Choosing The Best Dog Food

How To Pick The Best Dog Food

Most super-premium foods like Nature's Variety are much higher in protein and fat content than premium, like Iams, or economy dog foods, such as a store brand. So you can easily feed your dog less food and have him obtain as much or more nutritional value. Look for the feeding guidelines on the package. Be careful not to overfeed your dog, especially if you're changing from an economy food with lower nutritional value. Portions will also vary according to age, size, environment, temperament, breed and activity level. A healthy alternative to feeding your dog commercial dog food is to cook it yourself. This way, you'll know exactly what your dog is eating he won't be consuming meat by-products and preservatives that are in many commercial dog foods. Diamonds Natural Dog FoodBuy Now Button Love Our Pets   There is a wide range of dry complete dog foods on the market and the quality varies widely. To make sure your dog gets what he needs, choose a food specially designed for them and buy the best dog food you can afford. The "premium" dry foods tend to have the highest quality ingredients. Many are based on chicken and rice or corn. Some dogs are not accustomed to complete dry foods but will normally grow to like them with time. You can usually buy premium all natural dog foods at most pet stores and superstores. Foods with raw meat can be expensive, expect to pay $80 to $100 for about 24 pounds of raw patties, more if you want organic raw chicken. Super-premium dry dog food goes for about $1 a pound, in bags of 5, 15 or 30 pounds. Keep in mind that you are trying to get fillers and preservatives out of your dog’s diet. Avoid any dog foods that contain wheat, corn and soy as their main ingredients. These ingredients are fillers that provide little to no nutritional value to your dog and it just passes through its stomach. You should also avoid dog foods which contain low-quality grains as their top 5 ingredients. Grains, such as wheat, corn, soy and yeast are known to cause many food related allergies in many breeds of dogs. They can be difficult to digest, cause gas and can lead to rapid weight gains. Proponents of premium all natural dog foods offer some strong arguments in favor of paying extra for healthier food. They argue that it's better for the dog and can end up being cheaper in the long run than serving bargain foods that are mostly fillers and preservatives. . According to Good Dog Magazine, there are so many more nutrients in natural premium foods that you can actually feed the dog much less food to get them their basic nutritional requirements. Testing done by the magazine showed that natural premium foods from brands like Nature's Variety and Diamond Naturals dog food offered an average of 27 percent crude protein and 15 percent crude fat, while bargain foods offered only 20 percent and 8 percent respectively. So even though the super-premium food costs more to start, you end up with a lower cost per-meal because of the higher nutritional power. A good way to select the appropriate dog food for your canine is to read the packaging label. Like food labels for humans it can be pretty enlightening. Look for dog foods that have a high percentage of meats and use only whole grains and vegetables. Generally, meat, fish, or poultry and grains and soybean meal should be at the top of the food ingredient list on the packaging. Avoid dog foods that have a level of meat by-products, unidentified fatty sources, and artificial flavors and preservatives. There is a wide range of dry complete dog foods on the market and the quality varies widely. To make sure your dog gets what he needs, choose a food specially designed for them and buy the best dog food you can afford. Dog foods labeled "natural" tend to have the highest quality ingredients. Many are based on chicken and rice or corn. Some dogs are not accustomed to complete dry foods but will normally grow to like them with time.

Comments