Pet food companies know that it is very easy to market and sell high protein, high fat foods. They know they must convince owners that a certain food is better than all the others, so they stress factors such as palatability, acceptability, cost, digestibility, and suitability. Dog owners have been conditioned to believe that high protein levels are necessary for maximum health. High fat and high protein foods lead to increased consumption by dogs and increased sales for a company, but also lead to a greatly increased risk of obesity for dogs. In fact, over nutrition and obesity have become the most common of nutritional disorders in dogs.
Cost is another marketing tool for the pet food industry.
Foods advertised as low cost are not necessarily economical or nutritious. In general, using cheap, poor quality ingredients produces lower-cost dog food. Pet food companies that produce cheap foods don't have adequate funding for proper testing of their product. Dogs must eat larger volumes of cheap, low-quality dog food to satisfy their need for calories. In the long run, dog owners end up buying more pet food than if they had been using a better food.