Things to Consider When Choosing Dry Dog Food
Jim Moore
At some point in nearly everyone’s lives, they get a dog, and one of the first questions asked is, “What should I feed him?” In some cases, the new owner is given a bag of dog food to start off or a coupon to buy some brand. However, what food do you buy after that initial stuff is gone?
I have spent a lot of time looking at different dog food, feeling completely overwhelmed while staring at the multi-colored bags from a dozen different companies, some of whom I have known since I was a kid to others I never heard of. Further, within each of these companies, there are myriad different categories of food. Is your dog a puppy, adult, or senior citizen? Is your dog a large breed or small? Does your pet need to lose weight or have joint pain? Does your pup have food allergies? Finally, if all this wasn’t enough, the prices for each range from bargain basement to nosebleed level.
In over twenty years of owning and training dogs and learning what makes them tick, I have fed everything from the cheapest, most basic dog food to the most trendy RAW food diet I had to make myself. What have I learned from all this? Ultimately, I fell back on common sense and reading labels. I was astounded by what I learned just by taking a few minutes to read what was in the food that was going to be my dog’s sole source of nutrition. My own dog is an overweight, 7 year old mini dachshund with constipation issues and missing teeth. I looked at the labels and chose a food that was designed for an adult small breed dog that had higher fiber and was easier to chew. There are many acceptable dog foods that might have fit the description, but I settled on Blue Buffalo Weight Loss Formula for Adults. In my opinion, it is overall the best dry dog food on the market today. The price is higher, but not too much. The ingredients are not all by-products, and Blue Buffalo has a large selection of food types to fit a variety of dogs.
In many respects, choosing a correct dog food is very much like picking food for you. Keep that in mind when you are making your choice. If you consumed a diet of nothing but junk food, your health would certainly be affected. Also, would you feed an infant the same thing you would serve your grandmother? Would you feed a teenager with too much energy a high sugar diet? Would you feed an overweight person highly caloric foods? Probably not.
Educate yourself and take the same amount of care picking your pet food as you do your own. Trust your instincts and make the choice that not only fits your situation, but your dog, as well. Just like every person is different, so are our pets. In dog food, one size definitely doesn’t fit all.
Reader Comments (3)
[...] dog breeds dog breedersThings to consider when choosing a dog – by Pat Gray – HeliumThings to Consider When Choosing Dry Dog Food | PetSolutions BlogToy Breeds – 10 Things to Consider Before Getting a DogRaising Chickens For Meat – [...]
This waste ingredient can possibly contain a measurable amount of sugar left over from the manufacture of breakfast cereals. Food fines are commonly associated with the lowest quality dog foods.
The first priority in choosing the right dog food is its nutrients content. Make sure that the nutrients is what your pet needs.