The Best Dry Dog Food
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There is an overwhelming amount of information out there when it comes to choosing the best dry dog food and unfortunately it often leaves us more confused and frustrated than when we started.
So I'm going to try and break down some of the basic categories that are important to consider when choosing dry dog food for your precious pup.
Obviously whatever best dry dog food you choose will directly impact every aspect of your dog's health and life span.
So it really comes down to the importance of what should you avoid and what's important to include in their dog food? Let's start by discussing what to leave out first.
Stuff To Leave Out |
When you are picking the best dry dog food, the absolute most important thing to consider is paying attention to the ingredients and quality of the food before making your choice. The quality of the food determines the quality of your dog's health and quality of life. With that in mind, please check the list of the following ingredients that you DO NOT want to find on the ingredients list.
- Meat By-Products or Bone or Beef Meal The problem with these products is they are not a whole meat product. They usually made up of animal bones and leftover parts and any other by-product of the animal they can throw in. Unfortunately they often come from rendering plants and kill plants and can include other pets that have been euthanized.
- Animal Fats and Meals They will get animal fats from a variety of sources, often a mixture that would just gross you out! This all mixed together with a source of protein into meal that is not nourishing. Look for specific, individually listed ingredients, not a general list or stuff lumped together. You don't want chicken parts or carcasses but you are looking for actual whole pieces like the chicken breast.
- Preservatives dry dog food requires that the manufacturer's bake it at extremely high temperatures. When this happens, the preservatives that they use actually make a chemical change and they are then actually dangerous to your dog. They can potentially cause serious liver and kidney damage in your dog and eventually lead to your dog's death. Look at what chemicals are in the bag. The fresher the ingredients the better. For example look for Vitamins like A & E. They are natural preservatives not chemical.
- Fillers Depending on whom you talk to, carbohydrates can be a very bad thing in your dog's food, but if done correctly they are perfectly fine. Carbohydrates get a bad rap because they are used as fillers. Fillers are what the Dog Food manufacturers use to bulk up their Dry Dog Food so that it allows the dog to feel fuller and it goes further. It's also the reason you have to lug those gigantic sacks of dog food out of the store.
The problem is that by doing this, the dog eats and eats to become full but misses out on valuable nutrition. Things to look for that can be used in too large of quantities are wheat, corn, meal and soy. All of which by the way can lead to allergy problems in your dog.
- Small Food Pieces Many manufacturers are utilizing every last morsel of available food pieces and then listing them as individual ingredients. Often you'll see items like rice, chicken, rice flour but the reality is that there is very little meat and mostly rice. Just remember that in the correct combination's ingredients like rice are perfectly fine to feed your dog.
- Added Sweeteners The Dry Dog Food Companies will add sugars and corn syrup to your dog's food to make it taste better. There are even artificial chemical sugars that they add. These might make the food taste better but for a dog that has serious health issues like diabetes it can really cause their already fragile state of health to become a more serious issue.
- Supplements The supplements that these companies add are unfortunately not the supplements that your veterinarian would suggest for the better nutrition of your precious little pooch. They often include items such as brewers yeast, ascorbic acid and salt.
Stuff To Leave In |
Now that we've touched on what you don't want on the list to fill your pup's belly, here is what you DO want to find on the ingredients list for best dry dog food.
- Protein Is the most important item on the ingredients list and should be the first item on the label when starting your best dry dog food search. These items will be easy to find on the best dry dog food company's packaging. It's important that the protein source is a whole meat source such as Salmon, Chicken, Lamb or Venison. Dogs should only stick to one meat source at a time. Another consideration is simply that some dogs need more protein than others and that will need to be determined by you. You will need to watch their stools for looseness or not going enough, as well as, their coat and skin for shedding and dryness.
- Vegetables & Fruit Yes your dog will eat fruits and vegetables if you serve them the right ones and prepare them correctly. Just be sure that if you are going to prepare them yourself that you read up on it first and get a list.
- Grains and Carbohydrates When I say grains, I want to be clear and say grains that have not been processed. Why, because grains that haven't been through the processing process are much more likely to retain the enzymes that are so important to your dog's health. If they are using soy, corn or wheat for example, those can be very low in quality and in nutritional value due to their digestibility difficulty. The big manufacturers will use these items mostly for fillers to increase the quantity of their dog food not the quality. Brown rice is often recommended as a good source of carbohydrates.
To See A List Of Safe Vegetables
Here is more information on what vegetables to look for in your Dog Food and even how you can prepare them yourself.
Bake A Dog Bone & Bonuses! |
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Bake Your Dog A Bone Recipe Guide!
Remember To Alternate Your |
Once you have an idea of what ingredients are important then you need to remember that you can't just choose one best dry dog food and feed it to your dog forever. That would be the equivalent of you liking chicken and peas and then eating chicken and peas everyday for the rest of your life! Doesn't sound so appetizing now, huh?
Now, it doesn't have to always be a huge change. Sometimes I just change within the same brand. For example I will change from the regular Adult Formula to the Adult Lamb and Rice Formula for a while. (To help you with your dog food choices, I have put together a page on the Best Quality Dog Foods) Then I'll change to the Healthy Naturals for a while. I also add fresh foods into my Border Collie, Rodeo's diet. Now mind you, Rodeo is extremely picky about what he will and what he won't eat. (You just gotta love a spoiled rotten dog lol) So it has taken me a little experimenting to figure out what I can feed him.
Anytime I'm going to cook up some meat, I leave some fresh meat out for him uncooked. I have also figured out what veggies he will and won't eat and I will throw some veggies in the food processor and cook them up when I'm making some for us and then just serve them with his the best dry dog food of my choice. It's an easy way to add good nutrition to your dogs diet and it's so easy.
Additional Tips For The Best Dry Dog Food |
A few other things to consider as beneficial when feeding the best dry dog food. First of all, it's easy to buy it and bring it home and just open the bag and feed it. If you have a plastic container to store it in that will keep it fresher even longer.
Next, it's super important that dog's have some type of food that is hard to help clean their teeth. Dog's that only eat soft foods often have problems with poor teeth and their breath. If your dog is having problems with their teeth, try adding some chew bones to their best dry dog food diet to help clean their teeth. It may also be worthwhile to note that some say that the chewing and gnawing that dogs do on the dry dog food and bones is actually a stress reliever for your dog and is a show of their social status.
I also believe that you don't need to worry about buying some of these specialized dog foods that you see at these high end specialty shops. Dry dog foods that say they are for specific breeds for example are just a waste of good money but I do believe that you get what you pay for - within reason.
There are plenty of Best Quality Dog Foods that are well within a reasonable budget. Narrowing it down to a specific dog is just not necessary unless you are trying to correct a specific condition.
In conclusion, I truly believe that you are the best judge of your dog's behavior and general health. You are with them day in and day out. You'll be the first to notice changes in their behavior or their skin or coat. That's when you know you potentially have a food issue.
My best advice is to use some common sense and remember that you should feed your dog a healthy diet in the same context as you should be eating a healthy diet. Choose the best dry dog food for both you and your dog and don't be afraid to experiment. You know your dog best, so trust yourself that you can be the one to make a good assessment on what your dog is eating and how it's affecting them. Oh and the most important part of your dog's everyday diet lots and lots of LOVE! : )
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