Feeding your dog will never be the same after reading this.
I went on a search to really find the best dog food for the money like most people want, but there was no clear answer as to what brands that were the best without spending a fortune. There were many surveys where people voted on the best ones. Still, no clear answer just a bunch of folks popping off their over priced brands they use. With all the information on the internet we now know to look at the first ingredients on the bag and what you don't want to see are things like corn or corn gluten and we would rather see real ingredients like chicken or beef and other things they would eat naturally. Without going into a lot of detail on what all the major brands are made of compared to one another I want explain how you should be feeding your dog a healthy meal. I will leave finding the right ingredients to look for up to you. If you need some help figuring what some of the many things things listed on the bag are, visit the link provided and look at the reviews of what they mean. Also pay attention to the ratings of the major brands get by having certain additives put in their dog foods, but I don't want you to stop there so come back when your done looking. Dogfoodadvisor.com
Did you see your brand that you use? Were you happy with the results compared to the other brands. If not why? I personally wasn't, but if you were that's great. Once you have figured out what ingredients and additives were healthy and you start seeing a repeat of those good ingredients. Try and find those same exact ingredients but in a more cost effective brand. They are out there because I have done the search. Now I've taken you through all of that to tell you that each of those major brands are not equal even if they have the same ingredients as each other. Each dog food brand has a specific calorie per cup value (Kcal). Some brands may have 350 calories per cup of a set blend of ingredients and others may have 500 (kcal) per cup. Lets just say a dog needs 1500 calories a day. Brand A that has 350 kcal per cup (1500/350=4.3) will take around 4.3 cups of food where as Brand B which has 500 kcal per cup (1500/500=3) will only be 3 cups. That's just one example but did your current food have around 350 Kcal per cup? Well like most folks who can't buy the most expensive brand of food, you go for the cheaper brand. Most cheap dog foods have a lower calorie per cup rating so in reality you are buying more of the cheaper dog food and end up spending more in the long run because your dog has to eat more of the food to recieve the same amount of calories. Their bodies are designed to eat until they are satisfied. Try to find the cost effective dog food but with real healthy ingredients and then use the Kcal to fine tune it so you can feed your dog a great meal without having to pay for it. I feed my dogs by weight of the food in grams and they get exactly what their bodies demand based on the amount of calories they need. Check out this link to find the major brands Kcal per cup Major brand (Kcal) Value
If you don't know the Kcal of your dog food or it's not listed here is a formula you can use to find it on any brand. Go get your bag of dog food and look on the back or on the sides and you will find the guaranteed analysis of the contents of the bag. You will be using the protein, fat and moisture contents of the bag to fill in the numbers in the formula.
-Nitrogen-free extract = 100 - (Crude protein + Crude fat + Crude fiber + Moisture + Ash)
-Metabolized energy = [(3.5 x Crude protein) + (8.5 x Crude fat) + (3.5 x Nitrogen-free extract)] X 10
- (Metabolized energy/1000) x (weight of 1 cup of food in grams) = Kcal per cup
There are many ways to find out how many calories your dog needs, but I would look online for the recommended intake of calories working dogs need or you may ask your veterinarian. Keep in mind this number will vary depending on how activer or inactive your dog is, what age it is and also what time of the year it is ( for example: in the winter dogs are less active). If your dog needs to lose weight you can reduce the calories a little but don't go any lower than what is the recommended daily amount. If you are at the minimum already then that means your dog needs more exercise. I hope you have understood this article, it reflects a lot on the right way to feed your dog and if you want the most out of your loved one then it's diet is a key factor to a long healthy life.
I went on a search to really find the best dog food for the money like most people want, but there was no clear answer as to what brands that were the best without spending a fortune. There were many surveys where people voted on the best ones. Still, no clear answer just a bunch of folks popping off their over priced brands they use. With all the information on the internet we now know to look at the first ingredients on the bag and what you don't want to see are things like corn or corn gluten and we would rather see real ingredients like chicken or beef and other things they would eat naturally. Without going into a lot of detail on what all the major brands are made of compared to one another I want explain how you should be feeding your dog a healthy meal. I will leave finding the right ingredients to look for up to you. If you need some help figuring what some of the many things things listed on the bag are, visit the link provided and look at the reviews of what they mean. Also pay attention to the ratings of the major brands get by having certain additives put in their dog foods, but I don't want you to stop there so come back when your done looking. Dogfoodadvisor.com
Did you see your brand that you use? Were you happy with the results compared to the other brands. If not why? I personally wasn't, but if you were that's great. Once you have figured out what ingredients and additives were healthy and you start seeing a repeat of those good ingredients. Try and find those same exact ingredients but in a more cost effective brand. They are out there because I have done the search. Now I've taken you through all of that to tell you that each of those major brands are not equal even if they have the same ingredients as each other. Each dog food brand has a specific calorie per cup value (Kcal). Some brands may have 350 calories per cup of a set blend of ingredients and others may have 500 (kcal) per cup. Lets just say a dog needs 1500 calories a day. Brand A that has 350 kcal per cup (1500/350=4.3) will take around 4.3 cups of food where as Brand B which has 500 kcal per cup (1500/500=3) will only be 3 cups. That's just one example but did your current food have around 350 Kcal per cup? Well like most folks who can't buy the most expensive brand of food, you go for the cheaper brand. Most cheap dog foods have a lower calorie per cup rating so in reality you are buying more of the cheaper dog food and end up spending more in the long run because your dog has to eat more of the food to recieve the same amount of calories. Their bodies are designed to eat until they are satisfied. Try to find the cost effective dog food but with real healthy ingredients and then use the Kcal to fine tune it so you can feed your dog a great meal without having to pay for it. I feed my dogs by weight of the food in grams and they get exactly what their bodies demand based on the amount of calories they need. Check out this link to find the major brands Kcal per cup Major brand (Kcal) Value
If you don't know the Kcal of your dog food or it's not listed here is a formula you can use to find it on any brand. Go get your bag of dog food and look on the back or on the sides and you will find the guaranteed analysis of the contents of the bag. You will be using the protein, fat and moisture contents of the bag to fill in the numbers in the formula.
- First find the nitrogen-free extract by using the first formula then when you have the number set it off to the side and it will be used in the second formula.
- complete the second formula using the answer from the first formula and you have a final number
- Take this final number and get the weight of 1 cup of your dog food and divide the final number by 1000 then multiply that by the grams of weight per food and you have the Kcal per cup of food
-Nitrogen-free extract = 100 - (Crude protein + Crude fat + Crude fiber + Moisture + Ash)
-Metabolized energy = [(3.5 x Crude protein) + (8.5 x Crude fat) + (3.5 x Nitrogen-free extract)] X 10
- (Metabolized energy/1000) x (weight of 1 cup of food in grams) = Kcal per cup
There are many ways to find out how many calories your dog needs, but I would look online for the recommended intake of calories working dogs need or you may ask your veterinarian. Keep in mind this number will vary depending on how activer or inactive your dog is, what age it is and also what time of the year it is ( for example: in the winter dogs are less active). If your dog needs to lose weight you can reduce the calories a little but don't go any lower than what is the recommended daily amount. If you are at the minimum already then that means your dog needs more exercise. I hope you have understood this article, it reflects a lot on the right way to feed your dog and if you want the most out of your loved one then it's diet is a key factor to a long healthy life.