There are a great many types and brands of dried dog food on the market and it can be hard choosing the most suitable one. First we should discuss what dried food is and how it compares to other dog foods.

Complete dried dog food has been baked into hard biscuit sized pieces. It is a good and complete source of nutrition and the crunching and chewing of the dried food acts like an abrasive against the teeth, removing plaque and stimulating the gums it can help keep teeth and gums in good condition. Complete dried dog food is easy to serve because you simply pour the required measurement into the dog’s bowl and it tends not to smell like the wet, canned dog foods.

Most leading dog food manufacturers such as Arden Grange Dog Food develop many ranges of their dog food depending on whether your dog is puppy, adult, senior, specific breed or even having a sensitive stomach. But which food is the best for your puppy or adult dog?

If you have a puppy up to the age of around 18 months look at the brands of food for puppies. These are not usually breed specific because food developed for puppies tends to contain different levels and types of ingredients. Puppies need different quantities of certain vitamins and nutrients, just like human babies. Puppy food can also be split by size of the breed i.e. small (e.g. Shih Tzu), medium (e.g. Border Collie) and large (e.g. Bull Mastiff). So by now you should at least be able to narrow the choice down by the age and size of the breed of your puppy.

Choosing dog food for adult dogs may be easier because most of the dog food brands have ranges split by specific breed and size. If you decide to simply go off the size of your dogs breed, all that is left is narrowing down the manufacturer and maybe the flavour of dog food such as chicken, beef or rabbit (which does tend to be the dogs preference which is where samples come in handy!). Or opt for ranges specifically developed for breeds such as labrador food.

Other things to consider when choosing a dog food includes your own personal preference. Brands such as Arden Grange are animal friendly i.e. not tested on animals during product development. Price is also an important factor; if you happened to switch brands because of the cost your dog could go on ‘hunger strike’ or get an upset tummy. So make sure you look at what you will have to spend on a regular basis and if you will be able to keep that up.

Handy tip: If there is more than one dog living with you it might help to get them all eating the same brand of dog food.

Tags: dog food, dried dog food, puppy food

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 7:07 AM and is filed under Dog Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.