What Are Premium Dog Foods?
What are premium dog foods and are they really any better for my dog than your garden variety dog foods? How can you tell what a premium dog food is? Is it listed on the bag somewhere? Is it more expensive? What makes a premium dog food premium?
The main difference between premium and economy dog foods is the quality of the ingredients and the amount of actual nutrients digestible by your dog. Ignore any of the fancy wording or delicious looking pictures on the bag of food. Look, instead, at the dog food ingredients first.
Before you purchase a premium dog food, check out the first two ingredients. Look at the actual ingredients listed on the ingredients label. They tell you a lot. Premium dog foods will have a meat listed first – dogs need animal proteins. Premium dog foods also use a better quality of grains.
Grains: Economy dog foods usually have a grain as the first ingredient, premium dog foods will not. Dogs are able to digest some grains well, like rice and oats, but have difficulty with corn and wheat.
Another problem with the type and quality of grains/carbs used by the economy dog foods is that they are common sources of food allergies for dogs. They are also usually the by-products of the grain, not the whole grain itself, and thus has virtually no nutritional value to your dog. The grains/carbs really turn out to be nothing more than a way to make your dog feel full.
Animal meat by-productsare another top 2 ingredient that just are not found in the best premium dog foods. Meat by-products are what is left from a slaughtered animal after all the human-grade meat has been removed – bones, feed, heat, lungs, brain, etc.
Again, like cheap grain by-products, meat by-products are just not an equal substitute for real animal meat for your dog. They are used to boost the protein percentages in the dog food and make pet owners feel like they are feeding their dogs animal meat.
Premium dog foods almost always have a meat or meat meal as the first ingredient, unless it is a special need dog food. This is because dogs need animal protein – plain and simple. Meat by-products just don’t cut it.
What about price? Is that a good indicator of the type of dog food? Not really. Of course if you see a really cheaply priced dog food, it is probably an economy food. But just because the food is expensive, does not automatically mean it is a healthy, premium dog food. Again, you need to take a peek at the dog food ingredients list to really know what you are getting.
And now there are more types of dog food, like super-premium and all-natural. For more information about the different types of foods available for your dog and how to carefully select the best premium dog foods for your particular pet at the Healthy Dog Food blog.
