What to Look For When Selecting Dog Food

Surprisingly, we find that a lot of dog owners don’t put a lot of thought into it.

Most of them seem to just waltz into the pet store, or even the grocery store, and select whichever one looks the healthiest or the cheapest.

This is exactly the wrong way to go about it. At the very least you should talk to you vet about what they recommend.

However, even within that, the pet food industry is one of the most messed up industries around. This is for a lot of reasons, which we outline in more detail here.

Look for Meat-First Products

When you’re looking for dog food, make sure the first ingredient is a specified meat. Again, because of loose regulations, pet food companies don’t have to specify how much meat, but the ingredients are listed by amount.

Second, a lot of the time they’ll pass off non-meat products for meat. For example, if it says “meat,” “animal,” or “poultry,” instead of specifying what kind of animal is in it, that means it’s probably “by-product.”

Choose the Best Food That You Can Afford

We get that dog food is an extra expense, and paying a lot more for wet food might not be feasible for you.

However, I’d like you to ask how much is it worth to give your dog a happier, healthier life? What they eat determines a lot of this.

There are situations, though, where you don’t need to buy the absolute best food. For example, an ideal doggy diet contains ample omega-3 fatty acids. However, omega-3-filled foods might cost twice as much.

Instead, you can just add a high-quality fish oil suppIement for dogs. We discuss this in-depth in our guide on fish oil for dogs.

This also isn’t an “either, or” discussion, necessarily. If you can afford to feed your dog some canned food and fill in the rest of their diet with kibbIe, that’s a solid step in the right direction.

If you can afford to give them the highest quality raw food, mixed in with a bit of grains and fruits, then that’s even better.

And, listen to your pet. You can see it in their eyes, in their panting, in the way they run, whether a diet is truly good for them.