Understanding what goes into your dog’s food is a ‘must-do’ for any dog lovers. When you feed your dog with all different types of dog foods you want to make sure you’ve read the labels and understand what’s in it. There are a lot of things in commercial dog foods that you may not want your dog to be eating. Understanding what to look for is half the battle.

You have your choice of fresh or dry dog foods. Fresh foods you prepare for your dog at home usually have ingredients like fresh-cut chicken pieces, blue-green algae, and cranberry juices.

If you should come across a dog food containing various types of preservatives and your dog develops a sudden case of food allergies, it’s probably one of the unwanted ingredients within that food item. By the same token, understanding about moisture in dog foods helps you to determine which one your dog prefers the most. There are different levels of moisture in different dog foods. Find one your dog really likes.

For a vegetarian dog food diet you’ll find the foods contain things like –

Iron Sulphate
Choline Chloride
Zinc Oxide
Calcium Carbonate
Soy Bean Oil
Pasta
Beet Pulp
Magnesium
Wheat Middlings

and maybe a few other things. For the non-vegetarian foods you’ll find things like –

Mutton
Beef
Quail
Chicken
Raw Egg
Fish

and more. One of the most essential ingredients for the nutrition of dogs is ‘Taurine’. Thiamine is an ingredient added to frozen fish in dog foods. A lot of dog food preparations will contain essential fatty acids, fiber, carbohydrates, and vitamins like A,D,E, and B-complex.

Minerals such as zinc are also a crucial ingredient you want for your dog. It’s good for healthy skin and calcium. The calcium will encourage good bone growth and muscle tone.

The ingredients listed above in this article are what you want to look for in your dog foods. Some of the dog foods containing these ingredients may cost a little more but are well worth it for the health of your dog. If your pet is truly your ‘best friend’ then never skimp on the kind of foods that will keep your friend healthy and happy.

See Raw ground beef for dogs and cats.

If you are the proud owner of a puppy aged from one week to six weeks, you need to be aware that the little fellow will need to be fed milk up to seven times per day. Your puppy will almost certainly be vocal and let you know when he feels that it’s time for him to be fed.

You can safely reduce the number of times that you feed your puppy once he reaches the age of six to eight weeks old. At this point, you will notice that your puppy will start to eat more solid food, and once he has reached this age, start to mix a little water in his food and give it to him a couple of times per day. However, you should reduce the number of feeding sessions, if your puppy develops diarrhea.

The feeding frequency will probably change yet again once your puppy has reached the age of two months, and you need to be careful and make sure you are keeping an eye on the overall feeding process. As a rule of thumb you should feed your puppy if he is obviously hungry, although different dog breeds have different requirements.

Once your puppy reaches three to six months, he will be teething and because of this, feeding only twice a day is recommended. However, you want to be sure that you avoid any deficiencies in your dog’s diet, and at the same time make sure that he is eating all that he needs to.

Commercially manufactured dog foods for puppies should be on your shopping list once your puppy has reached the age of six months, and up to a year old. Start to give him adult dog food gradually, once he is a year old. You should reduce the amount of times that you feed an older dog, because as your dog ages his movements become more limited and more restricted. You can increase the number of daily feedings if your dog is pregnant, but in this case it is extremely important to make sure you that are only feeding her good quality dog food.

What you need to know before adopting a new dog.