Thursday, December 31, 2009

How To Do Dog Food Comparison?



Dog lovers are always cautious when it comes to select food and treatment for their dogs. The availability of various brands of pet food in the market makes it really overwhelming for the people to select the desirable food for their dogs. The dog food comparison should be purely based on the nutritional value of the dog rather than on price and popularity of dog food brand. Some of the important information is given below to guide you about your dog's basic nutritional needs.

Protein is one of the major constituents of dog's food. Protein is very important for the muscles, skin and hair coat of the dog. The amount of the protein in the dog's food depends upon the age and level of activity of the dog. Some dogs have high protein requirement such as pregnant and sick dogs. The dogs with high level of activity require 25%to 35% amount of protein in their food. An average dog needs about 18% of protein regularly. The dogs with kidney problems should not be given protein diet.

Dogs require a very little amount of carbohydrates in their daily diet but most of the prepared dry dog food contains amount of carbohydrate ranges from 30% to 70%. The starch helps to form and mold the kibble that is why most of the kibble brands have high percentages of carbohydrates. Therefore, it is very important to select the food that is totally up to the nutrition requirement of your dog and it is only possible if you do a good dog food comparison.

The major source of energy in dog food is the fats present in the food. The level of activity of dog and its age are the two major determinants of fats requirements in dogs. The pregnant or lactating dogs and puppies required 17 percent fats in they daily diet. Active dogs or high performance and the average adult dogs should require fats 15% and 20% respectively.

A high amount of fats is required to the sled dogs i.e. 50 percent daily. The oils from vegetable, canola or olive are considered as the best source of fats for dogs however, animal fats is also recommended by most of the veterinarians. You should also give essential fatty acids to your dogs such as Linoleic acid. The fats in dog's diet also support a healthy immune system. Fibre is not an essential constituent of dog's food but it is helpful for dog's bowels and colon health. Moreover, pumpkin and Metamucil are the best source of fibre.



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