How to Read Dog Food and Supplement Labels: A Simple Guide

October 28, 2026

Dog owner reading a supplement jar label at a kitchen table with a golden retriever beside her.

Choosing what we give our dogs is an act of care. Yet the information on a food bag or supplement jar isn’t always easy to understand.

“Composition”, “analytical constituents” and “additives per kg” may sound technical, but each tells you something useful. Once you know where to look, the label becomes a practical guide to what a product contains, what it is intended for and how to feed it.

Start with the product’s purpose

Before looking at individual ingredients, check who the product is for and how it fits into their diet.

Look for the intended species, any information about life stage and the words complete or complementary.

Complete food provides the nutrients a dog needs each day when fed as directed, for the life stage stated.

Complementary food or feed is intended to be given alongside other food. This category includes mixers, treats and supplements. It does not provide a nutritionally complete diet on its own.

You may know a product as a “dog supplement”, while its label describes it as “complementary feed for dogs”. These terms describe its purpose and its place in the diet.

Crown Crest Joint Care, Calming and Skin & Coat soft chews, for example, are complementary feeds. They are intended to accompany your dog’s daily diet, rather than replace their meals.

Read the composition: the ingredients list

The heading Composition tells you which ingredients have been used. They are generally listed in descending order by weight, with the largest contribution first.

Some labels name ingredients individually. Others use permitted category descriptions. Neither approach, on its own, establishes the quality or suitability of a product.

Read beyond the ingredients highlighted on the front. If your dog needs to avoid something, check the full list and ask the manufacturer about anything unclear.

An unfamiliar ingredient name is a reason to find out more, rather than assume it is unsuitable. Equally, a familiar ingredient does not tell you everything about the finished product.

Make sense of analytical constituents

Analytical constituents describe aspects of the product’s nutritional composition. Common entries include:

Crude protein: a measure of protein content.

Crude oils and fats: the fat content.

Crude fibre: a measure of certain fibre components.

Crude ash: the mineral residue remaining after laboratory analysis.

Moisture: the water content, where declared.

“Crude” describes the analytical measurement, not the quality of an ingredient. “Crude ash” does not mean ash has been added to the recipe.

These figures provide useful information, but they are not a complete assessment of nutritional suitability. A higher protein percentage, for example, is not enough on its own to establish which product is the better choice for an individual dog.

Water content also matters. Comparing the percentages on a wet food directly with those on a dry food can be misleading because the products contain different amounts of moisture.

For supplements, read this section alongside the product’s purpose, ingredients and feeding directions.

Check the additives and the units

The word additives covers substances with different roles. These can include vitamins, trace elements, flavourings, antioxidants and preservatives.

Look closely at how the quantities are expressed.

“Additives per kg” means the stated amounts relate to one kilogram of the product. They are not the amounts in one chew or one daily serving.

The amount also refers to the particular substance named. The weight of an oil, for instance, is not automatically the weight of the omega 3 fatty acids it contains. Similarly, an extract’s weight should not be assumed to represent the amount of every compound within it.

When comparing products, make sure you are comparing the same substance on the same basis. If the label does not give the information you need for the recommended daily serving, ask the manufacturer to explain it.

Follow the feeding guide

The feeding guide explains how much to give. Check whether the recommendation depends on body weight, age or another stated condition.

For a supplement chew, the number of chews in the jar is different from the number recommended each day. Use the feeding table and read the directions beside it.

More is not automatically better. Follow the recommended amount and any precautions on the label.

For Crown Crest chews, the directions include seeking veterinary advice before use if your dog is pregnant, lactating, under one year of age, taking medication or under veterinary supervision.

Check storage, dates and contact details

Before putting the packaging away, find:

The storage instructions.
The best before date.
The batch number.
The manufacturer’s or distributor’s contact details.

Follow instructions about keeping the product cool, dry or tightly closed. Keep the packaging so you can quote the batch number if you have a question about that particular product.

A simple checklist for reading labels

Before choosing a food or supplement, ask:

Is it intended for my dog’s species and life stage?
Is it complete food or a complementary product?
Have I checked the full composition?
Do I understand the quantities and units?
Have I read the feeding guide, precautions and storage instructions?

You do not need to memorise every technical term. Knowing which questions to ask, and where to find the answers, is a useful start.

At Crown Crest, we believe thoughtful nutrition begins with understanding. Taking a moment to read the label helps us make considered choices for the dogs we love.