How to Choose the Right Dog Food

20 July 2024

As a dog parent, it's natural to feel overwhelmed by all the choices and decisions involved in caring for your pet. Especially in the case of Dog Food! It is hard to figure out how to choose the right dog food. Like human, dogs also need to gain some specific nutrients and minerals from their food items. To keep your dog healthy, gaining and maintaining proper nutrition with a good diet is necessary. However, it is ultimately your decision as to what to feed your dog. Therefore, to make a bright decision you must understand the different types of dog food and the quantity of each ingredient used in it. Apart from this, you should also consider the cost to fit your budget. To understand these key factors comprehensively, you should go through deep research into your dog’s diet so that you can end up with an informed decision.

Understanding the Nutrition

In the present market condition, you will get plenty of information about and availability of canine nutrition. Still, the opinions about it may vary among the different breeders, dog owners, veterinarians, and trainers. Not only experienced dog owners but also the experts of dog food cannot determine and suggest to you the best type of dog food. So, to determine the perfect food for your dog, the veterinarian is always the best source. Like every individual, dogs also have unique needs and requirements. Only a veterinary nutritionist will be able to understand which nutrition is lacking in your dog's diet and what made him unhealthy.

Know about the Basic Nutritional Needs

To maintain the proper energy and healthy weight of your Doggie, it is necessary to intake enough calories through good food. These calories should contain nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Apart from these, it is important to gain proper vitamins and minerals to support their bodies throughout the day.

Protein

Protein is one of the prominent nutrients needed in the food diet of dogs. It will help them to build the body muscles to maintain a healthy weight. Later it breaks down into amino acids and helps for the proper body functions. The dog foods that have plenty of proteins are chicken, beef, fish, and less common lamb.

Fat

Fat is an essential nutrition necessary for dogs that can provide energy for them throughout different climates. It contains fatty acids that help to provide energy, maintain healthy joints, coats, skin, and support brain function. Every dog must have fat in their diet, and it usually comes from animal fats and plant oils. Even though excess amount of fat can cause gastrointestinal upset in dogs and lead to obesity too.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates can help to raise the calorie content in your dog's body. It can provide sustainable energy for dogs, especially without adding excess fat or protein. Usually, the food varieties of Dogs contain carbohydrates in the form of corn, wheat rice, etc. And for a grain grain-free diet, these dog foods may use potatoes or starches, etc. However, it is not highly suggested by veterinary nutritionists since grain-free diets can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs.

Vitamins

For every living creature, vitamins are an essential factor to support the functioning of the body. For dogs also vitamins play a crucial role in supporting their body system. Dogs must gain vitamins like A, D, E K, and a particular amount of B from their food products.

Minerals

Minerals are a vital part of every variety of dog food. The essential minerals are calcium, copper, zinc, iron, phosphorus, selenium, etc. These minerals can improve the bone health of your dog and maintain many bodily functions like muscle movements. Other minerals including chloride, sodium, electrolytes potassium, etc. are crucial for supporting the fluid balance in the body of dogs.

Water

Like humans, animals also need enough water content in their bodies to smoothen their bodily functions. Thus, almost all dog foods contain water content in it. Even food items like dry kibble have a particular moisture percentage in them. Apart from these, it is essential to help your dog by providing clean and fresh drinking water. Even though there is moisture content in dog foods, it is insufficient for their bodily functioning. Therefore, always make sure to provide them with drinking water separately. Also, remember that dogs usually drink a very small amount of water if they have wet food items.

The Significance of Maintaining Balanced Nutrition

Everything in balance is the best, even if it's nutrition. A balanced diet can improve your overall energy and body functions. Such a diet contains multiple ingredients in the right amount. And these right amounts of nutrition and calories can keep your dog healthy as well as energetic. Whereas an imbalanced diet can cause different health issues and lead to severe diseases for your dogs. For instance, an excess amount of protein will lead to kidney diseases, and an insufficient amount of protein will not support a dog's bodily functions. Therefore, it is necessary to follow a balanced diet to enhance your dog's health and energy levels. Usually, well-made commercial dog foods with the necessary amount of nutrition and calories will have labels from the appropriate authorities or nonprofit organizations that set the pet food standards of the country. They will ensure that the food meets the minimum standards for complete and balanced canine nutrition.

However, few pet owners prefer to avoid commercial diets and tend to prepare dog foods at home. Still, both pros and cons are involved in this diet. By preparing the food at home you can ensure that your dogs are getting unprocessed food items without harmful ingredients or chemicals. This is the major positive side of such a diet. On the other hand, such homely dog food that is made from scratch requires close attention to ensure its complete and balanced nutrition level. It may lack the necessary nutrients. Mostly the dog will end up receiving some of the nutrients in a low amount and some others in excess quantity. Therefore, depending on a trusted source for dog food is the best choice to select your dog food, and always ask your veterinarian for assistance to keep your dog energetic and healthy throughout the day.

Breaking Down Dog Food Ingredients

Every dog food that meets the food pet food standards of the country and has a license or labels from the appropriate authorities may not be the right food for your dog. All dogs require a specific diet according to their individual needs and health conditions. The diet quality is very subjective and to find the quality of a dog food, you can check its ingredient list and determine whether it is suitable for your dog. Many parents prepare dog food choices based on their nutrition standards and beliefs, and it is not something to bother if it is a complete and balanced meal for your dog with harmless ingredients. There are no universal standards on the quality of dog food. However, people used to believe that a high-quality diet with meat-based ingredients is the best diet a dog can have.

Some parents prefer to provide more natural ingredients in the diet plan of dogs. This is classified as a raw food diet or ancestral diet which contains minimally processed ingredients. It is believed that such dog foods are high in nutritional value and low in additives. However, raw food items can cause the risks of bone fragments in the minimally processed food that may present a choking or puncture hazard. Also, raw foods may contain parasites or bacteria that can cause infections or illness in your dog. Anyways, it is recommended to decide what is the most important ingredient to your dog and analyze the label before selecting a food product.

Check Out the Best Ingredients for Your Pet

Meat or Poultry

These are ingredients in dog food used to gain protein. Meat or Poultry contains water in it since it is the muscles of animals. Therefore, it weighs too heavy compared to other ingredients. The byproducts of protein that are made up of organs and other animal parts are also usable for improving the overall energy of dogs.

Meal

Meal is one of the nutrient-dense ingredients that are made up of meat and its by-products. These contain less water than muscle meats, so it is recommended to provide more drinking water other than the food.

Animal Fats or Plant Oils

These are the ingredients that can provide fatty acids to your dog’s body and help to make their food more flavorful. These are a mixture of tocopherols which are considered and served as preservatives.

Plant Ingredients

Plant ingredients consist of barley, rice, potatoes, corn, peas, and soy. These things will add more nutrients and calories to dog food. Such ingredients can provide essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber for your dog by supporting their overall health and digestion

Dietary Fiber

These food products include ingredients such as powdered cellulose, dried chicory root, insulin, dried beet pulp, and fructooligosaccharide. These ingredients in dog food aid them with better digestion, maintenance of healthy weight, and promote regular bowel movements. It will enhance the overall gut health of dogs and alleviate issues like constipation and diarrhea.

Preservatives

These are necessary ingredients to keep your dry food the dog’s fresh and safe. It includes butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and ethoxyquin-like synthetic preservatives and vitamin E, vitamin C, and rosemary extract-like natural preservatives.

Types of Dog Food

Traditionally commercial dog foods have been available in wet (kibble) or dry (canned) varieties. And in the present day, we can find a vast variety of different nutritional trends. This helps the modern pet parents to have more choices which includes both fresh dog food (refrigerated or frozen) and dehydrated (often freeze-dried dog food) formulas. However, before choosing any of these, a dog parent must consult a veterinarian to understand what is lacking in your dog and what is above the required level. Thus, you will be able to meet your nutritional needs. You can pick just one type of food for your dog or mix a few different types. Dog parents who follow a natural diet may prefer fresh or fresh-frozen foods since they contain whole-food ingredients and fewer chemicals.

Get Expert Recommendations on Dog Food

Mostly veterinarians prefer to stick to the same diet forever if your dogs are doing well on it. On the other hand, some experts prefer to rotate the diets every two to six months if you are feeding commercial food to dogs. For this, you can try different food companies or rotate the overall diet plan. Because some dogs may feel bored with the same diet and tastes and thus rotation diet can help the picky eaters. A rotational diet can also help with minimizing the issues related to food recalls, and prevent allergies and other diseases. However, the needs of individual dogs can vary according to their nutrition levels and health situations. In prominent pet day care you can find these rotational diet services with quality ingredients. To find the best choice for your dog, it is always recommended to visit a veterinarian and know the needs of your loved pets.