Should I Feed Premium Dog Foods?
Premium dog foods are most certainly better than an economy dog food. But it’s sometimes hard to figure out the difference between a premium dog food and the rest. Do you go by price alone? A lot of companies are betting on it. Does it say premium on the bag? What makes a premium dog food premium?
The main difference between premium and economy dog foods is the quality of the ingredients and the amount of actual nutrients digestible by your dog. Ignore any of the fancy wording or delicious looking pictures on the bag of food. Look, instead, at the dog food ingredients first.
Look at the first 2 ingredients to see if you are purchasing a premium dog food. Economy dog foods use a lot of low quality grains and meat by-products. Premium dog foods list an animal meat as the first ingredient.
Grains/Carbs: Dogs are better able to digest certain grains better than others. Rice, oats, lentils, and barley are all easily digestible for dogs. Corn, soy, and wheat are not. This means less nutrients for your dog. And since economy foods list grains as top ingredients, this means the dog food as a whole is less nutritional than premium dog foods.
Some grains, such as soy, wheat, and corn, are also common sources for food allergies in dogs.When utilized as by-products, such as corn wheat gluten, they are nothing more than cheap fillers. Their main purpose is to fill up your dog’s stomach so that he feels full. It’s kind of like human junk food – fill your tummy with no nutrition.
Meat by-products are not a top 2 dog food ingredient in premium dog foods. Meat by-products are the slaughtered meat carcass parts that are left over after all the usable meat has been removed – like bones, necks, intestines, etc.
Like the grain by-products, these provide very little nutritional value to your dog, but do boost up the protein ratio in the dog food. The quality of the meat by-product is another big mystery that no one seems to be able to answer.
Premium dog foods will have a meat meal or meat as the top ingredient, with a meat meal being the better choice. Many premium dog foods will have 2 or 3 meats/meat meals listed in the top ingredients, thereby giving your dog better protein and nutrients.
Is price an indicator of premium dog foods? You certainly won’t find any ‘cheap’ premium dog foods – quality ingredients cost more money. However, you will find some ‘expensive’ economy dog foods. These dog foods have high prices to make you think you are feeding a premium dog food, when in fact, all you are doing is increasing their profits. Always look at the ingredients list to see what you are paying for.
And now there are even more types of dog food, like organic and all-natural. For more information about the different choices available for your dog and how to carefully select the best premium dog foods for your beloved pet at the Healthy Dog Food blog.
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