Being a dog owner comes with a lot of responsibility and decisions that have to be made regarding healthcare, proper supplies, training, and even the type of food the dog would eat. Today, the market has more options for healthy pet food than any other time in history, which includes canned and dry dog food.
Typically, veterinarians recommend dry food as the mainstay diet although occasional high quality wet food would be fine. In fact, wet food is great for hydration but dry dog food is what provides necessary nutrients and prevents tooth and gum decay.
While having a large selection of dry dog food is nice, it also creates a serious problem when trying to buy the best. Regardless of the pet store, pet supply store, or retail store where you shop, you will find the pet care aisles loaded with one type of dog food after another.
Trying to sort through the good from the bad can be a confusing process but knowing what to look for eliminates stress and would guide you to the exact type of dry dog food that would be ideal for your pet.
Choosing the Right Dog Food Product
It is important to remember that dogs are carnivorous by nature, meaning they eat meat so when choosing among the hundreds of different brands and formulas, make sure meat (not meat byproduct) is listed as the number one ingredient. For this, meat could be beef, chicken, turkey, fish, lamb, or veal.
You will find that even the best dry dog food options on the market contain grain but you want to choose products made with healthy grains and even food made with rice and potatoes would be considered healthy as long as meat is the main ingredient.
An important thing to consider is that for the brands and formulas of dry dog food being considered you want to make sure the type of meat listed is actual meat. In other words, rather than choose dry dog food that lists “fish”, look for a product that lists the type of fish such as salmon.
Another example would be food that lists “meat” or “poultry” as the primary ingredient. Instead, you need to know the exact type of meat such as beef or turkey, respectively.
Things to Avoid
Just as there are specific things you need to look for when buying dry dog food some things need to be avoided, no matter how tempting. For instance, some grains have been proven to cause health problems such as allergies and digestive issues so wheat, corn, and soy should always be avoided.
Obviously, foods made with artificial preservatives would also be deemed unsafe, which would include BHA, GHT, Ethoxyquin, Propyl Gallate, and others. Because some products need to be made with a preservative, choose dry dog food that contains Vitamin E, which not only helps in food preservation but is also beneficial to the dog’s health.
Understanding Cost
A common misconception is the best dry dog food is the most expensive but in truth this is not always the case. In fact, many pet food companies actually use high price as a marketing ploy, convincing consumers the higher the price the better the food.
As discussed, ingredients are the most important consideration when buying wet or dry food so instead of focusing on the price tag, read the label to determine what the product contains and from there, making the right choice would be far easier.
Resources
Interestingly, PetSmart sells a dog food product called Authority, which contains only high ingredients and a product that has received excellent reviews by veterinarians and pet owners alike. To find high quality dry dog food does not mean you have to shop in expensive stores or buy only name brand products.
Not to repeat, but the choice again goes back to ingredients over anything else. Initially, it would take a little more time to look over labels but once you get the hang of it walking into any store to buy only the best dry dog food for your beloved pet would be second nature.
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