Tips for Choosing the Right Food for Your Dog

 When it comes to our little furry friends, there’s no doubt that we all want only the best for them. And what we feed them is no exception at all, since food is one of the main sources of the essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients your dog’s organism needs.

But one of the greatest mistakes many dog parents tend to do is feeding their canines with homemade food, which is very wrong. Regardless of the quality of the ingredients you use, not a breed is capable to eat the amount of food that will provide the essential nutrients for proper body function. This is not the case with commercial food, as most of them have the perfect balance of healthy nutrients, compared to the sufficient amount of food every dog should consume. 

So, if you decided to start feeding your pooch with healthy and balanced food for dogs, we gathered a list of tips to help you choose the best option.

Check if Your Dog is Allergic

Same as humans, dogs also tend to be allergic to some ingredients we consume on daily basis. For instance, it’s not uncommon for dogs to be allergic to chicken, beef or any other type of meat. If this is the case with your lovely pooch too, it’s best to feed them with meatless products only.

However, cooking homemade food that doesn’t contain meat or any other ingredient causing allergies can be an overwhelming task, as it can be exceptionally hard to provide the perfect balance of proteins, carbs, fats and other essential nutrients. Luckily, there’re many types of commercial dog foods that don’t contain the most common allergens in dogs. Such foods are typically packed with healthy ingredients such as coconut or fish oil as well as vitamins and minerals to ensure your dog’s well being.

Choose with Your Dog’s Breed and Age on Your Mind

Another of the most common mistakes dog parents do is choosing food that isn’t suitable for their dog. The truth is that different breeds and age groups have different nutritional needs, and not all dog foods are created equally as well.

For instance, dogs from larger breeds are more prone to musculoskeletal problems than smaller breeds. Hence, they require food with specific nutrients that promote their musculoskeletal health since their youngest age. On the other hand, dogs from smaller breeds tend to suffer from choking on large-sized kibbles, and this is why it’s best to feed them with specialized food for smaller breeds.

When it comes to your dog’s age, have in mind that they also have different nutritional requirements throughout different stages of their lives. For instance, we already mentioned that puppies of larger breeds should always be fed with food that contains enough nutrients to prevent any bone and joint problems. This doesn’t apply to small breed puppies, as they can do well with food labelled “for all life stages”.

On the other hand, senior dogs also have different individual needs, according to their breed, weight and any conditions they struggle with. However, it’s best to feed your senior dog with food it finds palatable. For instance, some dogs may prefer crunchy kibbles, while others may find wet or warmed up food better.

Go for a Reputable Brand

Once you determine what type of food is best for your furry friend, you’re ready to hit your favourite pet shop and choose proper commercial food. At this point, what many veterinarians and experts would suggest is to skip all those cheap and low-quality options and make sure you choose a reputable brand that offers only the best for your pooch.

Talking about reputable brands offering dog food on the market, you can’t go wrong by choosing Royal Canin. This brand has been among the great market leaders for over 60 years, and it’s not even a surprise, considering their mission to make nutrition your dog’s first medicine.

Except for Royal Canin pet food being tailored with healthy ingredients, this brand also produces specialized food for the requirements of different breeds and age groups. For instance, Royal Canin puppy food is specially tailored to help your fragile puppy grow into a strong and healthy dog. On the other hand, if you decided to get Royal Canin adult dog food for your grown-up pooch, you can rest assured that you’re providing them with the essential nutrients for staying in great shape, promoting their skin and fur’s health and supporting their natural defences.

To keep you ensured that they offer safe and healthy food, Royal Canin's products go through many rigorous and intricate processes before they reach your favourite supplier’s shelves- from the throughout lab tests of raw materials to the quality controls during the manufacturing process. Topped up with their wide expertise, deep understanding of pets’ needs and love towards animals, Royal Canin only keeps persuading pet parents worldwide to rely on their brand.

Learn to Read the Label

Whether you decided to go for Royal Canin adult dog food or any other brand offering good nutrition for your puppy or senior dog, don’t forget to thoroughly read the label. However, this can be a complicated task for some dog owners, as not all the manufacturers seem friendly when it comes to printing labels.

So, if you’re aiming to ensure that the specific food you’re about to choose is packed with everything your dog needs, make sure you pay attention to the following couple of sections:

Ingredients

Except for determining whether the food contains any allergens, reading the ingredients is essential to ensure the even distribution of different types of nutrients. In other words, many manufacturers tend to split up the ingredients so the content seems more balanced.

For instance, a label can state that the food contains flaked corn, ground corn and kibbled corn. And as much as this bumps corn down on the list of ingredients, the truth is that the actual content of corn in the specific food is high. 

The same trick applies to foods containing meat. In fact, whole meat contains a large percentage of water, which means that the overall percentage of meat decreases when the water gets eliminated during the processing. On the other hand, meat meal actually contains more meat than whole meat labels, even though it tends to sound way less appealing to dog parents.

Proteins and Fats

When it comes to checking the protein and fat levels in your dog’s food, it’s best to rely on the guaranteed analysis box on the label. Once you start doing this, you’ll notice that not all the dog foods you come across in the store have the same levels of proteins and fats to meet your dog’s nutrition requirements.

If you’re struggling to determine sufficient levels of proteins and fats for your pooch, it’s recommended to consult with your veterinarian, as they’ll plan them according to your dog’s age, breed, size, weight and any possible health issues.

Water

Finally, don’t forget that same as humans, dogs also need water to maintain proper body function. Therefore, it’s recommended to choose dog food containing a high percentage of different moisture content. However, moist food isn’t a replacement for actual fresh water, so don’t forget to give your dog regular refills just because water is included in their food.