How To Choose the Best Dog Food For Your Dog
Submitted by admin on May 30, 2013 - 3:01pm
You want to feed your dog the best food you can - but what does "best" really mean? We give you some tips on how to choose the right food for your dog.
Picking the best dog food for your pup is no easy choice. There are so many different brands out there. How do you know which one will be the best for your dog.
Just like people, every dog is unique. Some foods work well for your dogs, while others won’t agree with her tummy. And because you’re in charge of keeping her healthy, it’s up to you to get all the information you can about what goes into her bowl. Let’s go over a few tips to keep in mind when choosing the best dog food for your dog.
1. Know your dog. This one’s easy! Is your dog a small or large breed? How old is she? Is she active or does she like to lounge around on the couch all day? These are criteria that will affect the food you give your dog. For example, smaller breeds will need smaller kibble, as they could choke on larger bits of food. Or perhaps your dog has health issues that you need to address. Allergies, such as wheat and gluten, mean that you need to watch your dog’s diet carefully.
2. Read the labels. You read the nutritional labels on your food before you buy it – you should do the same with your dog’s food. Look at the list of ingredients carefully, especially the first five. These first five should be a high-quality protein or meat. Stay away from foods that list ingredients such as corn, rice or wheat in the top five.
To read the complete How To Choose the Best Dog Food For Your Dog article, visit PetGuide.com.
4th Option - Raw vs Processed
Here's an ingredient comparison to ponder, Prepackaged raw versus kibble.
And an article - http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/05/29/aafc...
Ingredients (Raw Dog Food)
Free-Range Meat = 69%
chicken meat including bone, chicken gizzards, chicken hearts and chicken livers
Organic Vegetables = 29.3%
carrots, squash, yams, zucchini, celery, romaine, parsley, apple cider vinegar
Special Nutrient Mix = 1.7%
kelp, sea salt, inulin, zinc, copper and iron amino acid chelates, vitamin E
Ingredients (“Premium” Dry Dog Food)
chicken meal, Ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), soy protein concentrate, soy flour, water, rice flour, pearled barley, sugar, tricalcium phosphate, propylene glycol, animal digest, dicalcium phosphate, salt, phosphoric acid, sorbic acid (a preservative), calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried spinach, dried apples, dried sweet potatoes, choline chloride, calcium propionate (a preservative), added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2, Yellow 6), Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, Vitamin B-12 supplement, DL-Methionine, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite
Acana (Premium Dry Kibble)
Chicken meal, deboned chicken, whole potato, steel-cut oats, peas, whole egg, deboned flounder, sun-cured alfalfa, chicken fat, oat flakes, chicken liver, chicken liver oil, herring oil, pea fiber, whole apples, whole pears, sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut squash, parsnips, carrots, spinach, cranberries, blueberries, kelp, chicory root, juniper berries, angelica root, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, lavender, rosemary, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium yeast, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation