5 Tips for Choosing the Right Puppy Food

Just like caring for children, you need to take care in choosing what food you feed to your new precious little puppy. Choosing the right puppy food can set your puppy up for a long and healthy life. It is a scientifically proven fact that dogs that have been given proper nutrition from when it was still a puppy can live up to five years longer, and those aren’t in dog years.

Here are 5 tips that can help you choose the best puppy food for your cute little canine friend.

1. Make sure that there is a good source of protein in at least one of the top 5 ingredients of the product. Two of the best sources of protein that is needed by growing pups can be found in chicken meal and in catfish meat. Chicken meal has a lot more protein than chicken meat because most of the water in it has been removed so the protein in it becomes more concentrated. Catfish on the other hand, besides having a lot of protein, also has essential oils that can do wonders for your puppy’s health.


2. Choose a puppy food that has the recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals for your puppy’s stage of development. By feeding your puppy a lot of nutritious foods during the first year of his life, you are setting him up for life. Besides the nutrients from the food your puppy eats, you can also give him some supplements just to make sure.


3. Avoid feeding your puppy with food that contains corn, wheat, gluten, soy and dairy products as these can be very hard to digest, especially for a young puppy. Just because a dog food says all-natural in its label it does not mean that it’s good for your puppy. Dogs sometimes develop allergies to some grains like corn and wheat, so feeding your puppy with foods that contain these could possibly harm them.


4. Just like with what you eat, your puppy’s food should not have any potentially dangerous chemical preservatives in it. Check the labels, if you see BHA, BHT, and ethoxoquin then you should put it back on the shelf, these chemicals can be harmful for your little puppy’s still developing immune system.


5. Keep away from meat by-products. Meat by-products are the leftover parts of the animal after all of the best parts have been taken away and sold. These generally include the guts and heads of chickens, pigs, etc. If you’re dog is a bit older he can probably handle these kinds of meats since the digestive system is more developed, but the stomachs of young puppies can’t. Read the labels carefully so that you do not get dog food with meat by-products.

Choosing the right kind of puppy food will set the tone as to how healthy your puppy will grow. By feeding him the right foods with the right amount of nutrients at an early age you will be setting up a good foundation for your beloved pet’s health.