How to Pick Out Good Dog Food for Your Dog | Dog Food Tips

What is the best food for your dog congratulations on being a responsible dog owner who cares about your fur friend’s well-being in this article we are breaking down a dog’s daily nutritional needs how to read dog food label dietary supplement options and specialty diets for your dog after watching the article you should be confident and informative when selecting the best food for your dog if this is your first time here welcome to my channel where we share shiba inu training tips and tricks and also funny life with dogs articles subscribe to get all the tips you need to raise a happy dog all topics discussed are also listed in the description box with a timestamp so head down there and check out the section you’re most interested in without further ado let’s get right to it a dog’s nutritional need just like human there is a general guideline for dog’s daily nutritional needs recommendation whether you choose to make your dog’s food yourself or you buy dry food from a pet store your dog needs a balanced diet to stay healthy if dry food is all he eats think about the potential long-term impact of the food for his body try to get the highest quality food within your budget highest quality sounds vague and that’s why we will get into the label reading in details in just a second on a daily basis your dog needs protein fats carbohydrates vitamins minerals and water the daily intake recommendation will change as your dog goes through different life stages for a puppy in order to provide its rapid growth a puppy needs more calorie and nutritional dense food than adult dog senior dogs formula will also be different than adult dog choose the food that fits into your dog’s life stage to provide the adequate nutrient for him a puppy needs more protein fats and certain minerals to supply his rapid growth need for a dog dog typically protein consists about 25 of its daily intake and fat consists about 15 percent percentage will vary across different brands things protein and fat are the critical part of your dog’s daily nutritional need choosing a high quality protein source to ensure he gets the most out of each bag and make sure to always have fresh water available for him especially if you keep your dog outdoor and in warmer months dog’s body temperature is higher than human and it is important to let them have access to water all the time to keep them hydrated now let’s dive in to dog food label and how to read them correctly with literally hundreds of dog food options out there it can be overwhelming when you try to select the best one for your dog in this section i’m going to pick two popular adult dog food on amazon both have great ratings but with very different price when you look at price per pound and there are good reasons why their price differences when you actually look into the food ingredients list the first one i have here is a best seller based on amazon’s description just for disclaimer there is no sponsor whatsoever for this article so all information i presented are all things i look at when i select my dog’s food this bag is a 15 pounds in total and it’s about two dollar per pound with very good looking marketing and packaging on the bag to encourage you to buy keep scrolling down to find the ingredients list you can see that the first ingredient is the bone chicken with the ingredients list it is required to list the main most heavy ingredients first just like human’s food i typically look at at least the first five things that is listed here to ensure i know what are the main ingredients that i am feeding my dog on the screen we can see that there are de bone chicken chicken meal crown rice barley and oatmeal the list goes on and there are things on the list that i don’t know about but that’s okay because now you read the label and you know okay you’re feeding your dog chicken and some carbohydrates and you know exactly what those things are there are also listing guarantee analysis where it guarantee that each serving has at least 24 protein and 14 fat and so on so overall if your dog likes chicken this seems to be a solid option now let’s take a look at pedigree brand this is also a 15 pound chicken flavored bag but it is much cheaper this costs less than one dollar per pound compared to our previous blue buffalo brand two dollar per pound so almost half the price this one is also very popular and has over 10 000 ratings on amazon also with colorful packaging to entice you to buy let’s head down and take a look at the ingredients ground whole grain corn is the first ingredient following meat and bone meal corn gluten meal animal fat and so on so the first ingredient is actually corn and then it says meat and bone meal meat and bone meal by reading this label it doesn’t tell me exactly what kind of meat or bone is using to make the food it can be any meat and not specifically chicken like the package said if the meal is 100 made from a specific meat it will say chicken meal or for example turkey meal but here it says meat and bone meal this label makes me wonder are they using animal by-product or use sick or diseased poultry to make the food and just label it as meat and bone meal as a second ingredient there is no real natural food in this bag all the protein is mixed in a meal form where we don’t know where the source is coming from there are also added color to make it looks more vibrant not sure why dog cares about the color of the food so the added color likely is to appeal to human not the dog it is much cheaper than the first option and it is still popular among consumers for me if can only select between the two the choice is a no-brainer i will pick the blue buffalo for sure because the quality of the ingredient makes all the difference and i’m willing to pay the premium in exchange of a long healthy life for my dog always read the ingredients list carefully and make sure you know what the vendor is including in the food before you buy don’t get tricked by all the colorful packaging and other certifications on the package most of those are marketing gimmick and don’t mean anything about the quality of food itself always head down to the ingredients and read them before you buy now let’s talk about supplement dog supplement if your dog has a medical situation that it requires a specific supplement that is prescribed by your vet by all means please follow your vat’s opinion if you have a healthy dog and you’re thinking to enhance his overall health by providing him supplements i would go for natural food instead of any overpriced dog supplement that is on the market one common supplement you will see in the store is omega-3 it is good for dogs fur and skin and this is one of the fatty acids that your dog’s body cannot produce itself so he needs to rely on the external source in order to get your dog some more omega-3 fatty acid you can cook a slice of salmon for him once in a while or even if the human is having those fish oil sprinkle some on your dog’s food every other day to give him a boost of those fatty acids we sometimes also give jimmy dog friendly fruits and veggies to add a little natural mineral vitamin and fiber in his daily diet some dog friendly food includes carrots sweet potatoes blueberries strawberries bananas cucumbers if you’re not sure if a specific food is safe for your dog always check with a professional before you feed him any human food some food like chocolate raisin or avocado can be extremely dangerous for your dog specialty diet specialty diet includes food for pregnant dog senior formula larger breed small breed dog with sensitive stomach grain free food or limited ingredients food for dogs with allergies or food intolerances prescription diets and more if your dog is healthy and does not have major health issues select the regular food with label that includes name of the product is formulated to meet the nutritional levels is established by the aafco food nutrient profiles this means the product contains the proper amount of all recognized essential nutrients needed to meet the needs of a healthy animal the bottom line is more expensive food doesn’t necessarily means better but make sure you read the food ingredient list carefully before you buy if you are able to make your own food for your dog that would beat any store-bought dry food we still give jimmy dry food most of the time with occasionally supplement with some cooked meat or vegetables if you’re cooking food for your dog make sure you are providing all vital nutrients when you prepare his food