Dog food & Dog treats & the FIVE LEVELS of minimum & maximum PROTEIN allowed.
THE FIVE LEVELS OF PROTEIN for your dog
Want to know what Commercial dog food protein levels are compared to Meat based diets for dogs?
There is no specific OFFICIAL “maximum” protein percentage for domestic dogs, because of the many variables such as age, and activity level, let alone specific health conditions.
From the 2023 aafco dog nutrition pdf : “Insufficient data were available to demonstrate detrimental effects of high protein intake in the normal dog to allow for any definitive maximum concentrations for protein or amino acids to be established.”
Protein (and amino acids) are measured on dry-matter basis – usually based on a food containing 10% maximum water.
This 5 Levels of protein dogs can get, can be summarised as follows
The FIVE LEVELS of protein in dog food/ treats
| LEVEL | Meaning |
| Lev 1: INADEQUATE PROTEIN LEVELS
Average dog: < 18% protein, from any source. |
Even aafco nutrition tables (those that dog food must reach to be called dog food) agree that this is too low.
|
| Lev 2: AAFCO / NRC Minimum Requirement:
· Adult maintenance: 18% · Puppies, lactating females: 22.5% |
THE NRC (American tables) provide the base that aafco nutrition tables are based on. They say the absolute bare minimum levels are
There are many reasons why this is inadequate for MANY dogs. |
| Lev 3: “Typical” Commercial Dog Food:
18-32% protein
|
Aafco (Lev 2) say that 18% is the bare minimum total protein, but also give bare minimums for the TEN essential amino acids inside Food protein.
NOTE – these nutrition guidelines do not take into account bio-availability, or specific age and activity of a dog. This means that even 30% (total protein) isn’t guaranteed to have adequate essential amino acids, in useable form. |
| Lev 4: “High” Protein Diets
Estimated: 30-50% protein (dry food)
|
While those relying religiously on aafco tables to give all the answers.
These protein levels are the basic ones (REGULAR) that most raw or natural dog food feeders provide. |
| Lev 5: True High Protein.
> 50-60% protein, by dry weight.
|
This level is typical of what a wolf, and wild dog will get from hunting its own food. As the domestic dog’s digestive process has not evolved greatly since emerging form the wolf.
Many natural dog owners believe this is the most suitable Total protein value. It can be achieved by a true raw dog diet of 80% meat, 10% organ meat, 10% bone. |
This table was created to summarise what different total protein levels are possible in dog food. And what different owners choose.
While aafco provide MINIMUM levels for TOTAL protein, aafco do not provide a maximum protein limit.
They also provide bare minimums for the TEN essential amino acids found in dog food. The total protein, and minimum essential amino acids DO NOT SPECIFY a SOURCE of the protein.
Plant matter is typically much less bio-available than protein from animal meat, and so plant matter is considered a POOR protein source for dog food.
THE DOG FOOD PROTEIN LEVELS DETAILS
LEVEL 1 INADEQUATE PROTEIN LEVELS (Less than 18% protein for ‘general’ dogs)
We believe that every dog, except those with major kidney disease or any other health issue that prevents them from having regular levels of protein in their diet, should daily get well above the aafco minimum levels.
We have written many articles about the TOTAL protein available in various meats and plant matter, as well as each of those bio availability levels.
If you want to see tables for the major food ingredients and their bio-availably this is our original source: https://www.healthydogtreats.com.au/ultimate-dog-food-protein/
This guide should be everyone’s gold standard reference.
LEVEL 2 : AAFCO / NRC Minimum Requirement:
- Adult maintenance: 18% (dry matter basis)
- Puppies, lactating females: 5% (AAFCO, 2023)
In the previous article we reviewed that the aafco table is a watered-down version of the NRC table, and it doesn’t adequately take into account the low bio-availability of most plant matter included in dog food kibble mostly as a bulking agent.
The previous article also mentions WSAVA which is another American invention that uses the aafco table and gives a ‘professional spin’ on these by being Vet based, with its main use seemingly being to recommend specific dog food brands that their vets can recommend and sell on their vet practices shelves.
Because commercial dog food is typically near two thirds plant matter (grain or sweet potato typically) these protein sources are both LOW in absolute amount of protein required and LOW in bio-availability of the essential amino acids dogs need for the MANY processes protein provides inside a dogs body.
LEVEL 3 “Typical” Commercial Dog Food:
-
- These are said to mostly ranges from 18-32% protein
Note, protein is a very vague term, and can come from ANY source. Affco doesn’t care, and its members often prefer that it comes from the cheapest sources (plant matter), to maximise profits.
While commercial dog food might mention the ‘ESSENTIAL amino acids’ in its formula or the word bio-availability, they are not required to actually specifically mention any specific numbers of any specific amino acids, that they are held account to.
You might only see a few ADDED specific amino acids as trace levels in the ingredient list, which needed to be added because they used a lot of plant matter or hydrolysed proteins
You will get a vague ingredients list (that typically uses ingredient splitting to make it seem like there is more meat in it) – and you will get a CRUDE protein value on the pack, that can come from any source that was in any condition before it was used.
TVP’s help disguise the fact that little meat is in dog food cans, by colouring soy a pink meat colour.
This percentage value might make it look like commercial dog food might be promising for providing the protein your dog needs. But let’s look at an example of what an approximately 30% protein based on high grain and some meat really provides in dog food.
Let’s consider one of the ten essential amino acids your dog needs from food: Lysine
The following tables are from the article https://www.healthydogtreats.com.au/dog-food-protein-aafco/
They show the PERCENTAGE of the lysine amino acid based on Absolute amounts (grams) and reduced to the real-world amount that food can provide based on its bio-availability for dogs.
TABLE OF lysine percentage in plants and meats with bio-availability factored in, and baselined for 10% water content.
| ESSENTIAL Amino Acid | RICE | CORN | Wheat | Barley | AFFCO Dog Minimum Levels |
| Lysine | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.15 | 0.25 | 1.1 |
| ESSENTIAL Amino Acid | Kangaroo | FISH – Ling | Goat | Beef | Chicken | Lamb | AFFCO Dog Maintain. Min. Levels | |||||||
| Lysine | 6.5 | 7.4 | 5.5 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 1.1 | |||||||
Firstly, you can see that all of the natural plant ingredients FAIL the minimum lysine value of 1.1%, and all MEATS easily PASS (typically FOUR times the minimum level).
If a dog food is to have 30% protein, It means there is 30 grams out of 100g of dry food (10% water)
The above tables are adjusted to baseline all of the foods at 10% water content.
If dog food is beef and wheat, how do we get 1.1% lysine (minimum level) with the minimum amount of beef?
If we allow 10% fat and fibre (often added separately from the plant matter) and the other 5% for trace ingredients, then the dry dog food will only be about 80g meat and grain.
20 grams beef (is 25% of the 80g of dry food) = 0.25 x 3.8g lysine = 0.95 gram lysine
60 grams wheat ( 75% of the 80g of dry food) = 0.75 x 0.15 = 0.11 grams.
Total lysine in 100g of dog food with 20 grams beef and 60 grams wheat = 0.95 + 0.11 = 1.06 lysine.
This shows how ridiculously low the aafco amino acid requirements are for an essential amino acid such as lysine, where only 20 grams or 20% dried beef, ALMOST meats the minimum requirement for that One essential amino acid.
That means that it would pass the aafco requirement. But worse than that, aafco’s own tables suggest that they over estimate the bio-availability of most plant matter. That means that in REAL WORLD food, that they would need more than 25% beef to provide the bare lysine essential amino acids minimum. And remember, this is just ONE of the TEN essentials that they have to meet.
The typical HILLS SCIENCE DIET highest protein formulation shows a dry matter protein reading of 25%, a fat level of 15% and estimated carbohydrates of about 53%.
ADVANCE Active Adult All Breed Chicken with Rice
Has their ingredient list as “Chicken Meal; Rice; Maize Gluten; Sorghum; Chicken Fat; Natural Flavour (Chicken); Turkey Meal; Dried Beet Pulp; Sunflower Oil … etc
They list their nutrient analysis as : Protein, crude 31.0 % , Fat crude 19 % , Moisture 8.5 %
You will find that their protein levels (all sources) top out at just over 30%, even for active dogs. This is TOTAL protein (from any source, not just bio-available ones).
LEVEL 4 “High” Protein Diets
How much meat would we need to use to achieve this kind of protein level ?
Cooked beef is typically 18-22% PROTEIN, with 75% water
Reducing water to 10% increases the concentration of Beef protein to 72%
Duram what is 14% protein (with 10% water)
We use the bio availability amounts from this article
https://www.healthydogtreats.com.au/amino-acids-bioavailability/
Beef Protein Bioavailability for Dogs
Biological Value (BV): 75-80% (higher is better)
Digestibility: ~95% when cooked properly
Durum Wheat Protein Bioavailability for Dogs
Biological Value unprocessed (BV): 40-50% (lower than meat proteins)
Digestibility: ~60-80%, depending on processing (better when finely ground or cooked)
Essential Amino Acid Profile: Incomplete (low in lysine, methionine, and tryptophan)
Quality: Lower compared to animal proteins
Let’s aim for 50% protein.
BEEF protein (absolute amount x bio availability) + wheat (absolute amount x bio availability)
Lets assume 85% of 100g of the dog food is available for dried beef and dried wheat (the rest is fats, fibre and trace ingredients) . That is 85g of dried dog food.
Lets try
Half of the dried matter as BEEF: 85g/2 x 72% protein x bio-availability = 42.5% x 72g x 80% bio-avail = 24 grams protein
HALF wheat : 42.5 grams x 14% protein x bio-availability = 42.5 g x 14% 60% bio-avail = 3.5 grams
Total protein = approximately 27g of protein per 100 grams of DRY dog food.
As you can see even at half beef, this two main protein source mix barely reaches the minimum absolute protein requirement (taking bio- availability into account).
And that is why highly concentrated, highly processed forms of grains are often added to dog kibble, to make up for the low amount of meat that they add.
If you are wondering how practical these equations are, consider one of the more reputable high protein brands on the market: ziwipets. They say on their site “All dogs are carnivores, which is why all our dog food recipes are made for a carnivorous diet. “
This NZ company prides itself on having exceptionally high MEAT in their dog food. Their beef recipe Ingredients are listed as “Beef, Beef Tripe, Beef Heart, Beef Lung, Beef Liver, Beef Kidney, Beef Bone, New Zealand Green Mussel, Beef Cartilage, Beef Spleen …. “
Yet their guaranteed analysis says “Crude Protein (min) 38%, Crude Fat(min) 30%
LEVEL 5 = High Protein : Over 50-60% protein by dry weight.
A true animal raw diet, for a Facultative carnivores is 80% meat, 10% organ meat, 10% bone.
People who feed a dog a true raw (meat diet) don’t consider this a HIGH protein diet, its just a natural dog food (NO extra amino acids need to be added).
The meat and organ meats provide the protein and healthy animal fats, and fibre (is skin and fur are included), while the bones provide the ash, calcium and protein required.
Using kangaroo or fish will also provide the Omega 3 needed.
If we used just beef in this example, it is noted that the beef meat, and offal will often have similar levels of protein (ie high and required).
So if we consider beef and beef offal (such as liver or kidney) in this very simplified example, and allowing for water and fur / skin, the amount of ‘meat+ offal’ can be considered at 90% (water has already been taken into account in the pre calculations of protein levels.
90g of beef will be approximately 90grams x 72% protein x 90% Biological Value (BV)
= 90g x 0.72 x 0.9 BV = 58 grams protein out of 100g kibble
NOTE While beef protein is around 72% protein (dry), kangaroo and fish can be higher. So it wont take as much for them to consume to get a higher supplemental protein ! “
CONCLUSIONS
With AAFCO and therefore GLOBAL accepted LEGAL regulations based on their table recommendation having only MINIUM protein sources, and NO MAXIMUMS you can understand what most corporations will go for, for profits sake.
Google picks up the large corporations minimum dog food protein levels as 18% and 22.5%, and before anyone knows it, these values become fact. NOT just a recommendation, from a random American group of self-interested parties.
A voluntary ‘standard’ or recommendation that is taken as gospel globally as the ‘dog food’ gold standard, not bad marketing hey ?
But AAFCO is only LEVEL 2, on the actual FIVE LEVEL protein scale.
The 2023 (latest) aafco update says “The AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles have been criticized and faulted for not explicitly indicating the apparent nutrient digestibility, sometimes called nutrient availability or bioavailability, required to make the listed concentrations adequate for meeting the animal’s daily requirements.” (AAFCO).
This means that while most dog food is mostly grain or sweet potato based, their very low absolute amounts of protein per gram, and their very low bio-availability (useable protein for a dog), makes them the poorest source of protein available.
Concentrated soy (cattle food) can get around this as a loop hole for just maximising an artificial ingredient) – but its not the same as a carnivore-based dog, eating a carnivore-based diet (high in quality meat protein).
You might be surprised to find that only Level 4 protein levels are considered the start of acceptable by many non-commercial dog food experts. Because even the highest meat content, dog food tends to top out at just over 30-40% protein.
But even this can end up being inadequate, since even reputable brands with their ACTIVE dog formulations have “Amino Acids (incl. Methionine).” Added in as the final ingredient.
That is probably because even at around 25% protein, the protein contributed by meat (and that which is bioavailable) is still so low that EXTRA essential amino acids have to be added to reach the bare minimum levels of the aafco table.
So the real dilemma seems that most owners are happy to continue buying commercial dog food recommended by their own vet, or a TV vet, but even then the vast majority of these are stuck in LEVEL THREE protein level class.
Protein (and the specific essential amino acids) are vital for so many body functions, that I personally never risked only feeding commercial dog food to my dog.
We get that most owners are unable or unwilling to go to LEVEL 5, pure raw diet home prepared dog food (with low or no carbs). But LEVEL FOUR protein levels can be achieved by high protein commercial dog food PLUS regular meat or offal dried dog treats.
The reason we recommend DRIED, is that if an owner is averse to buying and making true raw diets as the main food, they are unlikely wanting to risk the potential pathogen contamination of raw dog treats either.
Oven dried meat and offal-based dog treats are the perfect supplement to get a commercial dog food into the right, species appropriate level of protein diet.
REF
Advance dog food https://petfood.advancepet.com.au/products/advance-active-adult-all-breed-chicken-with-rice