How to Choose Healthy Dog Food

Choosing healthy dog food is important for any pet owner. You may be surprised to find out that dog food is not regulated the same as human food. Knowing the specific ingredients that make any type of dog food will help you choose a healthy and nutritious brand. Read on to learn how to choose healthy dog food.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Don't think that a brand of dog food that calls itself "Premium" means that they have used premium ingredients. Pet food cannot claim the quality or grade of ingredients on their label. "Choice" or "Premium" or "Select" is just a marketing term to entice customers to buy that product.

2. Flip a bag of dog food and find the list of ingredients it's used. It's not recommended to buy anything if the first five ingredients include meat by-product, meat by-product meal, chicken by-product, poultry by-product, chicken by-product meal, poultry by-product meal, or meat and bone meal.

3. Try and avoid dog food that has soy, corn, or wheat in any variation. Chemicals may be included to make these grains which could harm your pet.

4. Avoid dog foods that have chemical preservatives. Some examples of these include BHT, BHA and Ethoxyquin.

5. Call brands of dog food and ask if they are APHIS European Certified. If they are, then all of their ingredients are human grade. If you just call a brand and ask if they are human brand, they may answer yes when only a few of their ingredients are. It's not required for dog food to be certified, so it shows that a company has gone out of their way to ensure they giving their customers a quality product.

Tips & Warnings

• If you call a company and they don't know what you mean by APHIS European Certified, they probably aren't.
• Vitamin E and C are preservatives that are healthy for your dog and can be included in its food.
• Consult with your veterinarian before changing brands of dog food and gradually change your dog to its new food so they can adjust to the change.