How To Choose High-Quality Dog Food
Selecting high-quality food for your dog isn’t always easy, but there’s no denying how important it is to only feed your dog with the best quality food you can afford.
Using quality food not only provides your dog with adequate nutrition, but it can also help to maintain your dog’s health and ensure a longer, happier life. Of course, there’s no guarantee that better food equals a longer lifespan – but it certainly doesn’t hurt to ensure your dog is eating the most nutritious food available. With this in mind, let’s learn more about how to choose the best quality food for your dog.
Check The Ingredients Label Carefully
These days, there’s certainly no shortage of glitzy commercials and clever advertising campaigns which can make virtually any dog food seem appealing. But at the end of the day, the ingredients used in your chosen dog food are the most important thing you need to pay attention to.
In particular, you’ll need to watch out for low-grade by-products, artificial preservatives, and corn or wheat fillers. You’ll often find these low-quality ingredients in cheaper brands, but it’s best to avoid them whenever possible. Corn and wheat fillers are surprisingly common, but feeding your dog a diet that’s high in corn or wheat can lead to allergies, bloating, digestive issues, and a range of problematic health issues in the long run.
In fact, there has even been some research to suggest that a high corn diet can reduce the amount of serotonin in your dog’s brain, which can eventually lead to increased stress and anxiety.
Furthermore, some veterinary behaviorists have reason to believe that a dog’s diet can have an impact on their overall behavior, especially in terms of aggression. It’s believed that when a dog’s diet is deficient in key vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids, a dog may be more likely to display reactive and aggressive behaviors.
Ultimately, this just goes to show how important it is to select high-quality food rather than settling for a cheap, inferior brand.
Understand Your Dog’s Nutritional Needs
The first step to choosing the right dog food is to assess your dog’s overall nutritional needs. Some of the most important factors will include your pets age and their overall activity level.
For example, a young puppy will likely require more calories than an older dog, and a highly active working dog is going to need additional calories, too. On the other hand, feeding an adult dog with puppy food is likely to lead to obesity – so it’s important to buy a brand that’s designed specifically with your dog in mind, or simply purchase a product that’s suitable for all life stages.
Additionally, getting the calories right is very important – because getting this factor wrong can lead to a range of health and obesity problems. For example, giving a low activity dog a high-performance food can lead to excess weight gain, and it will also produce restless behavior if your dog doesn’t have the opportunity to burn off the excess energy they’ve received from the high-performance food source.
If you’re in doubt, then it’s wise to consult with a qualified veterinarian, who will be able to explain your dog’s individual nutritional requirements in more detail, based on their age, weight, activity level, and more.
Key Things To Look For
So now that we’ve covered what to avoid, what kind of ingredients should you look for in a quality brand of dog food?
In many cases, the ingredients label of a high-quality product will be a great deal simpler than a low-quality one. Primarily, you should expect to see a quality named meat, such as chicken, lamb, or fish. You’ll also want to ensure that there are no cheap filler ingredients or ‘by-products’ that could be detrimental to your dog’s long-term health.
It’s also worth remembering that dogs are well suited to a carnivore-style diet by nature, so food that’s high in quality meat content will be a natural fit for virtually any breed of dog. In general, a high-quality source of protein is an absolute must.
Next, you can expect a high-quality dog food to provide three or four different vegetables rather than filler grains or corn.
Keep in mind that when a food is processed at high temperature, it will have its nutritional value reduced by quite some margin, so it’s best to stick to a product which relies on ingredients that are kept as close as possible to their original, natural state.
Conclusion
Overall, there’s no denying the importance of giving your dog the best food possible. Even though there’s no shortage of big-budget advertising for the well-known dog food brands, it’s often best to pick smaller pet food companies who focus on providing the quality ingredients that your dog needs to stay strong and healthy for many years to come.
One of the great things about Alpha Dog Food is that they focus exclusively on providing the high-quality nutrition a dog needs, without using any cheap filler ingredients that could jeopardize your dog’s long-term health.
Taking a glance at the ingredients label for any of their products will show you that their food offers everything your dog could need when it comes to supporting healthy nutrition.
Hopefully, this guide will have shed some light on the subject of choosing a quality dog food. Ultimately, while the topic can be confusing at times, if you pick a trusted brand that is renowned for only using top quality ingredients, you’ll be in safe hands.
About The Author
Tim Roberson is the owner and chief author of Stop That Dog where he writes detailed guides on virtually every aspect of dog ownership, often with a strong focus on basic obedience training and overcoming behavior problems.
