| Walk into your local grocer or pet food store and | | | | the first five ingredients, the better off the food will |
| you will be greeted by dozens of different dog food | | | | be for your dog or dogs. |
| brands, making it difficult for anyone to know which | | | | 3. When reading the ingredients list on the back of |
| type of dog food is best. Dog food comes in a | | | | your bag, pay attention to how many filler items |
| variety of different brands, styles, flavors, shapes | | | | have been included. Though filler items may be a |
| and colors. The bags are bright and colorful and | | | | perfectly normal part of the diet of a dog, they add |
| enticing, and nearly every brand out there boasts | | | | nothing to a dog's health, so if you are staring down |
| about their ability to provide your dog with the | | | | more than 2 or 3 fillers like wheat, rice or corn, the |
| complete nutrition solution. It is important for you to | | | | food you are considering probably has more filler than |
| put some consideration into what these dog food | | | | your dog really needs. |
| products are actually offering if you want to find the | | | | 4. Breed specific types of foods are excellent, but |
| best option for your beloved companion pet. | | | | only in certain circumstances. Make sure that if you |
| The following are some considerations for those | | | | are buying a breed specific type of dog food, that |
| choosing a dog food brand, flavor or style for your | | | | there is a good reason for it. These tend to be more |
| dog: | | | | expensive than others, so unless your dog has |
| 1. Choosing specialty dog foods from pet stores is | | | | specific issues that require a specialty food, you may |
| generally a much better choice than buying grocery | | | | be better off simply buying a generic breed form of |
| store or supermarket brands. While some grocery | | | | dog food. |
| store brand pet food is of decent quality, the brands | | | | 5. When you are buying dog foods, you need to |
| that are sold specifically at pet store locations, | | | | understand that the specialty high quality foods are |
| especially specialty pet stores, will typically be of a | | | | better choices for numerous reasons. One of the |
| much higher quality. | | | | most prevalent is the fact that while superior quality |
| 2. When you choose a brand that you believe will | | | | foods may be more expensive, you do not have to |
| deliver the right level of nutrition and quality, read the | | | | buy nearly as much. High quality dog foods digest |
| label on the back of the bag of dog food before you | | | | better and do not produce nearly the amount of |
| make a purchase. The first five ingredients are the | | | | "waste" that the grocery store brands produce. |
| most important. How many of them are meat | | | | Keep these things in mind and you should have no |
| sources? The first and second ingredients should be | | | | difficulty choosing the right dog food for your |
| meat sources, such as beef, turkey, chicken, lamb or | | | | companion. |
| pork. The more natural meat ingredients you find in | | | | |