Best Dog Food: How to Know What’s Right for Your Dog
If you are a true dog lover, then you will be searching for the right dog food for your furry friend. The struggle is surely something, especially when you have to be sure about so many parameters. A dog’s digestive system is a bit different from ours, but sadly many a time, some dog owners completely forget the fact and even try to give them leftover human food.
As a pet owner, you should know about your dog’s health and the kind of foods that your little friend needs to have. You can visit canineweekly.com to check some important details regarding your pet. Here you will learn each and every thing to determine the perfect food for your pet.
Step 1: Take Your Dog’s Age, Size, Breed and Health into Account
Each and every parameter of your dog plays a huge role in determining the kind of food that your pet should have. For instance, lactating mother dogs and puppies generally require more calories than senior dogs.
A dog’s food habits also depend on the breed of the dog. Some of the breeds are way more active than others and therefore need much more food. Whereas an excess amount of food can lead to an obese condition for the dog, affecting organs and vital systems. Certain brands are formulating dog food based dog breeds. But they always try to differentiate between the smaller and larger breeds, ignoring a detailed process.
Step 2: Know the “Buzzwords” on the Package
Understanding the packaging is necessary if you want to learn about your dog’s food. Don’t be surprised to find words written on a dog’s food package that are codes for the nutrients that the food is offering. Many times, you may come across something like beef or chicken for your dog. These labels actually mean the nutrients or proteins present in the dog’s food. So the next time you shop for food, you must understand the protein percentage of the food.
Step 3: Check the Ingredients
Checking the ingredients is again a needed step that a lot of dog owners forget to take. A dog owner must have proper knowledge about the ingredients and understand the basic
science regarding the same. You should go for a meat meal as the first ingredient, in most of the cases. Dogs are omnivorous, and meat meals have several benefits with a higher percentage of water content.
Having said that, doctors advise following a low meat meal in many cases for certain breeds. Also, make sure that the meat provided is of high standards and must not consist of hair, teeth, horns, etc.
Step 4: With Grain or Grain-Free?
While some dogs are pretty comfortable with grains, many others are allergic to grain-rich diets. The best thing to do is to consult a veteranarian and be sure of the dog’s allergy situation. You can understand whether your dog would be comfortable with grains or has any sort of an allergy. Vomiting, continuous licking of their paws, and diarrhea maybe some of the symptoms of allergies.
In most cases, the primary ingredients like the meat can even play a bigger role than the grains.
Step 5: Are There Enough Nutrients for Your Dog?
You can locate this information on the package of dog food. A majority of the trusted brands in this industry try to provide this sort of information, whether the food is suited for puppies or adults.
They come with messages saying that the food contains all the balanced nutrients. You should also look for AAFCO’s statement. AAFCO’s word can ensure trust in the nutrients of the food provides.
Step 6: Is It a Reputed Brand’s Product?
The final question has to be about the reputation of the brand in the market. You must be feeding your dogs the best quality available. The problem is that there are lots of low quality products, and as a dog owner, you need to be aware of this situation. So try to check the reputation before buying the product.
The safety and the health of your pet is in your hands. So try to think responsibly and try to make a well-balanced decision.
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