There are many varieties of dog food on the market, but the more you choose, the more difficult it is. What kind of dog food should your dog eat? Perhaps many dog owners are also confused. For most pet owners, safety, health and deliciousness are the criteria for choosing dog food.
1. There are some special arrangements for dog food ingredients
Many dog foods have flavors, such as "beef flavor", "chicken flavor", etc. The ingredients list in professional pet foods are arranged in a diminished manner by weight from large to small. If chicken ranks first in the label list, it means that chicken is the main ingredient in the dog food and its content is higher than other raw materials. Therefore, when purchasing, you must pay attention to the ingredients distribution ratio in the ingredients list. If a certain dog food says "chicken flavor" on it, but the chicken is not listed first in the ingredients distribution ratio behind the packaging, it proves that the chicken content of this dog food is not too high.
Dogs with sensitive skin can choose dog food with high chicken content, such as chicken and rice flavor. Usually, dog food with this flavor is less irritating and will not be allergic; while dogs with muscle type can choose dog food with high beef content to enhance their strength.
2. Meat ingredients can be identified.
Meat is the main ingredient for dog food. Although each brand of dog food is marked with meat ingredients, there are still differences.
To distinguish the "purity" of dog food, you can do a small experiment: first prepare several brands of dog food, several bowls filled with water, and a microwave; then soak the dog food in water in the bowl and put it in the microwave for two minutes; after heating, open the microwave door and feel that some dog food emits a meaty aroma. People with good smell can also smell whether it is beef or chicken aroma, but some dog foods have not pure meaty aromas, and they are even pungent.
Through this small experiment, you can accurately select the food they like for dogs.
Food pays attention to color, fragrance and taste, and so is dog food. Usually, dog food comes in many colors such as green, yellow, and red. Some of these colors are natural pigments and some are artificial pigments. Try to choose pigment-free dog food, as it is not bad if it is natural pigment. Whether the pigments contained in dog food are natural, just observe the color of the dog's stool.
3. The raw materials for English-language dog food should contain at least one fresh meat, preferably at a level that is edible to humans. Pay special attention when reading this content. For example, chicken is chicken and chickenmeal is chicken noodles. Some dealers will deliberately mistranslate meat noodles to meat to confuse the quality of the two. Meat powder is dried animal tissue after oil pressing, which is essentially different from fresh meat.
Try not to use dog food with unclear expressions of raw materials, because it means that the raw material varieties are unstable or the source is unknown. According to the standards of the American Feed Management Association, the highest grades are Meat (pure meat) and Poultry (poultry meat), followed by MeatMeal (meat powder) and PoultryMeal (poultry meat powder). When choosing, the first ingredient must be of MeatMeal or PoultryMeal or above, and should not be cereals, because meat provides much higher protein than cereals. If dog food contains meat by-products (By-product) and it may be a waste.
4. Pay attention to bulk dog food
Many people choose bulk dog food because the price is cheap. But there are some tricks to buy bulk dog food.
First, it is not advisable to buy too much bulk dog food at one time. Considering that dog food must also be fresh, it can make the dog eat healthily. Because bulk dog food is not packaged, its production date cannot be confirmed. In addition, dog food is often exposed to air during the sale, which will accelerate its deterioration. Therefore, it is recommended to buy small amounts and multiple times, and pay attention to the smell and gloss of dog food when purchasing.
Secondly, pay attention to the container. Many small shops just take a bag or a large bucket to hold dog food. Such containers have a very poor sealing degree and are not hygienic enough. If you choose a professional bulk container, it has a high-strength sealing effect, and the freshness of bulk dog food will be better.
Key points supplement:
1. High-end dog food has a full grain, a darker and even color, and an oily feeling from the inside out. Due to production technology, raw materials, etc., most low-end dog foods have uneven grains, lighter and uneven color, and appear dry. In order to make the dog food look better, some manufacturers have applied a layer of oil on the surface of the dog food and painted it.
2. After opening a bag, high-quality dog food can be asked about the natural fragrance, which makes the smell develop appetite. Low-grade dog food generally uses chemical additives, so it has a pungent smell after opening the bag, such as a strong fragrance.