That old adage, ‘You are what you eat’, also applies to our pets, especially our dogs. There should be no doubt that just as you benefit from a healthy diet, so too does your dog. Consequently, ensuring that your dog gets the very best dog food on the market, dog food that meets its dietary requirements, is of the utmost importance.
Veterinary experts’ understanding of the diets that dogs need has changed significantly over the years, and you may be quite surprised as to what the leading dog dieticians now recommend is included in high amounts in a dog’s diet – fish.
That’s right, it’s recommended that dogs eat more fish than they do other meat proteins. This is because fish is not only high in Omega 3, which is important for brain and eye development as well as skin and joint health, but it’s also much easier on their digestive systems. What’s more, it’s also lower in calories which is important for domesticated animals who don’t receive as much exercise as they should.
How to Choose Healthy Dog Food
Feeding your dog top quality dog food is essential if your dog is to get a good, balanced diet that meets all its dietary requirements. The best dog food is therefore healthy dog food, so take note of the following tips to choose a top quality, healthy dog food for your beloved canine.
Select Breed Appropriate Foods
The food you feed your dog needs to be appropriate for its breed. This is something we tend to overlook as pet owners, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Small dogs have different dietary requirements to large dogs and vice versa.
Whilst you won’t find dog foods designed specifically for a particular breed, what you will find when looking for a quality dog food for your beloved pet are dog foods labelled ‘Big’, ‘Small’, ‘Large Bite’, ‘Small Bite’, etc. By looking for labels like these, you’ll find it easier to source and select a breed appropriate dog food for your pooch.
Meat and Protein Source
Dogs are carnivores so they need plenty of meat in their diets to keep them happy and strong, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that all meat sources are equal, because that simply isn’t true. Not at all, for in fact some are far better than others.
Dog foods with unidentified sources of meat, like ‘poultry’ or ‘animal’, should be avoided in favour of dog foods that list the sources of the meat, like ‘chicken’, ‘lamb’, or even better, ‘fish’. As mentioned earlier, veterinary dieticians have realised that fish is the best source of meat protein for the dietary requirements of dogs.
This is because of the high vitamin and mineral content in fish, its low fat content and its less dense muscle fibre. This improves the stomach health of dogs because there’s less undigested food in their stomachs to provide a food source for bacteria.
Time to include more fish in your dog’s diet!
