If you are wondering what to feed your dog? Then you are in the right place as we got you covered. Our dog means the world to us. We bring them into our homes, provide them with toys, beds, and even state of the art medical care. When it comes down to their daily meals, we try to give the best dog food for our beloved friend.
If you’re concerned about your dog nutrition and health, here are fifteen tips to choose the best dog food to improve your favorite pet diet. Read on!
1.Review your dog food ingredients
While all commercial dog foods are complete and balanced, the quality of the ingredients used to make it can make a big difference in your dog’s health. So, checking the food ingredient is the first checklist for choosing the best dog food.
So, what are the best ingredients for dog food? Ingredients like corn are less digestible than proteins found in meat, and the corn used in dog food is typically fed grade—meaning it may be moldy or contain toxic bugs. Animal proteins can be a problem too if the ingredient panel does not disclose what sort of animal it comes from.
If your dog food’s ingredient panel says something like “meat and bone meal” or “animal fat” instead of “Chicken” or a specific animal, it could be from—well—anything. That means roadkill or even euthanized pets are technically legal.
To keep your dog safe, choose a grain-free dog food with a named animal protein as the first ingredient.
2. Add probiotics
If you want to make sure that your dog having a balanced dog diet, then you should add probiotics in the dog meals. It may seem strange to include bacteria in your dog’s diet, but it could significantly improve your dog’s quality of life. Probiotics offer your dog a range of health benefits. Probiotics can help your dog digest his food better, helping him get the most nutrition out of every bowl.
3. Turmeric
By adding turmeric in your dog food you can prevent many common dog health problems. Turmeric might be the most powerful nutritional supplement for human as well as for our pets. Modern science has recently become more informed of the various turmeric health benefits.
As the dog’s age, they can have arthritis and other degenerative joint diseases. Turmeric can help prevent joint issues, ease the pain, increase joint mobility, and may even be an anti-cancer. This is excellent news for people who have cancer prone dog breeds such as boxers and golden retrievers.
4. Fish oil
Most of us don’t get enough Omega-3 fatty acids. The same can be said for our four-footed friends. Adding fish oil to your dog’s food will replenish your dogs omega-3 stores, resulting in better skin, better joints, and better heart health.
5. Coconut oil
Another best supplement to consider in your dog food is coconut oil. Coconut oil acts much the same way as fish oil regarding skin and coat health, and may also work to reduce allergens experienced by your pet. If you have a large dog that chews through anything, letting him destroy a coconut in the backyard (it’s messy!) can be a fun way to let him get a dose of coconut and play all at the same time.
6. Type of food
You may know that the ingredients matter to your dog’s health, but did you know what kind of food makes a difference as well? One important dog diet fact is that dry food is perhaps the least healthy for your pet, due to how it is made. The high temperatures used to cook it can remove much of the nutritional value, and also stress your dog’s kidneys with its abnormal dryness.
The best dog food is canned food. Canned food is superior due to its moisture content and lower cooking temperatures, and a balanced, fresh food diet is best of all.
7. Check treat labels too
We don’t often think about the quality of our pet’s treats, but they can be filled with the same problem ingredients as the food itself. Great gifts include single ingredient freeze dried treats or even plain old boiled chicken diced into small pieces. Avoid, and other biscuit-style treats, as many of them don’t have quality ingredients.
Can’t afford to add anything in your dog food besides kibble? Just add water. As much as we love our pets, we can’t always afford to feed them something different. If this is the case, there’s no need to beat yourself up. Instead, you can work to improve the food you are currently feeding. Kibble can be enhanced easily simply by adding water. The moisture content will give your dog’s kidney’s a break, and give your dog many of the benefits of canned food.
8. Portion size!
Obesity isn’t just a human epidemic. Many dogs suffer from the effects of weight problems, including heart disease, and diabetes. Keeping your dog slim and trim can add years to his lifespan, and all you have to do is put a little less in his food bowl each day.
9. Consider a raw food diet
Probably a raw diet for dogs is the best dog food plan you can consider. The oldest dog in the world lived to be over 30 years old with the help of a raw food diet. Many other dogs have attained extreme old age thanks to raw and home cooked diets. So, considering a raw food dog’s diet can be a healthy choice. While it can be tricky to achieve a proper balance with homemade meals, the health benefits are genuine. Some benefits of a raw diet for dogs is:
- Shinier coat
- Healthier skin
- Cleaner teeth
- More energy
- Smaller stool
10. Fresh food toppers
Choosing fresh food is the best dog food diet. Fresh food is by far the best way to feed your dog, but it isn’t always financially possible. Luckily you can get many of the same benefits by adding fresh food toppers to your dog’s plate. Fresh vegetables such as lightly cooked spinach or carrots can have powerful anti-cancer properties on your pet and are also incredibly healthy for their waistline.
11. Home cooking? Make sure it is balanced
Home cooked meals are a great option for your pet, but if it isn’t properly balanced, it can also be the unhealthiest choice out there. Most people neglect calcium and other essential minerals when creating meals. If you have always wanted to cook for your pet but are afraid of making a mistake, you can always get a cookbook created by a board-certified nutritionist, and follow the recipes.
Your dog will benefit significantly from homemade dog food and you can relax knowing they have all the nutrition your dog needs.
12. No plastics, please
Choosing the best dog food not always enough for your dog health. Your dog’s food bowl is an essential part of meal time too. Avoid plastic food and water bowls, because they can leach chemicals into your dog’s food. Stainless steel or porcelain are both ideal options, and as a bonus switching may help reduce tear stains in your pets.
13. Eating outside? Think about pesticides
If you’ve ever given your dog a messy treat, the easiest way to let them have it is outside. This is ordinarily a great way to make your dog have a bone and save your couch, but you need to think about pesticides too. That weed and feed you put down the week before may make your lawn look great, but it may not be so healthy for dog’s diet.
14. Enrichment, food can be about the mind too
Most dogs have one job—to be our friends. While that job is a vital one for our wellbeing, it can leave certain breeds of dog who were bred for intense work such as hunting or herding extremely bored. Luckily you can enhance their health, reduce destructive tendencies, and get the feeding chores done all at the same time through enrichment activities.
Canine enrichment is the use of puzzles to make food more entertaining for your pet. It can be as simple as tossing your dog’s kibble onto the lawn, so he has to sniff to find it, or as complex as a kong or other puzzle toy purchased for that purpose.
15. Dental care for optimum eating
This one is seldom thought of, but it is no less critical. While your dog’s teeth and gums don’t absorb the nutrition your dog needs, they can significantly impact your dog’s eating and health. Dogs can die from poor oral hygiene, and it is, unfortunately, one of the most neglected parts of a dog’s care. Keep your dog healthy by getting them cleaned regularly at the vets, and brushing teeth frequently between visits.
No one can put a price on the relationship we have with our pets. Whether you home cook your dog’s foods entirely or give your pet his kibble with a healthy dose of love, what goes into your dog’s nutrition is important. You can extend your dog’s life and help reduce the risk of health issues, just by taking these 15 tips to choose the best dog food to improve dog diet.
