Dog Food - Facts, Fiction and Everything in Between

Choosing The Best Dog Food

Browse any grocery store or pet food store to buy Dog Food and you will agree that trying to decide on what is best for your dog is an exhausting task. Scanning the shelves of products available, you are bombarded by foods extolling different health benefits as well as a huge range of prices. The pet food industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and pet food manufacturers are eagerly marketing for every dollar. Not only are they marketing us to death, but also developing new products to put in front of us. Those products include "dry", "canned", "semi-moist" and health targeted products such as "senior", "premium" and "gourmet.

So which food is best for your dog? Finding that out takes time and research. The truth is, the best dog food is the one that meets your dog's nutritional requirements, which vary based upon the dog's age, breed, body weight, genetics, and amount of activity... and one that fits within your budget. It is definitely worth consulting a veterinarian to get the best advice and nutrition plan for your dog. But for those of you that want to take matters in your own hands, you will find detailed below the most important things you will need to know.

Dog Food Labels

Susan Powter comes to mind when thinking about food labels. Remember this iconic infomercial star with the coined phrase "Stop the Insanity"? Her gospel about nutrition and the importance of studying the ingredients on the side of the packaging to distinguish the various elements and how each plays its role in overall nutrition, was novel at that time. It seems that this was the beginning of the mass movement to better nutrition, label reading and choosing products more carefully.