Dog Food: 5 Extraordinary Types of Commercial Dog Food You Might Want to Consider
By: Kelly Marshall
Submitted: 2008-10-04 16:26:12 | Word Count: 525
A few short years ago, feeding your dog was so much easier as compared to today s nutritional advice. I remember when my father’s dog ate whatever the whole family would eat, including apple cobbler! In addition to table scraps, he also enjoyed eating commercial dog food. My father’s dog had a happy life and lived well into his mid teens without contracting any serious illness or disease.
Picking a commercial dog food was also easier back in the good old days. There were a limited selection of brands to choose from and these pet foods all had basically the same ingredients, only varying in color and flavor.
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Today, however, there are so many varieties to choose from. The following list below are some of the popular commercial foods available for your dog:
Vegetarian Food For Your Dog
Most people don’t realize that vegetarian dog foods allow vegetarian dog owners to exercise their dietary beliefs with their dogs. Vegetarian foods include all of the necessary vitamins and nutrients that your dog needs, just as long as they are properly made. In addition, a vegetarian diet is also great for dogs that are allergic to meat.
Raw Dog Food
Many dog owners believe that a diet of raw food is the healthiest way to feed their pet because this is the way wolves and other wild dog species ate. This belief has no scientific facts to value its accuracy. However, a diet of raw food can expose both you and your pet to dangerous bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli.
Giving Your Dog Therapeutic Food
Therapeutic dog foods have been the growing trend in dog food products in recent years. It is only available through a veterinarian and is prescribed for cases of preventive treatment, as an after surgery diet, or for health problems, for example, like food allergies.
Try Organic Dog Food for Your Dog
Several dog food products found in the market have pesticides and other bad chemicals. If you want to give your dog food that is free of these horrible chemicals, you’re your dog organic food. Warning, the term “organic” can be very misleading, so make sure that you read the ingredients carefully before making your purchase.
Dog Food That Contains No Preservative or Natural Preservative
There are dog foods that contain preservatives in the form of artificial chemicals such as ethoxyquin, BHT, and BHA. These are added for two reasons in order to prevent the food from spoiling and keep the taste lasting much longer than traditional dog food. Some dog foods have natural preservatives such as vitamin C (often listed as ascorbic acid) and vitamin E (often listed as tocopherols).
The next time you buy a dog food, buy it with natural preservatives and make sure to thoroughly read the ingredients first to make sure that the preservatives are actually derived from nature instead of it being artificially synthesized.
Last but certainly not least, try buying dog foods that are free of any kind of preservatives. These products have be properly sealed in a cool, dry, bug free place and used immediately to guarantee freshness.
