Premium dog foods are most certainly better than an economy dog food. But it’s sometimes hard to figure out the difference between a premium dog food and the rest. Do you go by price alone? A lot of companies are betting on it. Does it say premium on the bag? What makes a premium dog food premium?

A true premium dog food has better quality ingredients. This means your dog will get more and better nutrients that he desperately needs. But don’t be fooled by all the enticing bags in the market today. Don’t be lured in by the beautiful pictures of fresh foods and advertising stating how your dog needs something in this dog food. The dog food ingredients list is what you need to find.

Before you purchase a premium dog food, check out the first two ingredients. Look at the actual ingredients listed on the ingredients label. They tell you a lot. Premium dog foods will have a meat listed first – dogs need animal proteins. Premium dog foods also use a better quality of grains.

Grains/Carbs: Dogs are better able to digest certain grains better than others. Rice, oats, lentils, and barley are all easily digestible for dogs. Corn, soy, and wheat are not. This means less nutrients for your dog. And since economy foods list grains as top ingredients, this means the dog food as a whole is less nutritional than premium dog foods.

Other problems with some grains is that they are a common food allergy for some dogs, such as corn, wheat and soy. These grains are usually by-products from processing of some other type of food and have very little nutritional value for your dog. They are simply cheap, useless fillers – used to “fill up” your pet’s tummy without providing much nutrients for your dog’s body.

A meat by-product is not a top 2 ingredient in premium dog foods. Meat by-product is just what is left over after all the usable meat has been removed. This includes the bones, head, intestines, and blood.

Again, like cheap grain by-products, meat by-products are just not an equal substitute for real animal meat for your dog. They are used to boost the protein percentages in the dog food and make pet owners feel like they are feeding their dogs animal meat.

Most premium dog food brands will have a animal meat or meat meal as the first ingredient. This means the major ingredient in the food is an actual animal protein which will have the most usable nutrients available for your dog.

What about price? Is that a good indicator of the type of dog food? Not really. Of course if you see a really cheaply priced dog food, it is probably an economy food. But just because the food is expensive, does not automatically mean it is a healthy, premium dog food. Again, you need to take a peek at the dog food ingredients list to really know what you are getting.

And now there are even more types of dog food, like organic and all-natural. For more information about the different choices available for your dog and how to carefully choose the best premium dog foods for your beloved pet at the Healthy Dog Food blog.

Related posts:

  1. Is All Natural Dog Food Healthy?
  2. Natural Dog Foods: The Best Food For Your Favorite Pet
  3. Dog Food Guide
  4. Types Of Foods You Should Not Feed Your Pet Canine
  5. What Human Foods Are Toxic For Dogs

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Filed under: Dog Health

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