Have you ever stood in a pet food store staring at the rows and rows of dog food? Makes you wonder how most pet parents come to choose a high-quality, nutritious dog food. So before you get overwhelmed over when to switch your puppy to adult dog food or whether to feed your dog wet or dry dog food, we have a collection of helpful tips for choosing the best, quality dog food for your furry best friend:
1. Puppy or adult dog food?
Small and medium breeds of dogs are only puppies until they reach one-year of age. While larger breed canines can remain puppies until 18- to 24 months of age, due to the fact that they mature slower and may not reach full maturity until 2-years of age. If you’ve rescued a dog, weight will also be a good indicator or age. Talk to your vet about when it’s time to switch from puppy food to dog food. It’s important to match food with the age progression of your dog as growing puppies require very different calories and nutrients (i.e., more protein and fats or DHA) compared to adult dogs.
2. Check ingredients
In addition to asking your vet, doing your own research as a dog owner is important to ensure your doggy is getting the proper caloric intake and ingredients. First, portion your dog’s meals based on weight, and stick to consistent meal portions and times. Avoid dog foods that contain excess sugar, fats, carbohydrates, and salt as junk food can lead to weight issues, and arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease.
3. Health issues
As your dog ages, he or she may be prone to certain health conditions that demand a specialized diet. Diabetes, kidney or liver issues, heart disease, arthritis, and food allergies may all call for a change in food. Your veterinarian can help you establish a safe and satisfying diet that aligns with your dog’s size, age, and health needs. Changing a dog’s diet will entail you gradually mixing the new food in with the old food until your dog is used to the new food (and has no digestive issues).
4. Over-eating
I know that your dog is the cutest dog (look at him beg for food), yet the urge to overfeed is often mistaken for love. Several health conditions can result from overfeeding (i.e., obesity, diabetes, heart disease) which is why it’s important to establish set meal times and portions and to not feed outside of this schedule. Also, while exercise is important, ensure your dog has time to fully digest a meal before any strenuous activity, which may trigger bloat (or gastric dilation-volvulus), a sometimes fatal condition.
