Dog Foods - How to Choose?
by: Kristen Cabe

The topic of dog food is a heated one amongst dog owners. Some people believe that dog food is dog food, and buy the cheapest brand available, because, well, their dog is doing just fine, thank you! There are others that believe the most expensive brand is better because it costs more, so it must be, right? Neither of these people are correct. Saying "dog food is dog food" would be like saying "McDonalds food or TV dinners are equivalent to a meal at an expensive restaurant". However, saying that "the most expensive brand is the best just because it costs more" is like saying that a $10 hamburger and fries meal at a restaurant is more nutritious than a $2.99 Happy Meal."

The key to choosing the right dog food is to know how to read the label. The most expensive food isn't always the best, but a store-brand is most certainly not as good as a holistic, all-natural brand either. In this post, I will attempt to give you some insight as to how to read a dog food label, and what to look for and avoid when making your choice.

Price shouldn't really be a factor, because after you've been feeding a better-quality food for a month or two, you'll begin to notice that your dog will require less of the better food since it will be more nutritious, so you'll be feeding him less. As a result, the amount that you end up paying for the better food usually equals out to about what you were paying for not-so-good food before. However, just paying more for a dog food does not make it better. Take Science Diet, (or any of the Hill's brand foods) for example; Hill's foods are fairly expensive, but in reality, their foods are no better than the brands you can buy in the grocery store. Here's a visual for you:

These are the ingredients listings for Science Diet, Iams, Pedigree, and Purina ONE, not in this order, however. Can you tell the difference?

1. Chicken, corn meal, ground grain sorghum, ground wheat, chicken by-product meal, soybean meal, animal fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), corn gluten meal, brewers rice, chicken liver flavor, vegetable oil, dried egg product, flaxseed, DL-methionine, preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid, minerals (potassium chloride, salt, calcium carbonate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), rosemary extract, beta-carotene, vitamins (choline chloride, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• ...
• 7
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Comparing dog foods: Finding the best quality and most cost-effective dog foods?
We want to hear your view. Write now!