If you already own a dog or are thinking of adopting one, you may have figured out that having a dog can be something of an investment. If you’re thinking of cutting corners by purchasing cheap dog food, you may be compromising your dog’s health. While not true in every case, many of the cheaper kinds of dog food are made of inferior products that could cause digestive or other health problems. In order to make sure you are giving your dog quality dog food, you have to read the label. Here are a few things you should be on the lookout for.
First, you want to make sure that the dog food has the proper levels of protein and fat for your dog. For an adult dog, an appropriate amount of protein would be twenty-two to twenty-five percent with fifteen to nineteen percent fat. However, the appropriate levels will be different for puppies or older dogs, so talk with your veterinarian to learn which levels are best for your dog.
Next, take a look at the listed ingredients. In a good quality dog food, the first four ingredients should never be grains, but should always be meat or proteins. Another important distinction is how chicken is listed in the ingredients. If only “chicken” is listed, this can mean that the manufacturers are including all parts of the chicken, including the beak, feet and feathers, in the whole value of the chicken. When “chicken meal” is listed, only the meat of the chicken is included, thus you’re getting a healthier product. Other good ingredients include fish meal, turkey meal, lamb meal, potatoes, rice, sunflower oil and vegetables.
Ingredients that you’ll want to avoid include gluten, soy, chicken by-products, corn and wheat. These are the things that dogs find hard to digest and can cause serious health problems if consumed over a long period of time. Also, be sure to watch out for dog food that includes a lot of preservatives or sugar.
You may already be purchasing dog food made by a well-known brand, but even the most renowned brands offer both low quality and high quality foods. Always be sure to read the label of the food you’re buying for your dog, and you’ll be sure to keep your dog happy and healthy for a very long time.
