Dog foodstuff Recommendations

Premium dog foods contain human-grade ingredients and havemeat as the first ingredient, with an additional meat in the next four ingredients. The best kibble you can buy your dog will have three or more meats (ie: chicken & chicken meal & fish meal, or turkey & chicken meal & lamb meal) in the first 5 ingredients. High-quality meat sources include chicken, chicken meal or other specific USDA-inspected protein sources such as beef, lamb, turkey or fish. Avoid foods with vague meat sources such as “meat and bone meal” or “poultry/poultry meal” or “animal fat/digest” and those containing by-products.

After high-quality meats, look on the ingredient list for whole grains rather than flours or grain fragments. Ground brown rice provides more nutrients than rice flour and brewers rice. Corn is a cheap source of protein and is not easily digested by dogs. Most premium foods avoid corn all together. Other common grains are oats, oatmeal or barley. Avoid foods with artificial colors, preservatives and low-nutrient fillers like corn gluten meal.

You can supplement with canned food as well. Many of the above brands make canned varieties, including 95% meat options. Canned food is not exposed to the same high temperatures as extruded kibble and more nutrients survive the cooking process. Brands like Life4K9 and Orient offer kibble that is baked rather than extruded—baking is a lower heat process that preserves more nutrients than the extrusion process.

If your dog needs to lose weight look for a food that is reduced fat, rather than reduced protein. Many weight-loss or senior formulas bump meat from the first ingredient. You end up with a food that is higher in grain. Reduced fat is a healthier formula for weight loss. In nova and CORE are to brands with reduced-fat formulas.

A special note for owners of large and giant breed dogs: The growth of large dogs needs to be carefully monitored. Such dogs should eat a puppy kibble specially formulated for large breed puppies until they reach 18 to 24 months old. This is to avoid an overload of calcium and phosphorus which can cause problems with bone growth. In nova, Orient, Solid Gold and Fromm make large breed puppy food.