Choosing the right dog food for your canine friend can be rather daunting. The commercial brands and their glossy advertisements don’t make the process easier. It is important to look beyond the picture of the happy retriever on the package and read the small print behind the box. Are the top ingredients in the product some fort of protein? Good sources of protein include chicken, beef, and lamb. Any good commercial dog food have meat as half of its volume with vegetables coming second at 40% and only 10% grain.

One must watch for the preservatives contained in many commercial dog food products. Quite a few of these preservatives are known to be very dangerous, and sometimes sometimes deadly to your dog if consumed in mass quantities. Ask your local vet, or visit any healthy dog web site to be sure you are not endangering your best friend in any way.

There are quite a few mainstream pet food stores that sell high quality dog food. All you need to do is go to one of these stores and anyone would be happy to help you with anything you may need. You can always ask as many questions as you like. Most of them are more than happy to help. You may even find yourself asking about the many types of wellness dog food on the market today. Which would be another incredible way to ensure your best friend will be happy and healthy.

Perhaps you are one of those who like to cook their own food and come up with your own version of gourmet dog food. It is indeed an excellent idea to put the meat, vegetables and grain together on your own stove and there are enough dog food recipes available on the internet for added inspiration. But remember, these ingredients have to remain in the same meat-vegetable-grain ratio of 50-40-10 as the readymade dog food products. The meat needs to be cooked thoroughly, as also the rice, oatmeal and grains.

Some dog-owners put their dogs on a vegetarian diet. While this is not harmful, it is good to keep in perspective that by nature dogs are carnivorous and perform best with meat in their diet. A vegetarian dog also is in danger of becoming a finicky eater when bored with the meat-less diet.

Dogs, like us are prone to allergies and a change of diet often triggers these. Some signs to look out for are itchy skin, hair loss and change in bowel movements. While diet changes are being made, the dog needs to be monitored for any physical distress.

After fixing the ration of nutrition in the dog’s diet, it is time to experiment. A dog’s food should not be seasoned but variety is always possible. There are some foods that should be completely avoided in the interest of the dog’s health, like garlic, avocados, grapes, mushrooms, raisins and chocolate.

As we have discovered there are limitless options to provide your dog the best treatment he needs. By checking his commercial food, to making him his own delicious food, to making it fully organic. Always keep in mind that your best friend’s health begins with his food intake, and making sure he is in tip top shape will give you, and him, a lot more years of love, happiness and friendship.