When going to a restaurant or shopping for groceries, many of us pick and choose what we buy and eat, especially when on a certain diet. We try to research and understand which ingredients will help promote overall health. And then, once we realize that a certain food is not good for us, we try to avoid it. However, how many of us take the same care when picking pet food for our dogs?
Due to their smaller stature, dogs are more sensitive to a bad diet and prone to a variety of conditions and diseases. That’s why not paying enough attention to what your pet eats can be causing great harm in the long run. And once your dog starts picking up bad habits, it’s much hard to get back on track, although not impossible.
If you’ve decided to provide your dog with a healthy and nutritious diet, it’s important to first find out how to shop for food and recognize the healthiest options. Here are a few important tips for owners buying dog food.
How to Recognize Good Quality Dog Food
The first challenge you will face when shopping for dog food is to know what should and shouldn’t be on the list of ingredients. For starters, you should know that ingredient lists start with those that have the highest quantity in a given package.
For example, if meat is the first ingredient in any given dog food, you can expect most of the food to be meat. If harmful fillers like barley, wheat, or corn are the first ingredient, then these will make up most of the dog food you’re buying and make for an unhealthy diet.
You should look to give your dog everything they need in a diet because your pooch will often eat the same food day after day. A quick way to identify dog food that is healthy and nutritious is to look for an AAFCO [1] statement on the packaging.
While reading the ingredients, also make sure you’re getting whole meat or a specific type of meat with meal like lamb-meal. Meal is simply meat without water.
Furthermore, avoid synthetic preservatives and choose natural ones instead. Dog food without preservatives is the best choice but aims to avoid at least BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin which can cause long-term health problems. [2]
Raw vs. Dry vs. Canned Dog Food
Overall, there are three different types of dog food that you can buy your pet: raw, dry, and canned. Many people recommend giving them a combination of all three.
Dry Food is good for the health of your dog’s teeth and it can be packed with all the necessary minerals and vitamins. It also keeps better and can be left out for a while in your dog’s bowl. However, this means that dry food also has more preservatives which usually aren’t healthy.
Raw dog food is an excellent addition to your dog’s diet and since it’s natural, you know what you’re feeding your dog. But raw food can get expensive even if it’s the best choice for overall health. For convenience, you can purchase raw food that’s prepackaged and frozen or dehydrated.
[1] https://petfood.aafco.org/Labeling-Labeling-Requirements