Any good pet owner can tell you that they love their pets and feel completely responsible for their health, happiness and well-being. In order to help them lead such good quality lives, many owners turn to the internet and other sources of dog information to learn about feeding, health and nutrition.
Would you feed your kids fast food all day, every day? Many commercial dog foods contain ingredients like grain and corn, which are fillers with little to no nutritional value, and animal by-products, which at best are fillers and at worst, dangerous. These are the doggy equivalent of a fast food diet, with similar results such as obesity and diabetes.
In order to give our pets the best nutrition, pet owners need to educate themselves about pet health and nutrition. One of the first things they will find out is that dogs, being carnivores need to derive most of their protein from meat. Some meats to look for in a good dog food include chicken, lamb, beef meal of other such similar ingredients. It is best if a food contains more than one of these ingredients in its ingredient list, even better if they are all in the first five ingredients listed on the package.
Ingredients to avoid are animal by-product meal, which can include some unsavory animal parts like hooves and hair, and also include processing plant waste, like oils and inedible animal parts. Corn and other grains should be avoided as a main ingredients, as they provide little or no nutritional value to our dogs, and are known for causing allergies and other health conditions like obesity.
Vitamins and minerals are also necessary for a good canine diet, and many foods list nutritional supplements in their ingredients. Dog information sources say that chelated minerals have the advantage of being easier for dogs to process. Chelated minerals are included in many quality foods such as lifes abundance dog food.
For even better nutrition that pet owners have complete control of, you might want to try to make your own dog food. There are many recipes available, and this way, a pet owner can decide exactly what quality of ingredients to include. Many pet owners go even further, and feed raw meat, which most closely resembles a dog's diet in the wild.
Regardless of the brand or type of pet food, it is necessary for pet owners to make sure they keep up to date on dog information and health. Also, always remember that whenever necessary, you should not hesitate to contact your vet as a source of dog information.
