Are Premium Dog Foods Better For Your Dog?
Guinea Pigs Care Information
Premium dog foods are most certainly better than an economy dog food. But it's sometimes hard to figure out the difference between a premium dog food and the rest. Do you go by price alone? A lot of companies are betting on it. Does it say premium on the bag? What makes a premium dog food premium?
A true premium dog food has better quality ingredients. This means your dog will get more and better nutrients that he desperately needs. But don't be fooled by all the enticing bags in the market today. Don't be lured in by the beautiful pictures of fresh foods and advertising stating how your dog needs something in this dog food. The dog food ingredients list is what you need to find.
Look at the first 2 ingredients to see if you are purchasing a premium dog food. Economy dog foods use a lot of low quality grains and meat by-products. Premium dog foods list an animal meat as the first ingredient.
Grains: Premium dog foods will use better grains (rice, oats) than economy foods (corn, soy, wheat). Why are these better? Because your dog can digest and metabolize the nutrients from these grains better. Grains are top ingredients in the economy dog foods, not in premium ones.
Some grains, such as soy, wheat, and corn, are also common sources for food allergies in dogs.When utilized as by-products, such as corn wheat gluten, they are nothing more than cheap fillers. Their main purpose is to fill up your dog's stomach so that he feels full. It's kind of like human junk food - fill your tummy with no nutrition.
Meat by-products are not a top 2 dog food ingredient in premium dog foods. Meat by-products are the slaughtered meat carcass parts that are left over after all the usable meat has been removed - like bones, necks, intestines, etc.
Again, like cheap grain by-products, meat by-products are just not an equal substitute for real animal meat for your dog. They are used to boost the protein percentages in the dog food and make pet owners feel like they are feeding their dogs animal meat.
Most premium dog food brands will have a animal meat or meat meal as the first ingredient. This means the major ingredient in the food is an actual animal protein which will have the most usable nutrients available for your dog.
What about price? Is that a good indicator of the type of dog food? Not really. Of course if you see a really cheaply priced dog food, it is probably an economy food. But just because the food is expensive, does not automatically mean it is a healthy, premium dog food. Again, you need to take a peek at the dog food ingredients list to really know what you are getting.
And now there are even more types of dog food, like organic and all-natural. To find out more about the different types of foods available for your dog and how to carefully choose the best premium dog foods for your particular pet at the Healthy Dog Food blog.
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