How to choose the best food for your four-legged friend

When a family gets a pet, all family members are responsible for its health.

First, you must determine where the dog will rest and eat and, most importantly, choose the best food to ensure its health.

You shouldn’t rush to buy the first thing that catches your eye with bright packaging, especially a reduced-priced or economy-class product.

Proper nutrition will always make your dog feel good. To ensure your dog’s longevity, take care of his future and choose a quality product. 

Now, let’s move on to choosing veterinary products and defining the criteria for buying food for different dog breeds. This article explains how to select food and what criteria to consider.

The right dog diet helps guarantee good health

Your pet’s diet should consist of nutrients and vitamins, but the main ingredient is always meat. An insufficient amount of this product can cause malaise and decrease your dog’s energy.

The idea of natural feeding is widespread and is still considered the standard of healthy eating. However, this is a misconception.

Studies have shown that high-end dry food is the most balanced option for your pet’s diet.

The main rule is always to fill the bowl with fresh water so the dog’s body will benefit from the food and will not get sick due to dehydration.

Dry food has many valuable ingredients combined in pellets, but not all products are ideal.

You should never buy a cheap product. Read the ingredients listed on the package and find out which ingredients are most abundant (indicated in the first lines) and which are least.

Understand what makes the best food

Dry food is divided into the following types (classes):

• economy;
• premium;
• super premium;
• holistic.

The latter can be distinguished into a separate type or considered part of the super-premium class. The higher the class, the fewer empty calories of dubious origin and the more meat in the food. 

Choosing dry food for your pet

The main criteria for choosing pet food are age, breed, congenital or emerging diseases, and taste.

All products are graded by age (for puppies and adult dogs), and only some brands have a diet for older dogs.

You need to compare your pet’s age and choose the right food. Each breed has its characteristics, which must be considered in the diet. 

If the dog has any diseases, it requires a special diet.

For this, it is necessary to conduct a veterinary examination and consult a doctor to buy medicinal or regular food. A dog’s health is no less important than a human’s, so you must also care for it.

And finally, taste — some dogs are gourmets. Some like fish more, others like meat. It just takes time to figure out the priority of the diet. 

Dog food manufacturers and their products

Every responsible dog food manufacturer aims to make the food tasty and flavorful and fill the pellets with nutrients. Each pack should contain proteins, carbohydrates, and fats proportionately.

High-end manufacturers are usually characterized by having food for different purposes. These include medicinal diets and specialized food for sterilized dogs, various breeds, etc.

Here are some good and high-quality dry food brands:

• Optimeal
• Club 4 Paws
• My love Gav
• Master

If you notice that your dog has started eating new dry food and has developed some abnormalities (diarrhea, hair has lost its color and shine, it has become less active, etc.), you should stop using it immediately.

Select the best food

Food selection is a painstaking task for the owner because each animal is unique.

When choosing, you need to consider not only the breed, size, and age but also the level of activity, taste preferences, digestive system features, and health, including hormones, pregnancy, childbirth, etc. When buying, always pay attention to the composition of the food and the expiration date.

With this knowledge, you can easily choose the proper diet for your pet. Healthy and, more importantly, adequately selected food is the key to your pet’s health.

Take care of your dog like you would yourself. It is better to spend money on good nutrition than on treatment.