Selecting the Right Dog Food

Selecting the right dog food for your furry family member can be an overwhelming task. The average individual has no idea what should and should not be a regular item on their dogs menu. If you trusted the packaging every dog food would be the best tasting and most nutritious, but as you well know most of these descriptive words are used purely as marketing tools to sell the consumer the product. Contrary to popular belief, not all dog foods are the same, in fact there is a drastic difference between most of them. Feeding your dog the right food, can effect their health, appearance, mood and behavior.

When selecting the right dog food, doing your research is very important. The first ingredient in your dogs food should always be a meat. Meat by products are absolutely unacceptable, by products are the left overs of the animal, eyes, hooves,skin, feet etc., we wouldn't eat that so neither should our dogs. If you have a puppy it is best to stick with a chicken or lamb based product.

Corn and wheat are also ingredients that can cause issues with digestion, so you should avoid foods with any corn, wheat, or corn or wheat glutens. Soy can also be problematic with some dogs and should be avoided as well. Some dogs have allergies to these items and by eliminating them you can avoid any further complications and future health issues. There are many brands that avoid these things all together, so it is only a matter of actually reading the ingredient label.

There are many things you should look for when selecting a good dog food. Probiotics are great because they help with digestion and aid the immune system. Chelated Minerals are better because they are more easily absorbed and digested. Vegetables are important, because they are a great source of antioxidants which are essential to your dogs good health.

Many brands provide the consumer the opportunity to give our dogs a well balanced healthy diet. Wellness, is a fabulous brand that offers a wide array of choices in wet and dry foods, along with healthy treats as well. Innova also makes great products, they offer a large variety of meals and snacks and my dog found them to be very tasty. Canidae, is another great brand, with a good selection of meals. Personally, I feed my dogs Blue Buffalo Salmon and Sweet Potato canned. I mix it with one of the Blue Buffalo dry foods, but I switched to the salmon because my dog was having gastrointestinal upset. Salmon, tends to help relive many of the symptoms dogs experience , relating to gastrointestinal distress. Some other companies worth looking into are, Avo Derm, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul and Solid Gold. They all make good products as well.

Most of the companies listed above have web pages you can use for store locating, ingredient research and general feeding guidelines. The most important thing to remember when selecting your dogs food, is to avoid meat by products, corn, wheat and soy. Transitioning to any new food should be done gradually, you can start by mixing in a quarter of the new food with your dogs old food. Over a two week period, slowly increase the amount of the new food you are mixing in until the old food is completely phased out. I am not a veterinarian, just a concerned pet owner who has done my research. If your dog has any health concerns it is always beneficial to consult with your dogs vet before changing their diet. That being said, my dog was having severe gastrointestinal upset and our switch to Blue Buffalo wiped that problem right out.

Taking good care of your dog is important, because they rely on you for their health and safety. When reading ingredient labels to select a dog food, ask yourself if you would eat each of the ingredients if cooked separately. If the answer is no, you probably shouldn't feed that brand of food to your dog. Most dogs are capable of living for a very long time, providing them with a good balanced diet gives them a better chance at a long and healthy life.