How do I choose the best dog food? 🍖

Amir and Jordan are looking to buy a puppy to add to their family. To prepare, they begin their research and discover that the dog food aisle alone can be overstimulating!

Finding yourself in a similar situation? Don't stress! Narrowing down your options will help lessen this overstimulation at the store and build confidence in your decisions.

💡 Kibble refers to hard food pellets packed with proteins, vitamins, preservatives, and more. The kibble industry is HUGE which means you have lots of great (and not-so-great) options!

Benefits of high-quality kibble

• Refrigeration not needed

• Easier for travel

• Takes longer to expire

💡 Raw diets on the other hand are historically what dogs ate. After the Industrial Revolution, raw diets declined in popularity but more owners are returning to the more natural route. This involves feeding your dog a diet that best models that of whole prey (meats, organs, bone, etc).

Benefits of a high-quality Raw diet

• Lots of balanced and pre-packaged options available and the option to do-it-yourself for experienced owners

• Organic and natural

• Produces less smelly and smaller poops

Just like in human food, packaging companies put the heaviest ingredients at the top of the list. Take a look at some ingredients to aim for and avoid below.

Aim for:

• First 3-5 Ingredients are ones you can pronounce or are familiar with

• Vitamins

• Natural oils

• Omega fatty acids

• Low-carb foods to avoid bloating in dog's gut

• Real meat —named byproduct meals (Ex: turkey byproduct meal) are not as good but are acceptable

Avoid:

• Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) , butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) & ethoxyquin

• These are cancerous preservatives banned in places like the EU, Japan, Romania, Sweden & Australia

• Generic byproduct meal (Ex: meat and bone Meal)

• Added sugars (sucrose)

Amir and Jordan now have some very basic guidelines to help them pick their new dog's food. As they enter the store, they're presented with many options.

Help them decide which option to get!

To hear a description of the text in the above poster, click the play button in the audio file below.

By this point, you may have found the right food needed for your dog! You're done right?

Nope!

💡 Now you need to rotate your dog's foods — if the food is chicken based, the next time you buy a kibble bag or raw food, select a different protein such as:

• beef

• pork

• lamb

• goat

• turkey

This diversifies the enzymes and gut bacteria needed in your dog's gut to keep them healthy and strong. Plus this aids in preventing food sensitivities for your dog.

Besides, how would you feel eating the same protein for every meal every day?