Your dog’s food directly impacts her health and happiness. Therefore, it’s important to provide your pup with various nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. It’s important to note that dogs are omnivores, which means they can eat both meat and vegetables in order to satisfy their nutritional needs. As a result, make sure you provide a balanced diet which includes the correct amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, and supplements for best health. Additionally, make sure your dog always has access to clean water at all times; this is critical to proper mental activity (for both humans and dogs).

Select the Proper Food for Your Dog

Consider Size and Lifestyle

Your dog should be fed according to her age, size, shape, and lifestyle. For example, a herding dog who works for 8 hours per day on a farm will have a drastically different diet than a Maltese who spends her days on the sofa (or on your lap). Similarly, a pregnant pooch has different dietary needs than a male dog, and newborn puppies require more nutrients for proper physical growth and neurological development. As dogs move into the golden years, they will also require a different diet.

Understand the Various Types of Food

You must know not only what you’re feeding your pet, but also how much you should feed on a daily basis. Again, this is also derived from the size and activity level of your pup. Many owners think they’re scoring points by providing enormous servings and loads of delicious snacks throughout the day. You may actually cause significant harm to your pup by giving the dog more food than her body requires. You could be encouraging obesity and paving the way for illness and high vet bills down the road.

From Table Scraps to Gourmet

In the good ol’ days, feeding the family dog was a straight-forward proposition. You’d go to the grocery store, find the biggest bag at the cheapest price, toss it in the cart, and keep on moving. Or, forget the official “dog food”; maybe the dog’s dinner was whatever the family had for dinner…meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas…okay, kids, scrape your leftovers into the dog’s bowl and get ready for bed!

Ah, those were the days…Your dog led a happy life and lived well into his mid-teens without contracting any serious illness or disease. Maybe the reason it was all so easy back then was because there were only a handful of foods to choose from. Also, all of these foods had basically the same ingredients, only varying in color, flavor, and price.

But now, we have countless varieties to choose from. Also, the scientific research of dog nutrition has advance which coincided nicely with the explosive growth of disposable household income which is now earmarked for our beloved pets.

5 Types of Dog Food You Should Consider

1. Organic Dog Food
Most dog food at your local supermarket contains pesticides, fillers, and other less-healthy additives. If you want to give your dog food that is free of these ingredients, then think about going the organic route. But remember the term “organic” is often very misleading, so make sure you read the ingredients carefully before buying.

2. No Preservative (or Natural Preservative) Dog Food
Most dog foods contain preservatives such as ethoxyquin, BHT, and BHA. These are typically added to prevent the food from spoiling while maintaining taste. In efforts to eliminate these harmful ingredients, some foods now have “natural preservatives” such as vitamin C (often listed as ascorbic acid) and vitamin E (often listed as tocopherols).

But—just as with organic food–be sure to check the ingredients to ensure the preservatives are actually derived from nature. I’ve seen many “natural preservative” foods which, after inspecting the ingredients list, are actually artificial.

While we’re on this note, you can also purchase dog food that is 100% free of all preservatives. These products must be properly sealed in a cool, dry, bug-free place and used promptly to assure freshness.

3. Vegetarian Dog Food
Vegetarian dog owners should be able to exercise their dietary beliefs with their dogs. With adequate planning, vegetarian meals can contain all of the necessary vitamins and nutrients that your dog needs, as long as they are properly prepared. A veggie diet is also beneficial for dogs with meat allergies, although you may need to supplement the diet with vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids.

4. Raw Dog Food (BARF Diet)
Many dog owners believe that a diet of raw food is the healthiest way to feed a dog since this most closely resembles the way wild dog species & wolves ate before human domestication. And even though this belief has little scientific fact to substantiate its accuracy, the raw food diet is immensely popular. Many owners report significant savings in the cost of food, although you will need adequate space to keep all food refrigerated (or frozen). Also, be very careful when handling raw animal parts as you may be exposed to dangerous bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli.

5. Therapeutic Dog Food
In conjunction with the necessary medical care, therapeutic dog foods are flourishing. These diets are available through your veterinarian and are typically prescribed after surgery diet or for acute health problems such as food allergies.