Feeding your dog only protein based products will result in an unhealthy and aggressive dog. Feeding your dog food that contains only poor-quality paws, defects, and parts of other animals will lead to health problems and shorten life expectancy. You want to avoid pet foods that contain food dyes, harmful preservatives, fillers like corn and soy. There have been reports of manufacturers putting plastic in their dog food products.
Start by reading the ingredients. The protein must appear first. If you can’t figure out what the ingredient is, google it (put it in your computer’s search bar). If the ingredient is an excellent mineral or vitamin, if it is MSG (monosodium glutamate) don’t use it. If food has a Twinkie’s shelf life, you don’t want it. The food is dead, there are no living enzymes to help your dog’s body stay healthy. I read the ingredients every time I buy my dog food. Dog food companies are bought out by other companies or new management decides to change the recipe. Why? They are a company that tries to make a profit, always looking for ways to reduce costs and improve the bottom line. This is what profitable companies should do.
Just because the dog food company is a well-known brand does not rate the dog food as the best bang for the buck. In fact, it could be the food that costs the most and has the least nutrition. The more a food is processed, the less nutrition it has to offer. Dried foods are cooked and mostly do not contain enzymes and do not spoil as quickly. Example: A banana will go bad if it is not used within its ripeness stage. However, if it is processed by dehydration, it will have a longer shelf life but will lose some of its nutrition. It is not necessary to refrigerate the dry food since it does not spoil in a short time. There are dry dog foods that have expiration dates and that means that the manufacturing does not use as many chemical preservatives.
There are many recipes to make your own dog food that would be the best for your pet, but I think it is important to also feed dry food. If your pet ever gets sick and requires an animal hospitalization, they will not feed your pet the same raw organic food. It’s hard on the vet since other pet patients want it and the food can only be left out for less than a couple hours (bacteria). You want your dog to eat when he needs it most, so a combination is smart. There are ready-made and frozen raw organic dog foods. You just thaw it.
I like to go to http://www.petfooddirect.com to look at the ingredients when my customers ask me if I think their dog food is a good choice.
Example:
Natural Balance® Ultra Premium Formula Small Bite Dog Food is for all breeds and all life stages. This formula has been tested on pregnant dogs, countless litters of puppies, from maturing puppies to fully grown adults, as well as our beloved senior dogs… Again with outstanding results!
Ingredients:
Chicken, brown rice, lamb meal, oatmeal, barley, duck meal, potatoes, carrots, chicken fat (preserved with natural mixed tocopherols), tomato pulp, natural flavoring, canola oil, brewer’s yeast, flour salmon oil, whole ground flaxseed, potassium chloride, choline chloride, taurine, spinach, parsley flakes, cranberry, lysine, L-carnitine, yucca schidigera, kelp, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Manganese Preteinate, Manganese Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, d-calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B-6), vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-12), Vitamin D Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B).
Great first ingredient protein. Google tocopherols… it’s vitamin E, great. This company tells me in parentheses what the term for laymen is, I like that. Yes, I would give this brand to my dogs.
The better the dog food, the smaller the stool will be, which means your dog is absorbing more nutrients. The smaller the serving size means higher quality food. Dogs fed excellent diets live longer, stay healthier and happier.