If you are searching for quality dog food, it shows that you value your canine companion and want to provide them with nutritious food that offers good value.
Nowadays it is difficult to find someone who does not like these adorable animals, they have become an essential part of the lives of many, since they would do anything for their master, without asking for anything in return.
Here we had selected some of the best dog foods that are present below.
- REAL CHICKEN FIRST: Blue Buffalo's premium dog food features high quality deboned chicken as the primary ingredient; brown rice, cranberries and vegetables for a balanced diet; and high quality protein that promotes strong muscles
- HIGH QUALITY NATURAL FOOD: BLUE's natural dry dog food is made with premium ingredients and contains no chicken or poultry by-products, corn, wheat or soy
- THE PERFECT BALANCE OF FLAVOR AND NUTRITION: Formulated with essential proteins and carbs for energy needs and Omega-3 & 6 fatty acids to promote healthy skin and coat
- Great Tasting: Pedigree Complete Nutrition, Adult Dry Dog Food, Roasted Chicken & Vegetable Flavor is a great-tasting dry dog food recipe with whole grains, protein, and accents of vegetables.
- Quality Nutrition: This dry dog food recipe is made with 36 vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to support your dog’s health and vitality.
- Complete and Balanced: Pedigree Complete Nutrition Adult Dry Dog Food, Roasted Chicken & Vegetable Flavor is 100% complete and balanced food for adult dogs, bringing a nutritious meal to your pet.
- Hard kibble dog food combined with tender, shredded pieces for taste and texture dogs love
- High protein dog food formula, with real chicken as the first ingredient
- Dry dog food fortified with guaranteed live probiotics for digestive and immune health
- Beneful IncrediBites variety pack made with real beef, chicken or salmon and real vegetables you can see formulated specifically for small dogs
- High protein dog food helps support strong muscles and contains no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives
- Small, tender bites are perfect for small mouths, and a flavorful gravy adds the finishing touch to this small adult dog food
- REAL CHICKEN FIRST: This Blue Buffalo dry dog food is made with real, high quality chicken as the #1 ingredient
- HIGH QUALITY NATURAL FOOD: BLUE's natural dry dog food is made with premium ingredients and contains no chicken or poultry by-products, corn, wheat or soy
- SUPPORTS HIGHER SMALL BREED ENERGY LEVELS: Contains essential proteins and carbs to support higher energy requirements of small breed dogs
- CONTAINS A VARIETY PACK OF TWELVE (12) 13.2 OZ. CANS of PEDIGREE CHOICE CUTS IN GRAVY Adult Canned Soft Wet Dog Food with Beef and Country Stew
- MADE WITH REAL BEEF for a taste your dog will love without any added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial flavors
- BALANCED RECIPE FOR ADULT DOGS that offers a nutritious, soft wet dog food for dogs of all sizes!
- Real Meat is the #1 Ingredient: With real meat as the #1 ingredient, Classic Loaf in Sauce complements any dry food or stands alone as a tasty meal
- Made in the USA with the finest ingredients from around the world
- Quality Recipe: Contains no fillers, no artificial flavors, and is formulated without grains* (Trace amounts may be present due to cross-contact during manufacturing)
- SALMON IS THE FIRST ANIMAL PROTEIN SOURCE providing essential protein and amino acids to help maintain strong muscles; Sweet Potatoes are included as a grain-free source of fiber to help support digestive health; Contains (1) 24-Pound Bag
- WITH SENSITIVE PETS IN MIND we’ve carefully chosen a simplified list of premium ingredients to help support a healthy coat, skin & digestive system; made with limited animal protein source, and no added grain, soy, gluten, or artificial colors or flavors
- NUTRIENTS FROM OUR SALMON & SWEET POTATO RECIPE crafted with nutritious ingredients such as sweet potatoes and flaxseed; Complete and balanced with essential nutrients to help maintain your dog's healthy immune system
- Perfect Balance of Taste and Nutrition: A nutritionally complete and balanced meal made with tender pieces that are easy to chew and crunchy kibble that brings big flavor to every bowl
- Supports Small Dog Health: This product contains 26 essential nutrients that support small breed health, creating happy and healthy dogs
- Prevent Plaque Buildup: CESAR Small Breed Dry Dog Food Filet Mignon Flavor and Spring Vegetables Garnish contains a blend of crunchy pieces, which help prevent plaque buildup
- Nutrient-dense bite-sized kibble and small tender, shredded pieces for a taste and texture dogs love
- High protein formula with real chicken as the first ingredient
- Fortified with guaranteed live probiotics to support digestive and immune health
- 100 percent complete and balanced adult dog food pouch
- Purina Moist and Meaty dog food made with real beef
- Moist dog food in convenient individual pouches for quick, no-mess meals
Things to Consider Before Buying Dog Foods
The time has come to answer the most common questions among dog owners. We will clarify the most frequent doubts, offering you adequate advice and explaining everything you need to know in order to properly feed your pet. Doing so will not only make him happier but also increase his life expectancy.
Dry or Wet Food?
The first typical dilemma of a dog owner: better dry food (the classic croquettes) or better-wet food? There is no absolute right answer since each typology offers advantages and disadvantages.
In this guide, we have favoured dry feed, but we must not misunderstand: wet jelly in the cans usually contains more fat (the “good” ones) and more water, not to mention the fact that many furry friends like it more.
On the contrary, dry food makes the owners happier, because it is much more convenient to dose and store, so a large supply can be made (with consequent savings) without problems.
From the food point of view, the crunchies perform an additional task which is that of “cleaning” the teeth, an operation once carried out by the bones and connective tissues of live prey.
Probably, there is no absolute best dog food, because each animal has different needs, based on age, size, weight, but also on lifestyle habits, which can relate to the physical activity carried out every day with you.
There are also specific food allergies, although veterinarians warn us that they are still statistically rather rare. On the other hand, single-protein foods are now widespread, supplemented with properly treated fibres and all the essential vitamins that can meet this need.
Complete Food
In our guide to choosing the best dog food, we excluded any type of supplement and only reviewed complete foods. This wording must be clear on the box or on the package you are about to buy.
The food supply for animals is so vast and diverse that it is misleading. The labels are usually quite clear and are a good starting point for deciding Fido’s meal. Only complete food guarantees a balanced diet suitable to be offered every day, even exclusively.
What does complete mean? Dry food almost always lacks healthy fats by its nature, and therefore we must pay attention to the percentages indicated by the manufacturer.
Dogs need protein above all, but also the right amount of vitamins, fibre, calories and minerals. Calories should come, at least 35%, from animal protein.
On this front, the European and Italian rules are quite strict. The animals used for the so-called pet food, that is, end up in the bowls of dogs and cats, must receive the certification of the national veterinary service, just as it happens for the meats intended for our dishes.
The Problem of Cereals
Some owners, however, are particularly annoyed by the cereal flour that is almost inevitably found in the croquettes. It is, in fact, the most used product to optimize the processing and mixing of dry food. Rice, wheat, but above all corn are used, which mixes with the other ingredients so that they are mixed at high temperatures.
The discussion around these food “tracks” is often very lively. The opinions of animal nutrition experts, however, seem to converge around the idea that carbohydrates are well tolerated by the dog and, according to many, even useful for feeding, provided that they are properly treated and introduced in the right percentage.
How to Administer Dog Food?
Once you’ve decided which dog food to buy, it’s a matter of offering it to our furry friend in the right ways and times. We have therefore collected some tips, borrowed from the leading experts on the subject, to guarantee dogs proper nutrition according to age and lifestyle.
As mentioned, in this guide we focused on medium-sized feed, which is the one that collects the largest number of breed, half-breed, but it is a category under whose umbrella there is a French bouledogue as well as a border collie.
Daily Doses and Meals
It is not idle to ask how many meals to give to your dog each day, nor to set schedules. Among the experts and owners, the habit of distributing food at least twice (if not three) during the day has emerged.
It seems that a single meal produces too much waiting for the animal, which will pounce on the bowl with excessive voracity, thus exposing itself to risks for digestion.
If it is a question of dogs that carry out intense physical activity, or of large size, the number of meals must accompany the hours of effort and the consumption of calories, spreading throughout the day. Except for specific needs, the times may tend to coincide with those of our lunch and dinner.
Educators recommend, in some cases, to have the dog eat after you, to establish the right hierarchies even in this ritual. In this regard, it is good to remember that the master’s dominance is not to the detriment of the dog, accustomed to a hierarchical scale in the flocks.
Rather serves to guarantee a correct animal-owner relationship and allows you to walk, receive guests, do activities together without risky behaviour for humans, dogs and the surrounding community.
The evening meal, however, would be better if it didn’t take place too late, and possibly no later than seven in the evening. Immediately after food, it is better not to subject the dog to too intense physical activity.
Puppies need special care: they must also eat 3/4 times a day and with higher protein intake. For the little ones, who can already run outdoors because they are covered by vaccinations, the advice is to take them for a walk immediately after the meal, because they learn faster to associate the walk with the necessary expulsion of the stool.
The Magicians of The Stove
Perhaps for ancestral reasons, there are many owners (but also owners) of dogs who love to dedicate themselves personally to the preparation of the meal. It is a gesture of love that can also give excellent satisfaction, as long as the stakes are well-considered.
The great love for our dog does not make us, ipso facto, the best experts on its nutrition and dietary needs, related to the breed, age, size and attitude to movement and calorie consumption. We need to evaluate how much time and money we are willing to invest.
The canned feed is on average of good quality, even the one that is most easily found in supermarkets, and certainly, it is always the most practical and convenient choice from an economic point of view.
We speak, of course, of animals with normal food needs: diabetic dogs, with kidney problems or specific gastrointestinal pathologies, must be monitored by the veterinarian, who is responsible for choosing the most suitable feed.
The comparison between the packs on the market has allowed us to identify many offers, which ensure large stocks and substantial savings.
The Internet could be the best place to buy, “taking advantage” of a courier who takes care of the weight and delivers two or three bags of 15 or even 18 kg of crunchies, easily stored thanks to the “hermetic” closure systems.
Diet Varies
Nothing prevents you from alternating the dry to the boxes of wet food, or even to combine them in the bowl. The menu available to dogs, for almost all brands, seems to be able to satisfy any taste and need, but be careful.
Dogs don’t feel the need to vary serving dishes like spoiled western humans. They do not feel the weight of a monotonous diet as happens to us, for example, in the hospital.
We, therefore, do not make the mistake of projecting typically human habits onto the animal, with the risk, often, of causing harm rather than an advantage. Frequent and sudden changes in food quality can even induce some gastrointestinal problems.
It is not necessary to dramatize, but in general, it is not a good habit to destabilize the bowl of Fido to always chase the new product or the provisionally cheaper one. A healthy routine is welcome by our furry friend: season your meal with some of your caresses and compliments, and you will be more than satisfied.
How to Choose Dog Food?
The moment of truth has come: what do you have to keep in mind when buying dog food? We will show you some criteria to remember so that you don’t get confused because of too many products, ingredients and brands.
Feeding your dog correctly is certainly not easy, but if you really care about his health, after reading this section, you will know how to choose the best product for this purpose.
Here we also shared a video guide about how to choose the best dog food which suits your dog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKtBo0BzWvc
Basic Ingredients
Whenever you buy dog food, the first thing you need to check is the list of ingredients. You should know that this is crucial for the health of your pet since the composition of the croquettes directly affects its state of health, both physical and mental.
The following list shows a series of nutrients, sorted according to the percentage usually present in the feed.
Protein
They are a basic component in the dog’s diet (they bring benefits to the muscles, bones and the immune system) so the food you choose must contain a high percentage. In the same way, we can make a classification with the different types of meat proteins.
Lamb: It is among the most palatable foods for dogs, since its caloric and protein intake is very high. Offering your pet a feed containing lamb causes the stool to become more consistent (especially if it is an animal with a tendency to have digestive problems).
Reinforcement of Defences
Dogs are not made of steel. Sometimes they get sick, therefore, as for men, it is always better to be safe than sorry. If you want to avoid health problems for your pet, you will have to choose a dog food that provides them with protection.
The immune system defends against bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. If these defences don’t do their job, there may be a particular reason behind it.
Abrupt changes in temperature, prolonged stress, contamination or nutritional deficiency could be the cause of a weakening of the dog’s defences.
In addition to the vitamins mentioned above, the proper nutrients to solve this problem are Omega 3, taurine and lutein. This set of nutrients prevents the excessive release of free radicals.
Prebiotics
They are fibres of vegetable origin that are not digested by the small intestine and that encourage the growth of bacteria useful for your dog’s large intestine. They are in fact natural food for probiotics (which are bacteria that live in the digestive tract).
Unlike these, prebiotics is not alive, so they can resist sudden changes in temperatures. So instead of giving him probiotics that may not always be suitable.
You will give him nourishment for the bacteria already present in his intestinal microbiota and among other things, he will have a benefit in regulating the hormone level. Prebiotics also reduce inflammation, in addition to increasing the absorption of nutrients useful to your dog’s body.
