About nine months ago, Adam and I went in search of a new dog food. We had been giving our dogs Nutro - Lamb and rice formula, but we hated the price we were paying and to be honest the food seem to "go right through" our dogs.We researched and researched and eventually chose Blue Buffalo Dog Food. The funny thing is that it is actually a few dollars more expensive than our previous brand, but our dogs seem healthier than ever. What I mean by that it that their coats, teeth and overall weight has really improved.
If you are anything like us, when we started searching for a new food, we had no idea where to start and what ingredients were the most important. I mean grains, like corn are good for humans, aren't they good for dogs too?
Mostly we just wanted to make sure we were giving our dogs the best life possible. For example, eating McDonald's everyday might be cheap, but the likelihood of having a heart attack at the age of 30 drastically increases!
How to find a premium dog food:
What we learned is that a dogs diet should consist of 40% meat, 50% veggies, and only about 10% grain or other carbohydrate.
- Meat should one of the first, if not THE first listed ingredients.
A good thing to also know is that by law nutrient labels have to start with the ingredient that makes up the most of the product and end with the ingredient that makes up the least of the product. So when you read the ingredients label, the ingredients should start with a meat product (i.e. lamb, chicken, beef, etc.).
- Also make sure to choose a carbohydrate such as oatmeal, barley or brown rice and try to avoid anything that says "corn meal," because it is used as a filler and hard for a dog to digest. It is also important to choose the "whole" forms of the grains, just like it is healthier for us it is healthier for dogs too!
- GO Holistic! Holistic foods are 100% natural and 100% nutritious. They contain human-grade ingredients.
And finally, if you wouldn't eat it, your dog probably shouldn't either!
For example, Blue Buffalo is a premium dog food and even has blue berries in it. Below is the list of ingredients:
Deboned Lamb, Oatmeal, Whole Ground Barley, Menhaden Fish Meal (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Whole Ground Brown Rice, Peas, Natural Lamb Flavor, Whole Potatoes, Canola Oil (Naturally preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Alfalfa Meal, Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Flaxseed (natural source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Sunflower Oil (natural source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Blueberries, Cranberries, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Garlic, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Turmeric, Oil of Rosemary, Dried Chicory Root, Beta Carotene, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3), d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Choline Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Salt, Caramel, Potassium Chloride, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium .
