Dog Food

Nutritious dog food is essential when maintaining your dog’s health. Dry dog food is the most commonly known type of dog food since it is cost effective, convenient and has a longer than average shelf life. Dry dog food also has the largest selection of brands and tastes than any other dog food offering. This makes it easier for dog owners that have picky eaters to try multiple flavors and textures of dry dog food that’s nutritious and delicious. Since dry dog food comes in such large bags this helps prevent making multiple trips to the supermarket and another bonus is that dry dog food doesn’t need to be stored in the refrigerator or stored in a food container after opening.

Where wet dog food differs from dry dog food is in the texture and taste. Kibble can be hard on your dog’s teeth and gums which can cause unwanted dental problems for your dog. Because of this, it is common for dog owners to mix dry and wet dog food together making their dogs meal more enjoyable. Hard dog food can also cause distress in the intestinal tract especially for older dogs. Since hard food takes longer to digest senior dogs and puppies may suffer indigestion. Wet food is easier to digest, easier to chew and can be stored in a container for future use making it an optimal choice for your pup’s health.

When you are a proud owner of the pickiest of pups you can add nutritious dog food toppings and dog food mixers to spice up their meals with an additional layer of flavor. Food toppers are a great way for your dog to get the extra protein they need and can be a healthy way for your dog to eat their food. With traditional food flavors like beef, liver and turkey along with festive flavors like pumpkin add some variation to your dog’s meals to balance out their diet.

With freeze-dried dog food the process removes the excess water from the dog food. This process makes your dog's food last longer and is a cost effective since it gives you more food per square inch than what’s in the container. Freeze-dried dog food has a longer shelf life than most other food options without adding the preservatives. Most freeze-dried dog food contains little to no preservatives and are often made of single ingredients like chicken and turkey. This means that if you are cautions of what you feed your dog freeze-dried food often uses only raw and natural ingredients making it a health food option for your dog.

While there are many different categories of nutritious dog food, dehydrated dog food shouldn’t be forgotten. Like freeze-dried dog food dehydrated dog food is also minimally processed and are also made with raw and natural ingredient without the additives found in regular dog food. With dehydrated dog food you are getting quality ingredients that can support your dog’s immune system, bone health and sensitive digestion without tarnishing the taste.

Knowing how to shop by your dog’s breed size and dietary restrictions is just as important as choosing the category of nutritious dog food your dog needs. This will help create a nutrition plan fit for your pup. Giving them the proper dry and wet dog food and nutrition, they need.

• Puppy Dog Food – When your puppy is in their early stages of development, they have a specific nutrition plan and meals to support their growing bodies. Their formulated puppy dog food is packed with additional nutrients giving them extra protein that helps sustain bone and muscle health. While it isn’t uncommon for dog owners to feed their puppies adult dog food it can hinder your dog’s growth since adult dog food is formulated to maintain their health rather than supporting development.

• Adult Dog Food – Once your dog reaches their adult stages their dog food changes as well instead of supporting growth this formulated dog food is meant to main and keep their happy and healthy lifestyle. Sometimes this includes food that supports their brain health, high energy dog food, immune support and additional vitamins & minerals. It is important to know when your dog needs to transition to adult dog food. Small dogs reach physical maturity between 10-12 months of age. Medium dogs reach physical maturity between 12-16 months of age and large dogs can take up to two years before they reach physical maturity. Most wet and dry dog food companies recommend you should stop feeding your pet dog food for puppies at age 1.
• Senior Dog Food – As your dog reaches their senior stages, they need for that supports their aging bodies. This includes specialty dog foods for hip and joint health, digestion, diabetic dog food and dog food for heart care & health. This can include switching their diets to wet dog food or other alternative which can help with digestion.
• Healthy Dog Food – When looking for the healthiest options for your dog, gluten free dog food along with GMO free, grain free and diet dog food all come to mind. Low glycemic, high protein and even low protein dog foods are sometimes needed when supporting your dog’s healthy habits. Nutritious dog food can help maintain their weight and there are even vegetarian dog food options that supports your dog and your lifestyle choices.

New Types of Dog Food

While everyone knows the tried and true dog kibble there are plenty of other options out there from dehydrated dog food the human grade food and even toppings and mixers that add to the flavor of your dog’s food.

If you have a picky dog who won’t eat dry dog food try to mix in some wet dog food as it can help digestion while improving the taste. If your dog still won’t eat your dog may require a fresh dog food alternative or raw dog food that has been minimally processed a freeze dried to seal in the nutrients and flavor.