All dog lovers want the best for their companion, and
starting with proper nutrition you will give your pet the
basis for a long healthy life. There is no one best dog
food on the market today, but many extremely ultra premium
or high quality organic dog foods that are excellent
choices. Also beware that there are more really bad, low
quality, low nutrition, and chemical filled commercial dog
foods. The cheaper brands are generally available in the
grocery store. The better organic dog foods are usually
ordered directly through the company, or offered at high
end pet stores.
Increasing your dog's life span is easily achieved by
feeding a properly balanced healthy organic dog food or
high premium diet from puppy hood. An all natural healthy
diet is as beneficial for your dog as it is for yourself.
Improper or poor nutrition can cause diseases, allergies,
obesity, and shortened life spans in your dogs.
There are many commercial grade dog food products available
at the grocery store, and care must be taken when choosing
one. After the recent pet food contamination scares and
recalls because of toxicity and disgusting additives being
found in the manufacturing process, many pet owners are
becoming much more aware of what they feed their pet.
Here are a few general guidelines to follow when looking at
the ingredients on a dog food bag:
Choose a food with high meat content. The first ingredient
must be a specified meat. Another one or two meats or meat
meal listed in the top 5 ingredients is a bonus, but not
necessary. (Meat meal is meat with the moisture removed.)
If the same grain ingredient is used two or more times in
the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice",
brewer's rice", "rice flour", are all the same grain), this
is not a well balanced, nutritious product. It is loaded
with "filler" and made to look like it is healthy by
separating the one ingredient into sub categories, but rice
is rice so it should be listed once.
Using high quality grains has become the standard for the
premium quality dog food manufacturers, such as barley,
brown rice and oatmeal. If the grains are organic, then
all the better. Wheat and corn are inferior and useless
as a nutritional element in dog food, and used as filler
only. Also wheat and corn are both know to cause allergies
in dogs.
There should be absolutely no by-products listed.
There should not be any fillers.
Carcinogenic preservatives do not need to be used, and if
they are don't buy the product. (They will be listed as
BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin.)
Artificial colorings are also cancer causing, and
completely unnecessary. You'll be surprised to see how
many products still contain this dangerous ingredient. The
dyes will be marked as such - e.g. Red, Blue and Yellow
dyes.
No added sugars or corn syrup should be in the ingredient
list.
The more organic ingredients listed, the better.
Added glucosamine, chondroitin, pro and prebiotics, flax
seed oil, barley, oats or oatmeal, and sunflower oil, are a
good thing.
Slowly baked, not extruded, retains the minerals, vitamins
and essential goodness of the food.
Hormone free, antibiotic free, pesticide and herbicide
free, chemical and preservative free would indicate a high
quality premium organic dog food.
And finally, no mystery meats should be in the list.
Mystery meat will be listed as simply meat or poultry,
rather than chicken or venison. The mystery meat will
probably be some horrible rotten road kill, old euthanized
animals, and parts of animals that are not edible.
Although the higher quality food might seem more expensive
initially, it will work itself out and become cheaper in
the long run. The savings in vet bills alone over the life
of your pet will pay for the food.
I use a lazy homemade dog food tactic of using a high end
organic dog food, and add just a few ounces of poached
chicken, or broiled venison every day. The best of both
worlds is then achieved for my dogs.
Always be aware, educate yourself and know that the big
business of dog food manufacturing is in it for the profit,
not the health and welfare of our pets. That is up to us.
Just do the absolute best you can for your pet and it will
be returned with more doggie love, which is never a bad
thing.
----------------------------------------------------
I am an animal lover and advocate of raising healthy, happy
pets, as part of the family. I truly believe this starts
with proper, adequate nutrition, which in turn extends your
pets life.
Check out what is the best of the best for you dog here:
http://www.recipes4gourmetdogs.com
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