Does it matter what kind of dog food you get for your pet. I get that some food do not hold much nutritional value and all that but does it really extend your pet's life but a great amount?
Actually, the type of dog food you feed your dog does matter. Iams is the best, according to our veterinarian. If your dog eats a cheaper brand, he or she may be more vulnerable to all kinds of illnesses.
Feeding your dog well is a good way to protect your pet and extend your pet's life.
Yes, It does matter. If you are not feeding your dog with proper nutrition or other necessary foods will effect on your dog's health. There are so many variety of foods for dogs according to their breed, I suggest you consult with the Vet in your area and they will help you more.
Dog food choice is incredibly important if you want to be able to make an educated decision when choosing what kind of food to feed your dog. I wish I could agree that Iams was the best dog food out there. I would save so much money! Unfortunately this is NOT true. Don't take the advice of friends and family or even your vet. Check this information out for yourself. It is totally unbiased and completely reliable.
I think most pet owners would croak if the knew of the dog food ratings list. No more discount and grocery store dog foods for me. I opted for better choices after flipping over endless bags and searching for ingredients that were actually healthy for my dogs. I wish I could indeed afford the best but just like most people, I can't. I can however get a better food than what I am feeding.
Below is a link with a wonderful yet exhaustive list of rated pet foods. Guess what? If you do not see your pet food on the list then it is so bad that they didn't even list it.
I have been told my uncle (who is a professional dog breeder) to feed your dog with as much natural, preservative and chemical free food as you can. He told me you should treat your dogs diet like a healthy diet you would advise a human to eat.
The main things are checking all the ingredients in the store bought food and to look for human grade ingredients. The best thing would be to prepare food at home and using a ratio of 40% protein, 30% grains, 30% vegetables and of course added oils.
Your dog will be much healthier, happier and long lived
I believe that it does matter. Just like with humans, what you eat can affect your health. You have to think back 30 years or so when there was very little choice on the market. If your dog lived to be 8 years old, that was considered a good long life. Today 12 to 14 years old isn't that far fetched for a large dog (smaller breeds can live even longer).
You can attribute some of it to improved medical care. But, I believe improved dog food has made a big difference. If not for the longevity, then for the quality of life.
Case in point, my sister's dog has epileptic seizures. She is on medication. About 3 years ago, they switched her dog food. Then, 2-3 months later the dog began having cluster seizures after not having any for a year or more. The doctor tried moderating her medication, but it didn't help. They focused on the dog food and found that one nutrient (I'm guessing, but I think it was protein) was too high for a dog with seizures. When they switched her to a food that had a lower amount, the seizures went away.
Also, my brother's dogs who were on one of the Purina varieties. They all broke out with horrible bumps. It took awhile to realize it wasn't something in the environment, but it was the dog food. They switched to a better brand and the problem went away.
I always remember when my first dog was on Science Diet. It made her produce so much stool. I talked to the vet about it and she thought it was way too many times a day. I switched her to a Nature's Recipe variety and she had more normal stool production.
I know that cost is an issue for many. I think it can be worth it to do the research and try to get the best quality dog food that you can afford. It may save you hassles and medical bill costs.
Iams is NOT the best out there just many of the other insanely expensive "natural" foods. Just like with human foods, READ THE LABEL. If grain or some type of "meal" is the first ingredient it's not "the best". The first ingredient should be some type of protein.
Dogs, like humans, CAN live on unhealthy food, but that doesn't mean it's best for them. Also, wet food has a far lower fat content that dry food. I was surprised when I learned this., but it's true. Try feeding him a wet and dry combination. This is really important when they get older, the wet food helps keep the bowels working easily.
Also, for treats give them NATURAL human food nothing processed. My guy loves carrots, apples and sugar snap peas as much as he loves a good piece of chicken. Again, plain, no sauces or condiments.
Yes, dog food really matters. You need to feed your dog proper nutrition and other necessary foods because if you do not, it will effect your dog's health in the long run. There is a huge variety of dog food that is according to their breed. It's best though to consult your Vet before choosing what brand of food to get.
Yes! Many dogs have food allergies and digestive problems. Majority of dogs skin and health problems are due to poor food quality or allergies. Did you know a lack of zinc in your dogs diet can cause a disease that makes their nose and paw pads grow thick hair like things? It is not cureable and you have to shave or cut off the hair like growths and moisturize the affected areas. Once I changed my dogs food to an all natural food with no grains or corn her health problems went away completely. Her coat became so shiny and soft it reduced the number of baths I had to give her and her breathe did not smell. Rachel Ray makes a cheap but healthy food that only has 6 ingredients. Blue Buffalo or Call of the Wild are also great. Grain and corn to dogs is equivelent to MSG for humans. It causes them to feel full only for a short time. Once you switch to a better food you won't be feeding them near as much, thus the higher price you are paying will be almost equal to the cheaper food as you won't have to feed them near as much.
I agree. Dog food really does matter, and since I consider my dogs my fury kids, I think they deserve the best. If I'm eating well, they're going to eat well too! I have a high maintenance dog that requires good quality dog food because of his allergies. It's expensive, but has helped him tremendously. If you look at the big picture, we as humans probably spend more than $100.00/month of food, right.....so why not spend that on our animals! My "boys" if you will, deserve the best!
I also agree that it is important to buy a good quality dog food for your dog. Just because it is expensive does not mean that it is necessarily better, and veterinarians are paid to sponsor certain dog foods, like Iams. They provide benefits for the vets who are learning about veterinary medicine in college, and then when they start their own practice, they also feature Iam's dog food.
Some dogs are much more sensitive to what they eat then other dogs are, and can seem to do all right with even the cheaper brands, but they would still be better off with a higher quality of dog food. It is kind of like it is with people. Some people seem to eat mostly junk food and still are fine, others need that high quality diet to bee healthy.
One very important thing with dog food is to check the ingredients, and look for added healthy foods and vitamins, like flax seed, beet pulp, and other nourishing supplements; and avoid any food that lists corn as a main ingredient.
I use to live right next to an Iams factory. It stunk to high heavens but it was a pretty cool place, I went there on a field trip once. Dogfood -is- pretty important, just like what we eat is essential to our own health. No reasons to believe animals aren't the same (well, we are animals too)
High quality food is important no matter how many legs you may happen to have. Read labels, read read read. No matter what you choose, learn something about your dog's anatomy, physiology, and nutrition. Choosing a good food will go a *long* way with health, *and* so called allergies. There is more than one quality food out there.
We have ours right now on a grain free. It is not surprising that dogs don't do well on grain. They really weren't 'made' to. I won't get into names of foods here, this can be a controversial topic.
We did actually feed raw years ago. It saved a life of one of our dobies. That is something too, to research. It is called B.A.R.F. Raw food is what dog's bodies are 'made' for, although dogs as a species have adapted to how we feed them.
Feeding well does take research, and a 'mindset' or perspective to do so. I have thought holistically for a long time. I am excited to see the general awareness step up and start to notice.
Yes dog food does make a difference on what kind you feed. They say to read the lables on the ingredients. If the first on the list is By-Products forget that kind. You want Protien at the top of the list.
I thought my little dog was having an allergic reaction to her food. She was getting some kind of a rash. I decided to change foods, so I went to Walmart to see if they had Blue Buffalo brand dog food~ it is suppose to be one of the best. They did not carry that brand, so I started reading lables. There was a lady there checking out their dog products. I started talking to her and told her what I was looking for. She happened to own a small pet store.
She told me that on the ingredients list if it said By Product first to stay away from it, as the By Products could be something like a sick dog that had died, and was thrown in the vat flee collar and all.
She said stay away from the dog foods that they advertise alot. As the more money they spend on advertisement the less they spend on quality.
Absolutely! The food you feed your dog matters greatly!
Just like it matters what you put into your body it matters what you put into your pets body. Unlike ourselves, dogs tend to not get a choice in the food they get in their bowl. It is up to you to make sure you are feeding your dog food that will help them be healthy and happy.
Ingredients like Corn Meal get make the food quality lower and more comparable to human fast food. In addition, coloring agents that are added can harm your pets.
There are many ways to research which ingredient you should be on the look out for if you search "Dog Food Ingredients."
The type of food that you feed your dog does matter. I know for Saints, you have to feed them something high in protein. You always should read the label on the food to make sure that it is full of actual food and not fillers. It is also important to limit the amount of food you give your dog. I would recommend just doing your research and making sure you have the best food for your dog.
To add to my post above, this is just reinforcement on quality dog food being beneficial. My yellow laborador has allergies and some months are worse than others. This summer has been pretty hard on him, so we switched to a better allergy type sensitive dog food and it has helped a lot!
We have to buy special dog food from our vet because one of our dogs develops bladder stones when he eats regular food. He's already had to go through a surgery to remove stones he couldn't pass and I certainly don't want him to have to go through that again, so the prescription food is our only option. I just wish it weren't so expensive!
RE: Does dog food really matter so much?