What's the best brand of dog food?

It would be impossible to compile a complete and comprehensive list, in order of quality, of the top dog foods that are available on the market. There are a number of reasons for this, the main one being that there are just so many hundreds of different brands out there, never mind all the different varieties within those brands. But also, don't forget that dogs are individuals. Lots of dog owners worry about choosing the “best” type of dog food, and it really would be a lot easier if someone could just come along and tell us, for once and for all, what is the one perfect food.

Unfortunately, it's not that easy! Every dog is unique, and what will work for one dog may not work at all for another. In simplest terms, an adult Chihuahua will need a completely different diet from a four-month-old Great Dane puppy, for obvious reasons. But there are all sorts of other factors to take into consideration, too. Like how active the dog is, for example, or even things like food allergies or medical conditions. You'll need to take everything into account and then search for a food that will suit your pet – regardless of how well that food worked for anyone else's dog!

 

It needn't be as daunting as it first appears, however. There are lots of reliable, high quality brands out there producing really good dog food in many different categories. Some tips are:

-Don't pick economy brands for the sake of saving money. This won't work, because not only will your dog be likely to be eating lots of unsuitable, controversial, or even harmful ingredients, these foods are almost always packed with “filler” ingredients which have practically no nutritional value at all. This means that even aside from any negative effects this might have on your dog's health, he'll also have to eat much larger quantities of it in order to get even close to the nutritional balance he'd get from a smaller portion of high quality food. In the long term, buying economy food simply works out more expensive, since you go through it much, much more quickly!

-Check the ingredients list on the packaging. There should be meat products near the top of these lists, which must by law show all the ingredients in order of weight. Meat products should form the basis of the food if it is high quality. Make sure that if the top meat product is shown inclusive of water content (which can be around 80%, meaning that the ingredient should rightfully be placed much lower on the list!), there are other meat products listed to make up the meat content. Also be aware of harmful or controversial ingredients, or ones that are just unnecessary, and avoid foods containing these.

-Choose a reliable brand name. There are lots and lots of these! They include Innova, Blue Buffalo, Solid Gold, and many more.

-Pick a food that you know to be formulated for your type of dog, in terms of size, age, activity level, medical conditions, or other important factors.

And finally, don't be afraid to try a food and then change to a different one if you see that it's not having the desired effect. Get advice from an expert or veterinarian before changing your dog's diet – changes should be made gradually and slowly so as not to upset your dog's diegestion. But there's certainly nothing wrong with trying out a few different foods before you decide on which one is right for your dog!

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Text copyright 2009 Dogfoodreviewsguide.com and may not be reproduced without consent. This is not the official web page of any of the products listed on this site, this is a review page created by an individual. This site is not written by a vet, and if you have special questions or questions about your dog's health, you should ask your veterinarian.