Follow some easy steps and you will be streets ahead when it comes to selecting a great dog food.

There are a number of better than average products that could contend for your vote, as Best Commercial Dog Food, because a lot depends on your preference for the type of dog food you would prefer to feed.

We cannot just think about dry or canned as these days there are far more options, and like me you may prefer to use more than one of those options.

We can select from so many other alternative offerings to dry and canned, such as dried, semi moist, organic, vegetarian, holistic and so on.

Then of course your dog may have special diet needs, or even some allergies to consider.

There is no one dog food that can account for every scenario.

On saying that for the larger percentage of dog owners these following 5 simple steps will help enormously.

Step 1) Look for a speciality manufacturer, one that tries to make a point of difference by solely dedicating their business to making a good quality dog food (many have a cat food range as well).

Some of these manufacturers are still a family or privately owned business, and they take real pride in their product, which will often reflect in a superior product.

Step 2) Ignore most of the packaging and label. By far the biggest proportion of space on packets and labels are allocated to the manufacturers' advertising and marketing department, and they are masters on how to woo you!

Glossy pictures of happy playful dogs, delicious looking plates of food brimming with colorful mouth watering pieces of meat, and then there is those fresh from the farm looking vegetables.

This is advertising and marketing gurus at their best, and they are setting out to entice you because your dog cannot read!

Step 3) Check the USFDA website for recalls information on dog food.

Beware of repeat offenders which, in my book, points to poor handling or quality control.

In some cases the problem may be beyond the direct control of the manufacturer, but whatever it is the offending problem is identified on the website.

Many smaller manufacturers have never had a product recall for any reason.

Step 4) Does the product label have an AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officers) compliance statement.

Here's a suggestion to the quality dog food manufacturers - I would rather see a label that says the product far exceeds the minimalist AAFCO standard!

At the moment there are no regulations that are enforceable by law for manufacturers to adhere to, so AAFCO is as good as it gets - for now anyway.

Step 5) All of the above steps play their part in helping you to determine the best commercial dog food, but here comes the grandparent of them all, ingredients!

Get to learn how to read ingredient listings and what are the good and healthy inclusions.

You need to know what are low grade and inferior ingredients, as well as knowing what you do not want included.

You do not need to become a dog food scientist or nutritionist.

Just by following some simple guidelines, and having some basic knowledge, you can ensure you will be doing your best to select a great dog food for your four legged friend.