If you want to provide your dog the finest possible nutrition, you should think about his or her specific dietary needs, like how much of a certain type of food they should be consuming and what else they might be missing. The greatest dog food will provide all the essential nutrients your dog needs, including protein, fat, oils, vitamins, and carbohydrates.
In this article, we’ll address some of the most often asked issues about selecting premium canine nourishment in order to help you make an informed decision for your own dog.
To begin, canine diets can be categorised as either complete or supplementary.
Complete dog food contains all of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients your dog needs on a daily basis to stay healthy. It is intended to be the main source of nutrition for your dog.
No one should rely on supplemental foods as their sole source of nutrition. Because of their lack of adequate nutrients, these items should only be given as a “complementary” snack or addition to their regular diet. Dog treats are examples of complementary food, but your dog’s regular dinners should consist of complete food.
Outside of this, however, there is great diversity in the types of foods available that are considered to be “complete” for a dog. Even though wet and dry foods have traditionally dominated the market, there are now countless other possibilities.
Dry biscuits or kibble are the most common and affordable option for feeding your dog. This dish is popular among owners since it is easy to prepare and cheap. It has a long shelf life, doesn’t perish easily, and may be kept at room temperature. That raises the issue, though: how healthy is it?
Due to its dry nature, the nutritional value of kibble varies widely depending on the food’s composition. The nutritional value of dry food is diminished due to the processing involved in its preparation, and many varieties also contain artificial chemicals, preservatives, and grains.
Additionally, the quality and quantity of the components used varies, further emphasising the importance of reading the label.
There is a notable difference between foods that employ processed low-quality protein sources and those that use whole meat, but the extrusion process used to manufacture biscuits minimises this distinction and reduces the food’s digestibility.
Many times more water is present in wet food; some brands contain as much as 75% water. Compared to kibble, it’s more expensive, but many dogs prefer it. Like dry food, the nutritional value of wet food varies depending on the ingredients and protein sources utilised, but it also has a long shelf life and requires no preparation.
Always read the label to see if there are any artificial ingredients or preservatives before eating these goods. Because of its high water content, wet dog food isn’t always nutrient-dense, so dogs need to consume more of it to have enough to sustain their body weight.
Wet dog food can be made in a number of ways, but all of them entail exposing the ingredients to a very high temperature for a very long time. The mixture is then thickened and made more appetising by adding a gravy that is similar to jelly. There is no nutritional value to this, unfortunately.
The availability of semi-moist food is somewhere between that of wet and dry food. Because it contains more moisture than regular kibble, this baked biscuit has a slightly squishy texture.
Highly processed food of any consistency, even semi-moist food, loses a significant amount of its nutritional value.
Semi-moist foods have a water content of up to 65%, and the ingredients and amounts might differ widely between brands. If you want to know if a particular dog food is the healthiest and greatest option, you’ll have to do some digging.
This includes avoiding cheap, processed food full of artificial ingredients.
Caution should be exercised while feeding a dog semi-moist dog food because of the potential for high levels of sugar and salt.
You may find raw dog food already prepared and frozen in grocery stores, or you can cook it yourself. By far the most pricey method of doggy nutrition is this.
Even if you know exactly what goes into their meal, keeping tabs on the nutritional value might be a challenge. Therefore, many raw food diets are deficient in essential nutrients.
There is a chance that Salmonella or E. coli will be present in raw food. That’s why preserving food requires either freezing or freeze-drying. After digesting their meal, your dog will still be harbouring bacteria that can be harmful to people and other animals that may come into contact with their faeces.
The effects of feeding our pets a raw food diet have only been the subject of a small number of scientific research. Raw diets, especially those prepared at home, are not recommended by many veterinarians. Three out of five diets (both commercial and homemade) lacked sufficient calcium and phosphorus, and two out of five lacked sufficient potassium, zinc, and magnesium, according to one study.
Your dog’s meal should have all of the necessary nutrients. Raw food diets should be tried with caution until more is known about the potential dangers associated with them.
When making dog food at home, it’s easy to think you’re providing a healthy diet with high-quality ingredients. It is difficult, if not impossible, to assess the dietary quality and digestibility of their food, despite the fact that you can make educated guesses based on the ingredients.
On top of that, many online recipes are purposefully bland and are only designed to be used temporarily to help dogs recovering from an illness like pancreatitis, and are therefore not ideal as a dog’s primary diet.
To make dog food, most manufacturers subject the ingredients to extensive processing at high temperatures and pressures. Using this procedure accomplishes very little to improve the meal and significantly reduces its nutritional value.
However, air-drying uses modest heat to blow over components, removing moisture while keeping in all the beneficial nutrients your dog needs.
Air-drying eliminates the possibility of hazardous microorganisms like Salmonella and E. coli, which can be present in raw feeding.
The air-drying method is effective at preserving all of the nutrients included in pure recipes because it uses just common, everyday components. This is the nutritious dog food your pet truly merits.
To prepare air-dried dog food, simply add water, stir, and serve to your dog.
Animals’ diets have a profound effect on their health, just as they do on ours. Not only does your dog’s nutrition effect the synthesis of hormones, but their hunger levels also affect how they feel and how they respond to training and directions, thus it plays a part in their overall disposition.
The digestive system is linked to about 70% of your dog’s immune system. Their immune system and overall health are affected by the food they eat, which in turn affects the health, condition, and workload of their digestive tract.
Due to the fact that your dog’s nutrition affects their entire body and well-being, gastrointestinal problems are often accompanied by symptoms such as depression and a lacklustre coat. Your puppy won’t be able to keep its body in good shape if it isn’t getting the proper nutrition.
Your dog’s eating habits and behaviour will be influenced not only by the food itself, but also by the time of day you feed it and the location in which you feed it. A dog that is overfed may stop responding to treats used for training, whereas a dog that is underfed will beg and scavenge for food, even if it means digging into trash cans or cabinets. To help you get your dog on a good feeding schedule, we’ve written a detailed guide on how often you should feed your dog.
Your dog’s disposition may be affected by the contents in their diet. For instance, the fatty acid DHA is frequently added to puppy chow to help with mental alertness. Conversely, an antioxidant-rich diet is very helpful for the mental health and performance of elderly dogs.
As with human food, some brands of dog food have more added sugar than others. Glucose is a byproduct of carbohydrate breakdown, therefore all foods contain it, but refined sugar should be avoided. If you feed your dog a high-quality, well-balanced diet that includes slow-digesting carbs, you can keep their energy levels steady and prevent them from acting hyperactive.
Because of the wide variety of undesirable effects that some ingredients in dog food can have, like hyperactivity and lethargy, it’s crucial that you learn as much as possible about the food your dog consumes.
The nutritional value and digestibility of dog food are greatly diminished by the addition of highly processed foods.
There is a correlation between the digestibility of dog food and its nutritional quality. To put it another way, a highly digested food allows for maximum nutritional absorption with less waste. A dog’s body can only absorb so many nutrients from its meal, so if the food isn’t easily digested, more of it goes to waste.
It is well-established that the nutritional value of foods can be affected by their production methods. Whole meat, for instance, has a digestibility advantage of about 10% above protein meal. However, the extrusion process (used to create kibble) drastically lowers the food’s nutritional value, therefore there is minimal difference in digestibility regardless of the protein utilised (81.3% vs. 80.0%).
This means that the benefits of using high-quality ingredients in a food’s production can be nullified by the manufacturing process.
Chemical processes like the Maillard one also take place in highly processed meals. The chemical byproducts of these interactions may seem insignificant at first, but they might eventually put your pet at risk for illness.
Carcinogens, for instance, can collect in baked food over time and raise a dog’s cancer risk.
The nutritional value and quality of dog food is unquestionably impacted by its ingredients.
The protein source in the dog food is mentioned as an example of this. The necessary amino acids in whole meat are more bioavailable than those in protein meal. For example, raw chicken has a 10% higher digestibility than poultry meal.
And remember, a larger crude protein content in your dog’s food is no guarantee of a higher quality product. This is due to the fact that the quality of the protein is much more essential than its quantity. In reality, several commercially available high-protein dog meals are nevertheless deficient in key amino acids.
Some vegetarian options are naturally hypoallergenic, and animal products aren’t the only source of protein. Commercial dog food made with vegetable protein sources is sufficient for survival. It is essential to select a complete food that supplies all the vitamins and minerals your furry buddy needs, thus it is better to discuss this with a nutritionist.
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However, your dog won’t benefit from the food’s ingredients if it’s been processed too much. Extrusion processes used to produce inexpensive feeds like kibble involve extremely high temperatures, which greatly diminish the food’s nutritional value.
That’s why air-drying works so well as a minimal processing method: it lets the ingredients shine and provides your dog with all the benefits they can offer.
It’s important to note that many canines experience food intolerances, when their systems reject particular nutrients. Protein, grain, and dairy allergens are the most commonly encountered in canines. There are many potential allergens and intolerances in dog food, so it’s important to read labels carefully and avoid giving your pet anything it might have a reaction to.
Here’s where a specifically crafted recipe shines. Simply provide us with your dog’s specifics, including their age, breed, size, ailments, and known food allergies, and Pure will develop a recipe that is tailor-made for your dog, allowing them to enjoy their food without experiencing any adverse reactions.
How your dog reacts to their food on a regular basis is a key factor to consider. Many dogs can safely consume grains as part of a healthy diet, and likewise, a no-grain diet is not detrimental to their health. On the other hand, starchy diets that are high in grain tend to promote weight gain. For this reason, the existence of grain poses no difficulty, but the quantity may.
However, a nutritionist should be consulted about switching to a grain-free diet if your dog has exhibited sensitivity to the grain. Dogs suffering from sensitivities or allergies, or even chronic diseases like pancreatitis, may benefit greatly from this.
But a perfectly healthy dog may not benefit much from a grain-free diet compared to a balanced dog meal manufactured with high-quality components. If your dog suffers from allergies, switching to a grain-free diet could literally save his life.
Yes, the nutritional profiles of these foods change to meet the changing demands of your dog at various ages.
The protein content of puppy food, for instance, is higher so as to facilitate development. Additionally, it may be fortified with the essential fatty acid DHA, which has been shown to increase attention span and brain power, hence facilitating academic performance. To make up for a puppy’s high activity and metabolic rate, puppy chow is also quite high in calories.
Meanwhile, a dog’s metabolism naturally decreases with age. Because of this difference, puppy chow typically has more carbs than adult diet. Dogs of any age who continue to eat puppy food are more likely to become obese, and such diet may lack the nutrients senior dogs require to maintain their health as they age.
To make sure your dog is getting the greatest possible nutrition at every stage of his or her life, Pure creates a personalised recipe that is both correctly portioned for your dog’s present size and has all the appropriate components for your dog to thrive at any age.
Dogs of any age can benefit from feeding them food that is both high in quality and easy for them to digest.
Reading the label to check what ingredients and procedures are used is your only option for learning about the origins and quality of the dog food you feed your pet. Naturally occurring ingredients will be stated clearly and prominently on the label of any dog food that really contains them.
Many pet owners are wary of feeding their pets foods that contain artificial ingredients like dyes, flavours, and preservatives. Pure contains no artificial flavours or colours and is crafted only from natural, food-grade ingredients.
Instead of using raw meat, rendered protein meal is used as a protein source in many processed goods. Meat, or “whole protein,” is used because it is both more natural and more nutritious. (As long as extrusion and baking aren’t used to further alter the food’s texture.)
You should verify the origins of the protein in addition to checking for the presence of any artificial components and for the presence of full protein. If possible, the source of the protein should be specified on the packaging of the meal. If the label specifies which animal was used, such as lamb, chicken, or beef, that’s a positive sign.
Conversely, the protein source may simply read “poultry,” “animal derivatives,” or “animal meat” in the case of some meals.
So, if you’re trying to eat healthier, more all-naturally, you should avoid these.
What kind of processing the food went through is information that should not be overlooked. The dull, brown colour of pet food, such as kibble, has little in common with the colour of the materials that went into making it.
Find items that have had minimum processing, such as air-dried, as opposed to these monotonous brown biscuits, which are far from natural.
How healthy your dog’s food is can be determined in a few different ways. The quantity of each dietary component and the food’s digestibility are crucial factors.
The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamins and minerals for your dog will vary based on factors such as the dog’s size, the gender of the dog, the dog’s age, and the dog’s level of activity.
Carbohydrate proportion is rarely listed on dog food labels. Other nutrients, such as ash, fibre, and protein, will be presented in percentages. If you want to know how many carbohydrates are in your dog’s food, you can do the math by subtracting the corresponding proportion from 100.
Take a food with a protein content of 22%, fat content of 14%, inorganic matter of 8%, and fibre content of 4%: add these numbers together, then deduct 100. With only 52 remaining, we can deduce that carbs make up 52% of their diet.
The digestibility of dog food is another metric by which its nutritional content may be judged. To what extent a dog is able to absorb nutrients from its diet is a measure of its food’s digestibility.
Some of the minerals in their meal will be excreted in their faeces while others will be absorbed into their system. If you want to know how easily a dog meal digests, you’ll have to do some extra digging online because few dog foods list this information on the packaging.
However, the digestibility of food normally declines with further processing and varies with the type of protein utilised in the dish. Learn much you can about the digestion of food.
You may learn a lot more than you might expect about the quality of the food your dog is eating just by looking at the label. When an item’s label lists specific ingredients, you not only know what’s inside but also how much of it.
Complete chicken, for instance, not only indicates that the food contains all the necessary nutrients for a full meal, but the absence of any qualifiers in the name also suggests that it contains a high concentration of chicken.
If there is only a name for an ingredient and no other description, consumers can assume that it accounts for at least 70% of the food.
At the same time, if the food’s name includes both an ingredient and a descriptor, as in “chicken supper” or “dinner,” then that ingredient must account for at least 25% of the final product.
Even so, this is a lot of meat, and many dishes have even more protein than this, so they’re great for your pet’s diet.
However, if their food is labelled as “with chicken,” it will contain at most 3% chicken. For dog food to have “chicken flavour,” the actual amount of chicken included is extremely low, amounting to just a hint for the dog to detect.
Your dog’s optimal diet will depend on your careful consideration of their specific requirements. Your dog’s unique temperament, metabolic rate, and level of daily activity will determine the types and amounts of food he needs to thrive.
Finding something that is suitable for your dog is the most crucial factor in determining the finest dog food. That entails thinking on things from their perspective, like:
Symptoms and signs of illness according to age size and amount of physical activity
Hypersensitivity reactions
This is due to the fact that, like humans, each dog has certain nutritional requirements that depend on factors such as breed, age, activity level, and other factors, including whether or not it has been neutered or spayed.
Bigger dogs, who are more prone to orthopaedic problems, can benefit from specially made food that includes a variety of vitamins and minerals to support bone and joint health. Additionally, a puppy’s nutritional requirements are not the same as those of an older dog, thus it is important to feed them separately.
Once you’ve narrowed down the options to foods your dog can eat, you’ll want to compare them for ingredients, nutritional value, and production methods.
In the end, it all comes down to what your dog prefers. They may have an insatiable appetite for seafood or fowl. Find a recipe that your pet enjoys so they look forward to dinnertime and you can maintain their healthy eating habits.
In general, the most nutrient-dense dog chow will be created with minimally processed, whole components.
Whole-meat based recipes will also have a higher moisture content and provide more nutrients than those that employ a protein meal. In theory, if the meal is “complete,” it will contain everything your dog needs for optimal health.
Depending on your dog’s age, size, and activity level, you can determine the ideal type of food for them. You should feed your dog nutritious food, but it should also be tasty. Neither you nor your dog would like to eat the same thing every night. Your dog is deserving of both nutritious and delicious nourishment.
Pure is produced with only healthy, all-natural materials. In addition to having no artificial flavours or colours, all of the components are ones you would expect to see.
It’s exactly proportioned to your dog’s dietary requirements and made with him in mind. Our meals feature a variety of fruits and vegetables and are high in protein to provide a well-rounded meal.
Whether your dog requires a grain-free diet, low-fat food, or wants to avoid an allergen, we will craft a menu to meet his or her specific needs and preferences. In this book, you’ll uncover delicious dishes that your dog will love so much, they’ll lick the bowl clean.
