When you get a new dog, it can be stressful trying to work out what you’re going to feed it. You’re torn between going down the raw meat diet or trying a commercial dog food brand. In order to get the best dog food for your pet, its time to take heed of some advice included herewith.
For dogs to stay healthy, it is important to remember that they need a lot of fibre and protein. Generally, adult dogs need a diet that consists of 22-25% protein and 15-19% fat, although puppies, pregnant dogs, and active dogs will have different nutritional requirements.
If you choose to feed your dog a commercial based diet, it is very important to choose the best dog food around. You want to make sure that a good quality protein source such as lamb meal, chicken meal, or turkey meal is the number one ingredient. An important tip is to refrain from purchasing high grain foods as these will inevitably contain many preservatives.
Many people choose to feed their dogs raw food. You would expect to find eggs and offal as two main components of this diet. You’ll often find that this diet is very popular in America, but in the UK people tend to stick to commercial dog food brands.
Pros and Cons
The best dog food names on the market tend to come from heavily commercialised brands and thus they can be trusted that the products contain all the necessary ingredients to keep a dog healthy. The commercial dog food names are popular because they are easy to buy and serve, whereas obtaining raw food for your pet can be quite difficult.
Many people feel confident that their dog gets all the nutrients it needs from commercial dog food brands. They feel that people who feed raw food are depriving their dogs with essential nutrients.
On the other hand, those that swear by raw food for dogs will say that cooking packaged food kills the natural healthy parts that a dog needs.
Those that feel that commercial food is the way to go, claim that there is no difference between cooking the animal’s food and cooking human food. All of the nutrients are still active in cooked food providing healthy meals for animals.
Of course, as the pet owner, it is very much up to you which you decide to do, and it could be that you feel your pet deserves nothing less than the best dog food. You should also consult your veterinarian for his recommendation on diet.
