A guide to picking the right dog food, covering what nutrients dogs need, how to read labels, and whether homemade, commercial, or mixed diets work best for your dog.
Dog food Homemade food Canned food what's Best for My Dog we already know that diet is super important for our dog's health. That's why today we're going to teach you how to identify the best food for your dog. And we'll do it together with one of our favorite brands, NF NatCang. To know how to choose a good food for your dog, you first need to know what nutrients they need and in what proportions. A balanced diet must include proteins, fruits, vegetables and fatty acids. Grains are not essential and can be avoided, but if you want to include them, we'll also explain how. Let's start with proteins. This is the main and most important ingredient in a dog's diet and should come from animal sources such as chicken, turkey and beef or salmon. In homemade diets, it should ideally make up 70% of the daily ration. In commercial feeds, the protein content should be around 30% or more. Fruits and vegetables provide fiber and aid digestion. They should make up between 10 and 15% of the daily ration. Which ones are good? The truth is that there are quite a few that are good for dogs, such as carrots, spinach, apples or pumpkin. In the video that we have left for you here above and in the description, you will find all the fruits that dogs can eat. On the other hand, omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are essential for the immune system and for keeping the skin and hair in good condition. They are found naturally in cold water fish such as tuna, salmon or mackerel. And there are also supplements and fish oils to complement the diet. Vitamins and minerals are also important in quality commercial diets. They are already included in a balanced way, but in homemade diets we must pay special attention to this. For example, in some cases it will be necessary to add an extra supply of calcium, while in others a vitamin will have to be reinforced. A veterinarian specialized in nutrition is the one who can help us create the best menu for our dog. Okay, now we have a clear idea of the nutritional needs of dogs, but how do we find out which foods to choose? On the one hand, we already know that there is a wide variety of dog foods on the market, but not all of them are good. We must look at their composition, the percentages and the quality of the ingredients. Reading the label is somewhat complex and provides us with a lot of information, so we will try to explain it in a simple way and focus on the most important things. As we have said, the first ingredient on the list should be animal protein. Normally, the percentage indicated on most labels is meat or fish with water. This means that once dehydrated or hydrolyzed, it will lose water and therefore the real percentage will be lower. If this is not specified, we can try to contact the brand to find out if the percentage indicated is with or without water. One brand that we know indicates its percentages of meat and fish without water is NF Natcane. It also offers us foods with high percentages of quality hydrolyzed protein that aids digestion. NFNCE is a Spanish brand that sells directly to its customers through its website. By not having intermediaries, it can adjust its prices and offer food with an excellent quality price ratio. What we like most about this brand is that it uses fresh and natural ingredients without artificial additives, sugars or colorings. If you didn't know about it, we encourage you to visit its website to learn about all its formulas. There you will find all the details about the composition and benefits of each recipe. Having said that, let's continue reading the label. After protein we can find vegetables, fruits, legumes or even cereals. The important thing here is that the percentage is lower than that of meat or fish. As we have already said, cereals are not strictly necessary. They can be avoided and a grain free feed can be chosen. But if your dog tolerates them and you don't mind them being present, the easiest cereal to digest and that causes the fewest allergies is rice. These are the most important general aspects when reviewing the composition of a feed, but if you would like us to make a video talking only about this, let us know in the comments. Another increasingly common type of diet is a homemade diet. It is undoubtedly the best option for feeding a dog. If we know how to do it right. It is not enough to give them our leftovers or prepare rice with chicken and carrots. We must set a menu with the right ingredients and in the right quantities. In this type of diet, protein should not only come from meat and fish. It is also important to add organ meats such as liver. In smaller quantities. We will have to include some vegetables or fruit and eggs as a complement. We can add a dash of fish oil, turmeric, ground eggshell, etc. As you can see, it is not that easy. That is why at Animal Expert we recommend that a veterinarian specialized in nutrition prepare a personalized menu for your dog. Now do you not have time to cook? There are also brands that prepare homemade recipes that have been formulated by veterinarians. Likewise, there are cans of natural food with very good compositions and here we move on to the last type of diet that we are going to talk about, the mixed diet. This diet consists of giving the dog alternating doses of kibble and homemade food. For example, one day we can give it kibble and another day homemade food. If you want your dog to enjoy the benefits of natural food but you don't have time to cook or you think it's expensive to buy it ready made, a mixed diet is undoubtedly the best option. Of course, remember to choose a quality kibble like the one we mentioned from NF Natkane. Tell us how you feed your dog. Until next time, experts.
