Jane Dinunzio asked:

To give your dog, or any pet for that matter, a good foundation for a healthy life it is essential to start with proper nutrtion. There are many really horrible, low quality, chemical laden dog foods on the market still today, even though we have become more aware and educated about what to look for when purchasing dog food.

Cheaper dog food brands are generally sold at your local grocery store, whereas the higher quality premium dog food brands are found in pet stores, or online at specialty pet stores.

Increasing your dog's life span is easily achieved by feeding a properly balanced healthy organic dog food or high premium diet from puppy hood. An all natural healthy diet is as beneficial for your dog as it is for yourself. Improper or poor nutrition can cause diseases, allergies, obesity, and shortened life spans in your dogs.

There are many commercial grade dog food products available at the grocery store, and care must be taken when choosing one. After the recent pet food contamination scares and recalls because of toxicity and disgusting additives being found in the manufacturing process, many pet owners are becoming much more aware of what they feed their pet.

Here are a few general guidelines to follow when looking at the ingredients on a dog food bag:

Choose a food with high meat content. The first ingredient must be a specified meat. Another one or two meats or meat meal listed in the top 5 ingredients is a bonus, but not necessary. (Meat meal is meat with the moisture removed.)

If the same grain ingredient is used two or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", brewer's rice", "rice flour", are all the same grain), this is not a well balanced, nutritious product. It is loaded with "filler" and made to look like it is healthy by separating the one ingredient into sub categories, but rice is rice so it should be listed once.

Using high quality grains has become the standard for the premium quality dog food manufacturers, such as barley, brown rice and oatmeal. If the grains are organic, then all the better. Wheat and corn are inferior and useless as a nutritional element in dog food, and used as filler only. Dogs are known to be highly allergic to wheat and corn.

If there are any by-products at all on the ingredient list, pass this dog food by.

There should not be any fillers.

Carcinogenic preservatives do not need to be used, and if they are don't buy the product. (They will be listed as BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin.)

Artificial colorings are also cancer causing, and completely unnecessary. You'll be surprised to see how many products still contain this dangerous ingredient. The dyes will be marked as such - e.g. Red, Blue and Yellow dyes.

No added sugars or corn syrup should be in the ingredient list.

The more organic ingredients listed, the better.

Added glucosamine, chondroitin, pro and prebiotics, flax seed oil, barley, oats or oatmeal, and sunflower oil, are a good thing.

Slowly baked, not extruded, retains the minerals, vitamins and essential goodness of the food.

Hormone free, antibiotic free, pesticide and herbicide free, chemical and preservative free would indicate a high quality premium organic dog food.

And finally, no mystery meats should be in the list. Mystery meat will be listed as simply meat or poultry, rather than chicken or venison. The mystery meat will probably be some horrible rotten road kill, old euthanized animals, and parts of animals that are not edible.

Although the higher quality food might seem more expensive initially, it will work itself out and become cheaper in the long run. The savings in vet bills alone over the life of your pet will pay for the food.

I use a lazy homemade dog food tactic of using a high end organic dog food, and add just a few ounces of poached chicken, or broiled venison every day. The best of both worlds is then achieved for my dogs.

Always be aware, educate yourself and know that the big business of dog food manufacturing is in it for the profit, not the health and welfare of our pets. That is up to us. Just do the absolute best you can for your pet and it will be returned with more doggie love, which is never a bad thing.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

Best Match Time: ending soonest Time: newly listed Price: lowest first Price: highest first Price + Shipping: lowest first Price + Shipping: highest first

5 coupons $8 off IAMS dry dog pup food 7lb or larger    US $9.51

2 Science Diet Coupons for FREE DOG OR CAT FOOD    US $23.71

HILLS SCIENCE DIET FREE DOG CAT FOOD COUPON $10798 VAL    US $22.00

Feeding your dog can be filled with stress.Many dog owners take a zealous approach to how they feed their dog and can be judgmental of other dog owners when the issue of a dog's food comes up.

The reality is that what you feed your dog is a personal decision. It will be guided by how you have always fed your dogs and what you think is right for your current dog or dogs.

A dog's food is only one part of raising a healthy and happy dog, but it's a very important part, and worth some careful consideration.

How to Choose a Dog Food

If you go shopping for dog food, you quickly see that there are many options. There's premium dog food, low-cost dog food and so many dog food brands your head can spin.

Here are some tips for finding the correct dog food:

* Begin your search before you go the store. If you make your choice in the store, it could easily be the incorrect one.

* Ask friends and family for recommendations. If they use a particularly good dog food, consider that as one of your viable choices.

* Ask your vet for a recommendation. Based on your dog's age and health, your vet may have a specific recommendation for your dog.

* Remember that the best dog food for one dog isn't necessarily the best for another. Consider your own needs and budget before settling on a dog food choice.

* Read dog food reviews. If they are reputable and published in well-known publications or web sites, you can usually trust them.

* Remember that puppy dog food is a completely different beast than food you feed an older dog. Don't feed a puppy regular dog food, and don't feed an adult dog puppy dog food.

When looking at learning more about Dog Food Brands, read as much as you can.

The health of your dog depends on it!

What About Homemade Dog Food?

Recently, the safety of pet food was called into question when many dogs became ill and died after eating commercial dog food. Some of the brands in question were even considered premium dog food brands, so it seemed that no brand was safe.

This safety scare led many people to decide to give their dog a homemade dog food diet. It's an excellent option if you have the spare time and money. Feeding a dog a homemade dog food diet can be expensive and somewhat time consuming, though it does get easier the longer you do it.

If you are thinking you might skip the dog food brands and go for the homemade dog food, consider these tips:

* Make sure the dog food you make is nutritionally balanced. Dogs need a good amount of carbohydrates, fat and protein. Do some reading ahead of time to make sure that you get just the right proportion of nutrients for your size and breed of dog.

* Be willing to cook animal body parts that you might not consider desirable. Dogs can eat necks.legs and organs. In fact, many believe that one of the main advantages of a homemade dog food diet is that your dog can get more raw meat and bones, which many consider to be the ideal dog food diet.

* Don't forget that if you start Rover on a homemade dog food diet, it can be hard to switch to a more traditional diet. You can't just throw down a bowl of kibble just because you are too tired to make your dog's dinner. To that end, it's best to do a lot of preparation ahead of time so there are packages in the freezer you can pull out and thaw.

Conclusion

The best dog food diet for your dog is the diet that proves to be best for you. Depending on your budget and time available, you might make a choice that's different from your neighbor. The key is to find dog food brands that are accessible, affordable and that feed your dog healthfully. Or make your own. It really is your choice.

Further Information

More information about Dog Food or Dog Food Reviews can be found here.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

Best Match Time: ending soonest Time: newly listed Price: lowest first Price: highest first Price + Shipping: lowest first Price + Shipping: highest first

4 Iams Dog Food Coupons for $8off any 7lb or larger bag    US $1.79

PURINA BENEFUL DOG FOOD COUPONS 10 100 OFF FREE SHIP    US $2.25

6 $8 off Coupons for Iams Dog Food $48 Savings    US $2.25

Dog nutrition is something that every pet owner should prioritize. But with the availability of instant dog foods, are you really giving your pets the necessary nutrition? Veterinarians advise that pet owners should make dog nutrition balanced and complete. Experts say that you can achieve this by switching from one dog food brand to another. There are important things to remember though when you are switching brands and assuring your dog's nutrition.

Here is an interesting fact that you should know about dog food. If you give your pet the same brand every month, you are actually risking his health. You are exposing your pet to potential health problems, which include malnutrition and even food poisoning.

Everyone is also familiar with the presence of additives and preservatives in most packed dog foods. The accumulation of these synthetic elements may cause harm to your pet. This build up of unnecessary chemicals can weaken the immune system of your dog and may lead to sickness and infection.

With this, one can really assume that there is no guarantee of complete and balanced dog nutrition by using packed dog foods. Manufacturers and producers may claim that their products offer the best nutritional value. But there are factors that can affect and reduce the quality of packaged dog food. For example, during the distribution and storage of dog products, certain elements like temperature changes can affect the nutrients inside the product.

Another likely cause of decreased nutritional value is the fact that manufacturers use ingredients from outside sources. Manufacturers have little control over the nutritional quality of these ingredients. There is even a possibility that dog food brands may contain excessive amounts of magnesium and calcium, which do not meet the requirements of veterinarians and dog nutritionists.

During the manufacturing stage, some of the most important vitamins and minerals weaken due to the application of heat and chemical processes. At home, most pet owners love to stock up on dog foods, which of course leads to over storage.

Switching from one dog food brand to another does not even guarantee perfect nutrition for your pet dogs. But the idea is to prevent you from exposing your dog to excessive and unwanted amounts of chemicals. Diversifying your dog's food in a monthly basis provides balance. To make sure that your dog gets complete nutrition, read the nutritional labels of the different brands. Make sure that you buy fresh dog products only.

Joseph M. Sabol is a world class Doberman breeder. Please go to http://petvitamins4u.com or to http://theroadhousedobes.com for further information

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

Best Match Time: ending soonest Time: newly listed Price: lowest first Price: highest first Price + Shipping: lowest first Price + Shipping: highest first

2 COUPONSFREE BAG SCIENCE DIET DOG OR CAT FOOD $10798    US $9.38

2 FREE SCIENCE DIET COUPON DOG CAT FOOD BAG CANS $108    US $21.49

FREE ROYAL CANIN DOG FOOD COUPON 20 40 $6099 1 31 11    US $16.49

HILLS SCIENCE DIET FREE DOG CAT FOOD COUPON $10798 VAL    US $22.00

2 Science Diet Coupons for FREE DOG OR CAT FOOD    US $23.71

20 MIGHTY DOG wet can dog food Coupons SAVE $200 x9 20    US $1.04