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#1 Dogs are predators. They need more meat then is being offered in poorer quality dog food. #2 Don’t just look at the front and back of the dog food bag. Millions of dollars are spent on picking just the right color of the bag, the most appealing dog in the photo and the best copy that money can buy. It is best to never even look at the front and back of the dog food bag, go right to the ingredients. #3 You’ve probably already noticed that the ingredient label has the smallest print on the whole bag. And understanding it requires more time and energy then you have in a day. But here are a few quick tricks for you to make healthier decisions. Just read the first five ingredients. #4 What you’re looking for in the first five ingredients is real food! For dogs, we would like to see something like meat products, one grain and a vegetable of some form. Turkey, chicken, beef, lamb, herring or another fish; or it might say chicken meal, turkey meal, fish meal. The meat needs to be clarified. If it just says animal meat- that is too general. That can mean anything that is meat –like road kill and other animal parts that we don’t want to go into with this discussion. Real food would also just denote the food: like “rice” not “hulled rice”. When there are too many words before or after what the real food is don’t use the product. “Chicken by-products are not what you want to see. By-products are the beaks, feathers, legs and whatever was a part of the chicken but not the whole chicken. We never want to see the first five ingredients starting with “ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, rice flour, soy flour, sugar, sorbital...”Does that sound like you are feeding a predator or a chicken? Where’s the meat? After a period of time, if your dog’s diet is made up of corn, soy, or wheat, very soon he will experience some health issues. These products promote skin allergy problems. Dogs do not need refined sugar or sugar substitutes like sorbital. They should get sugar in its natural state form vegetables and fruits. #5 A grocery or big box store is not a great place to buy a better form of commercial dog food. Specialty feed stores or online is the best if you can view the ingredients. There is certainly a lot more to feeding your dog a healthy diet, but these short tricks will give you an idea of what you might look for in that vast ocean of commercial pet food! Learning good eating for yourself and not getting caught up in the “convenience trap” will help you make better choices for your dog. Otherwise, you may one day wake up and see that you’re dog has grown a beak! For more information visit www.dogchefs.com
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Things to
Remember When Shopping