What Are The Top Ten Dog Foods

Faqs Regarding General Dog Nutrition

• What is the best vet recommended dog food? The truth is, there is no real consensus among vets on which food is the best. This is because all dogs are different and unique. There is no one catch-all formula that would be perfect for any dog. We would, therefore, recommend searching for a well-regarded food that is high in protein and fat, and that your dog likes the taste of!
• What foods should dogs avoid? There are more foods that dogs should avoid than could ever be listed here. Some common human foods that are poisonous to dogs are chocolate, caffeine, onions, garlic, and sweetcorn. Check with a veterinary website before you feed your dog anything that isn’t marketed as canine food.
• Is Grain Free Dog Food Really Better? Dogs have been found to have trouble digesting grains and therefore grain-free foods can help aid digestion. A grain-free diet for your dog will also mean that you are likely buying formulas with higher levels of vegetables, fiber, and proteins. This will help the development of your dog’s coat and skin, as well as provide your dog with more energy. A grain-free diet has however recently been linked to a small increase in canine heart disease.
• What dog foods are causing heart problems? The FDA has recently begun to investigate how grain-free canine formulas might increase the risk of canine heart disease. It’s still too early to come to any major conclusions, but we will keep an eye out on this story as it develops.

Why Is It Important To Check The Fiber Content In Dry Dog Food

Fiber is a crucial component of a dogs diet and it is important to ensure a certain amount of fiber in their daily meal. The presence of fiber improves stool, promotes weight maintenance or weight loss, improves colon health, and helps with digestion issues. It adds to the overall health benefits to your dog.

Worst Dog Treats: Sportmix Wholesomes Biscuits

Sportmix biscuit treats are on the list of dog food brands to avoid because it is made of unwanted dry leftovers and includes preservatives and fats harmful to dogs.

If we estimate the products meat content, it shows that it contains about 24% protein content, 13% fat, and about 54% carbohydrates.

After analyzing these numbers, it is clear this is a poor choice and is just a bit above average compared to other high-quality dog foods.

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Whats The Safest Way To Switch My Dog To New Food

There may be multiple reasons for which you may need to switch your dog to some different food. Most often, it is linked to a newly-discovered health condition or an allergy, but it can also depend on the dogs age, breed, size, etc. However, even when youre changing to the right diet, you may do some harm if you dont think this through.

It is important to do it gradually, step by step, to avoid upsetting your dogs stomach or unsettling the dog. Day by day, decrease the amount of old food and increase the amount of new food. Remember always to feed your dog the proper amount, and not to get confused while mixing.

If you want to switch a puppy to adult food , talk to your veterinarian first to be sure that the dog receives all the necessary nutrients and calories.

Nature’s Variety Instinct Original

Dog Food Advisor gives Instinct Original with Real Chicken Dry Dog Food five stars for its high quality ingredients and “above average” percentages for protein and fat. It’s one of their Editor’s Choice winners as well. The food is grain free and made with cage-free chicken and no artificial colors or preservatives. Reviewers on Petco.com give this food 4.8 out of 5 stars for its exceptional quality and nutrition.

Read Also: Who Makes Dr Pol Dog Food

What Nutrients Do Dogs Need

Just like humans, dogs need a variety of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to develop properly and stay happy and healthy at all times. What are some of the essential nutrients that your dog absolutely needs?

Vitamins and Minerals that are important for dogs

• Vitamins. In order to develop properly, dogs need the same vitamins that people do: vitamin A to control their weight and keep their eyes and skin healthy, vitamin B to help their cells grow and develop, vitamin C to support their immune system, vitamin D to strengthen teeth and bones, vitamin E for its antioxidants, and vitamin K, as blood-clotting keeps bones strong.
• Minerals. Calcium and phosphorus help your dogs blood coagulation, muscle growth, and nervous system, but too much of them may lead to problems with bone density and strength. Magnesium is needed to absorb calcium, plus, it supports muscle and bone development. Dogs also need potassium, sodium, and chloride to keep their body cells, hearts, nervous system, and muscles working and healthy. Apart from that, chloride supports the production of stomach acids, sulfur influences the looks of dogs skin, coat, and nails, and iron and zinc support the immune system. Iron also helps to oxygenate the red blood cells. Iodine is important for metabolism, and copper supports bone growth and supports the use of iron.

Other essential nutrients

Purina Pro Plan Adult Large Breed Shredded Blend Dry Dog Food

Chewy.com

If you have a wannabe lap dog thats over 50 pounds, you need a specialized dog food formula thats designed to maintain lean muscles, healthy joints and optimal body condition. Enter the Purina Pro Plan Adult Large Breed Shredded Blend Dry Dog Food. Featuring chicken as the first ingredient, it combines hard kibble with tender, meaty shreds that keep your big boy coming back for more. Its also fortified with probiotics, prebiotic fiber, glucosamine and EPA to support digestive, immune and joint health and overall mobility.

If you like to switch off between dry and wet food, you can also opt for the bundle, which includes a 34-pound bag of dry dog food and 12 cans of wet dog food.

Read Also: Purina Beneful Simple Goodness Recall

Best Dog Food For Those With Joint Problems: Hills J/d Mobility

If your dog has joint problems, this food is one of the best dog food brands for them. With a Masters in animal science, focusing on animal nutrition, Andrea Antonelli has specific criteria when it comes to feeding her dogs. Some breeds are prone to joint problems, and the Hills J/D Mobility formula fits the bill for her three German Shepherds, Thor, Blitz, and Boris, along with her pitbull, Sylvia. I will only feed my dogs food from companies that will give me a fed and dry matter percentage, she says, meaning the moisture content and the amount of nutrients minus moisture . I want to know exactly what is going in my dogs mouth. We can all agree with the importance of that! Next, make sure you know these sneaky ways dog food labels lie to you.

I And Love And You Nude Super Food Red Meat Medley Grain

Top Ingredients: 1. Pork, 2. Beef Meal, 3. Herring Meal, 4. Peas, 5. Chickpeas

Serve your dog a meal loaded with the wholesome goodness of great ingredients and delicious flavors. Prepared from deboned meat, the recipe features high-quality protein content that serves your little ones nutritional needs.

The meal is also packed with real fruits and vegetables for added minerals and vitamins. With essential omegas blended into the recipe, ensure healthy skin and a shiny coat of your pet.

You can definitely rely on this brand to maintain your buddys health as the recipe is formulated by holistic veterinarians.

You May Like: Iams Veterinary Formula Intestinal Plus Dog Food

Best For Seniors: Diamond Naturals Senior Dog Formula

When your four-legged BFF is getting older, youll want to look for formulations that help boost his energy. Just like puppies, senior dogs require special formulations of nutrients, says Dr. Robinson. Thats why I always suggest buying a senior-specific dog food, as they have things like probiotics to ensure a healthy gut and healthy fats to help your older dogs joints and skin. Higher protein levels are also needed to maintain muscle mass.

This option from Diamond Naturals contains chicken, egg, and oatmeal. Its also packed with probiotics and fiber for better digestion, glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health, and selenium and vitamin E for a serious dose of antioxidants. The right food is just one of the things that can help your pet live longer.

Highlights:

via chewy.com

Nutro Max Adult Natural Beef Meal & Rice Recipe

Another affordable option, this beef recipe actually starts with chicken meal as its first ingredient, and then added chicken fat. Beef is actually the sixth ingredient on the list, and then we also see lamb meal. The result is a high protein recipe, but to characterize it as a beef recipe seems ingenious.

For carbohydrates, we see whole grain sorghum, brewers rice, whole grain oatmeal, and whole brown rice. These are all nutritional and digestible, but despite there being quite a bit of it in the recipe, it is still pretty low in fiber, so some dogs may struggle with the high protein content.

The recipe uses a good quality nutrient pack with nothing artificial, which means that you can happily feed it to your dog, even if it isnt really a beef recipe.

Pros

• Low in fiber
• Disingenuous marketing

This kibble from Nutro Max is an affordable dry dog food that is very high in the animal-based protein that should be at the center of every dogs diet.

Also Check: Is Iams Dog Food Any Good

Is Merrick Considered A Healthy Dog Food

All Merrick dog foods meet dog food nutrient guidelines published by the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Each recipe is considered complete and balanced for specific life stages according to nutrient standards posted by the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science in Washington, D.C.

Taste Of The Wild Dog Food

Most Popular Pick: If youre looking a premium food dogs like Taste of the Wild is a very popular brand. Taste of the Wild uses real roasted meats in protein-rich formulas that are free from grains, fillers, and artificial additives. Their most popular recipe is the Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy formula which features real buffalo as the first ingredient with other proteins like bison, roasted venison, and beef to support strong muscles. This recipe also contains plenty of healthy fats as well as beneficial supplements like antioxidants from real fruits and vegetables, chelated minerals, and dried fermentation products which act as probiotics for healthy digestion.

• Pros: Real roasted meats, rich in protein and healthy fat, grain-free, no fillers or artificial additives, mimics a dogs natural diet, supports skin and coat health, probiotics, chelated minerals
• Cons: Some dogs are sensitive to beef, contains some plant protein concentrates

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Iams Proactive Health Adult Minichunks

Good quality dog food often means a hefty price-tag, but thats not the case with this nutritious kibble with grain. While this definitely is not a cheap line, it is one of the most affordable on this list and excellent value for the quality.

The first ingredient in this recipe is chicken, and it is great to see a named meat as the first ingredient in a dry kibble. The meat content of this dish is then topped up with chicken fat, which is a healthy additive, as dogs need about 10 percent of their daily calories from fats, and also some chicken by-product meal, which is not great to see, but acceptable considering the quality of the other meat ingredients.

For grains, this recipe uses whole grain corn and whole grain sorghum, both of which are nutritious and highly digestible for dogs.

It also contains dried beet pulp, which is also perfectly good for dogs, but combined, these ingredients do mean that we are looking at a pretty high carbohydrate content, at the top end of what is acceptable in quality dog foods.

This recipe is then topped up with a very comprehensive nutrient pack, which means that your dog should not be missing out on any of the important things they need with this as a diet staple.

Pros

• Contains animal by-products
• Carbohydrate heavy

This recipe from IAMS is an affordable way to put healthy foods in your dogs bowl, as it uses a named meat as its main protein source and highly digestible, healthy whole grains as the carbohydrate.

Nutro Kitchen Classics Adult Wet Dog Food

Nutro is a high-quality manufacturer when it comes to the production of healthy canned dog food. And when it comes to this pack, there is no difference. In regards to that, invest in this canned dog food that will guarantee your healthy pet living. Try out the food today for excellent results.

This product is a high-quality food product from the Nutro Production Company. It is a 12.5-ounce cans features at least twelve cans in a pack. All the ingredients and contents of the food are healthy and safe for all dogs to consume.

• Healthy and safe food contents
• The food is grain-free
• They feature a variety of flavors
• A full pack comes with a pack of twelve cans

Also Check: What Did Dogs Eat Before Dog Food Was Invented

Wellness Complete Health Senior Dry Food

Best Senior Dog Food As your dog gets older, his body and his metabolism will start to slow down which means that the food of his younger years may not work as well in his older years. This Wellness Complete Health Senior Dry Food is specially formulated to meet your senior dogs nutritional needs, made with plenty of protein to support lean muscle mass with moderate fat content to prevent obesity. This recipe features high-quality proteins like deboned chicken with digestible carbohydrates like oatmeal and brown rice. It also features glucosamine and chondroitin for joint support as well as probiotics for healthy digestion.

• Pros: Formulated for senior dogs, high-quality protein for lean muscle mass, moderate fat to control calories, digestible carbohydrates, glucosamine and chondroitin for joints, probiotics for digestion.
• Cons: Some dogs are sensitive to chicken, first source of fat is plant-based

Read And Understand The Statement Of Nutritional Adequacy

Heres another tip for you when buying healthy dog food. Always read the label and try to understand the nutritional adequacy statement of the product. Some products are designed to be given to all dogs regardless of breed and size. Some are specifically for growth and reproduction. Some products are also formulated especially for puppies, sick dogs, elderly dogs, and even pregnant pooches and lactating mutts. The point were trying to make is that you have to understand what type of dog the kibble is specially designed for. Is it for a canine with an arthritis problem? How about a pooch with severe skin itching and hair-shedding? There is a reason why manufacturers put these statements in their labels. It is so you will be guided properly on whether such a product is appropriate for your mutt or not.

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Worst Wet Food: Cesar Filets Delight Porterhouse Steak Flavor With Peas And Carrots Dog Food Tray

Source: cesar

This is canned dog food whose first ingredient is water, which is fine. The fifth ingredient is the most controversial one. Meat by-products contain all leftovers of slaughtered animals that people dont use in their nutrition. The problematic part here is that it doesnt state which meat is included in the ingredients. In case your little friend suffers from allergies or skin problems, dont consider buying this product.

Ingredients: Sufficient Water For Processing, Beef By-Products, Animal Liver, Meat By-Products, Beef, Peas, Carrots, Chicken, Chicken By-Products, Calcium Carbonate, Added Color, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Carrageenan, Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Proteinate, Natural Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Dried Yam, Salt, Guar Gum, Erythorbic Acid, Cassia Gum, Porterhouse Steak Flavor, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Monocalcium Phosphate, Sodium Nitrite , Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate , Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement.

Key Differences Between The Worst And Best Dog Foods

• The best dog food will exceed the minimum nutritional requirements Whilst all commercially available foods will reach the minimum required nutritional levels, the minimum is not enough to make your dog fully thrive.
• Protein According to Kate Barrington at Petsumer.com, the best dog food will have over 25% protein. This should be ideally from all animal sources, without using vegetable protein.
• Fat The best foods will have at least 10% fat content.
• Enriched with Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
• The first five ingredients on the label should not contain any fillers, by-products, or additives.

Read Also: Iams Prostora Max

Understanding Yeast Infections In Dogs

The first thing you should know is that your dog did not contract an overgrowth of yeast from an infected dog or even person. It is not contagious at all.

A yeast infection can occur in any damp or moist area, such as the ears or skin folds. It can cause the leaky gut syndrome, which can aggravate yeast infections.

Farmina N And D Ancestral Grain Dry Puppy Formula:

Feeding your pup right is very important because even a slight misbalance in the ratio can prove to be harmful to the little ones growth. This is a highly recommended dry puppy food recipe that has usually got a five-star rating. Even though it is suitable for all life stages yet, is exceptional dog food for your puppies. Reading the label of your pups food is the most important the first five ingredients of Farmina N and D Ancestral Grain Dry Puppy Formula are deboned chicken, dehydrated chicken whole spelt, whole oats, and chicken fat, and is inclusive of grains. The animal protein is derived from chicken and has a fat-to-protein ratio of 57%.

While buying dog-food for your pup, always remember to read the label carefully and this should include the phrase complete and balanced. Always make sure that the first five ingredients are known to you as food, as this will ensure the safety of the dog-food. Do not forget to check if its certified by AAFCO or similar. If you are buying organic food, do not forget to check the packaging for a USDA certified label. Ensuring these little things can help keep your furry little friend healthy and safe. And most importantly, keep them happy.

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