standard.
How much should I feed?
Start from the calorie math: your dog's daily calorie need (use our feeding calculator) divided by the food's calorie density (kcal/cup). Then adjust over a few weeks based on body-condition score - you should be able to feel ribs without pressing and see a waist from above. The bag's feeding chart is a starting point, not a target.
Does a higher-priced food mean higher quality?
Not reliably. 'Premium' and 'super-premium' have no regulatory definition, and price often reflects marketing and packaging as much as ingredients. Judge the AAFCO statement, the ingredient panel, the guaranteed analysis, and the recall record - then look at cost per 1,000 kcal, not price per bag.