Selecting the Right Food for your Dog
Narrated from: Dog NutritionThe first thing you need to know is that no one food is right for every dog. There are too many different sizes, breeds and stages of development to find one food for all of them. Dogs seem to be as individual as we humans are, so thank goodness there are so many foods to choose from. Many people these days are making their own dog food so that they will know exactly what their dogs are eating. There are so many things to consider as you decide what to feed Fido, from the breed you are feeding, his energy levels, what stage of development he is in and his size. Let us examine some of the some of the things you should consider along the way.
Puppies need more of everything from vitamins, minerals, calcium, protein and even fatty acids. Their little bodies are growing and they use all the nourishment they can get! Now if you feed an older dog puppy food, you are very likely to end up with an over-weight dog. Senior dogs on the other hand may need something easier to digest than other dogs would. Additionally you have a choice of dry food, moist food or canned food. Most often dry food is recommended but please keep in mind that your dog is an individual much like you are. The most important part of it all is the ingredients the food is made from. You may not believe it at first but the cheaper the dog food the worse it is for your dog. Cheap dog food is made from cheap ingredients and may be lacking in essential things your dog simply must have. The cheap foods are more likely to cause gas and digestion problems. Much of the cheap ingredients are fillers that will go right through your dog without providing nourishment. Watch your dog to see if he is defecating more than once each day; if he is you will probably want to change his food. This also means with cheaper foods you usually need to feed them more than what is actually necessary. Cheap foods usually meet the lowest technical requirements, but often they are not very good for dogs.
You may pay more initially for a premium dog food per pound but the ingredients are better for them, make the dog healthier which saves you on veterinarian visits, they eat less of it so it lasts longer and since their body is actually using the food they eat you will have less to clean up! Before you buy any kind of food for your dog be sure to take all these facts into consideration. There is no doubt that you will find premium foods to be the more economical choice. It may sound completely backwards, but it is actually cheaper! You can prove this by writing the date on a cheap bag of dog food the day you get it and note the date you use the last of it. Then buy a premium dog food and do the same thing. The premium food will last longer than the cheap food because you don’t need to feed as much of it at each meal time.
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