Letting Your Dog
Choose His Own Food
Author: Ethan K. Roberts
Spend time at any pet store and the choice
of dog foods to feed your dog is in
abundance. How do you know which to choose
and which is good for your dog? The answer
to that is simply, you do not, let your dog
choose. Although there are some basics that
are recommended.
If you have
purchased your dog from a breeder, ask the
breeder what they recommend to feed your new
pet. A good breeder should be able to tell
you what has worked best for their dogs.
This is a good place to start. However, if
you have adopted your new dog, then it will
be up to you to figure out what is good for
your dog and what is not. The dog will
certainly help you in determining the right
food for him.
Always read
the labels on a dog food package. What you
want to look at is the first ingredient. You
do not want to see meat meal, this can be
anything within the food including road
kill. Chicken Meal or Lamb Meal is a good
start. You also always want to see the word
meal; whole meat without the Meal is mostly
water. Most nutritionists prefer chicken
based dog foods as they are easier to
digest.
You may see
corn or a type of corn product in the dog
food. Corn is a protein source the dog food
makers use to keep the price reasonable.
Some dogs like corn and others do not. If
you see your dog start itching, licking his
feet, scooting his butt, or getting frequent
ear infections, this could indicate a lack
of tolerance for corn. Beware of wheat in a
food. Wheat tends to be more of an irritant
in dogs than corn is.
You need to
inspect the label for the sentence "AAFCO
feeding trials confirm that (dog food brand)
is complete and balanced for adult dogs or
all life stages". This sentence alone will
tell you that the dog food was fed to any
number of dogs and was determined to meet
the nutritional needs for all life stages of
a dog.
When it
comes to feeding your dog there are certain
guidelines that should be followed depending
on the age of your dog. For instance,
puppies should be fed more regularly than
adult dogs. Puppies should be fed as often
as four times per day and with a quality dog
food geared towards puppies specifically.
Adult dogs should be fed twice a day.
In general,
feed puppies and adult dogs separately so
you can be sure the amount they are eating
each time and to prevent fighting. Set a
feeding schedule for your dog, but not one
to where they become anxious if you happen
to be late. It is a good idea to teach your
dog to sit before placing the dog food in
the bowl; this will prevent them from
jumping to get the food.
Nutritionists suggest only allowing your dog
15 to 20 minutes to eat then removing and
disposing of the remainder.
About the
other: Ethan K. Roberts write on a range of
different topics including homemade dog
food. Please visit natural dog food and dog
food information.
Article Source:
http://www.articlealley.com/article_28983_54.html
SPECIAL NOTE FROM THE TLC EDITORS:
The FDA does NOT regulate pet food as they
do food for human consumption. There
is no federal mandate or law that requires
the largest volumes of ingredients must be
listed first to the lowest volumes last (as
in human food).