How To Choose a Dog Food

Do you know how to choose your dog's food? By price? Because it says its premium? Because your vet recommended it? If you answered yes to any of these, you might want to think again.

Did you know that the most expensive dog foods in your pet store are not necessarily the best ones? In fact they might not even be very good. Now you can be sure that the really cheap ones are not even worth looking at. No one can make high quality dog food for super cheap prices. To find a high quality dog food you may have to look farther than the grocery or pet store.

You might see pictures of steak, chicken, fresh vegetables, and grain on a bag of dog food and think that they actually contain these ingredients. Read the ingredients; you might be in for a rude awakening.

I love veterinarians. But some do not know much about canine nutrition.

So how do you find a high quality dog food?

You are going to have to break down and read the ingredients. When you find one that fits the bill, give it a try for a month or two.

If it's not the right food, believe me you will know. My beloved German Shepherd, Berry, would suffer diarrea and vomiting if a food didn't agree with him. Some dogs suffer food allergies and get itchy skin and lick their paws incessantly.

When you think you found the right food let your dog give it a try. If after a month your dog is itching, licking his paws, or having digestive stress, it is time to try another dog food.

Dog Food Ingredients

The Good

Whole fresh meat or single-source meat meal (e.g. chicken meal rather than poultry meal)
A whole meat source as one of the first two ingredients (e.g. lamb or lamb meal)
Unprocessed grains and vegetables

The Bad

Generic fats or proteins like animal fat or meat meal
Artificial preservatives
Artificial Colors
Sweeteners
Salt

The Ugly

By-products (things like lungs, kidneys, brains, bone, blood, stomachs and intestines) YUCK!

The Whole Dog Journal does an annual review of their top choice dog foods. But there are other excellent dog foods out there so if your dog food is not on the list don't worry. And remember not all dog foods work for all dogs. So what works for one of your dog's may not be right for another.

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