Deciding on the type of dog food you provide is one of the most important decisions you will ever make for your puppy or older dog. Dog food nutrition directly influences every aspect of your dog's life. Things like how puppies grow, their behavior habits, health, overall wellbeing and appearance are all closely connected to the nutrition we provide - it's a big responsibility.
With all the recent publicity and concern with the dog food recall of 2007 the spotlight has been aimed fairly and squarely at the big commercial dog food companies. Us dog lovers are finally becoming more aware and educated about providing wholesome, nutritionally balanced meals for our dogs. So where do we start in our search to find the best dog food? What are our options, and who can we trust or even believe?
Is "Premium Dog Food" the answer we've been searching for or "Natural Dog Food" or how about "Healthy Dog Food"? Maybe the best dog foods are "Holistic", "Organic" or even "Lite"? And then there's "Human Grade All Natural" - does anyone actually know what all these fancy terms mean? And what about "Raw Dog Food"? Is it what our dogs require, or is it dangerous? How about "Raw Meaty Bones"? Are bones safe? Maybe we have to prepare all of our dog's meals from scratch to ensure its quality and nutritional value?
Choosing the best dog food can be an overwhelming decision - but why does it have to be so hard? I know from personal experience it can be difficult to see through all of the conflicting views, hype, marketing tactics and secrecy surrounding the dog food industry. After years of experimenting with different dog foods and lots of research I have reached an unfortunate conclusion. I feel that the vast majority of the big commercial dog food companies are far more focussed on extracting the money from our pockets rather than the health and wellbeing of our precious dogs.
So when I set out to determine the best dog food available my main focus was always the health, vitality and longevity of my dogs - I want my dogs to thrive. I hope this article will help you to determine the very best dog food for your dogs and make your feeding decision clearer.
Some people actually do know what these terms mean, but you are right, for the general public it can be very confusing. Since we know that our pets are not protected and that so many companies had their foods recalled because of poisonous contaminants in the food. Many of the recalled brands were made by the same company.
Just like with our own food, it is important to read the ingredients, stay away from chemical additives, dyes and sugar and salt. If there are ingredients whose names you can't pronounce, look further.
There are some wonderful and ethical companies that make pure food for companion animals. The important thing is to read and educate yourself before making this very important decision about your companions long-term health. Look for companies that use only human consumption ingredients and organic. Look for the companies that are willing to speak to you directly about the health and well being of your pet. READ!
Stay away from canned and kibbled foods!
Choosing your pets foods are just as important to their health as choosing your food for your health.
I use only one company, Dr. Harvey's and that's because I trust their ingredients 100%. You can call them directly and you will always get a straight and
informed answer. I think people should know about this small and wonderful company and that is why I am sharing this information. i hope others will be as fortunate as I have been to find them and use their products with the utmost confidence. You can go to their website at www.drharveys.com