Dry food for dogs and cats. How to choose the right one for your pet?

Good nutrition for a four-legged friend is an important part of the life of any adult who cares not only for himself, but also for those whom he has tamed. Today it is no longer so popular to feed a dog with ordinary porridge with meat, where the necessary vitamins, minerals and healthy fats are unlikely to appear. But they are always enough in the best dry food that preserves and maintains the health of the pet. There are just a huge number of them on the market and it’s quite easy to get lost. We tell you how to avoid this and confidently choose exactly the dry food that is ideal for your dog.

Why dry food is much more convenient and practical than regular wet food?

When choosing between dry and natural wet food, there are several advantages that even the most experienced dog owner can hardly argue with. Firstly, storing, dosing and taking dry food with you if you are going on the road is much more convenient. They are qualitatively and reliably stored thanks to natural antioxidants and vitamins, unlike wet food, in which moisture reduces its shelf life. When answering the question of how to store dry dog food, it is important to know: it is good when it is immediately sold in a zip bag or you transfer it directly into a package that can be hermetically sealed. No need to worry about how to measure dry dog food without a scale, because you can use the same standard container every time. You can buy this at any pet store.

The typical shelf life of dry dog food is 1-1.5 years. But after you have already opened the package, it is recommended to store it for no more than 3 months. It is desirable that during this time the dog completely ate everything.

Secondly, due to its form of granules, dry food is more beneficial for the gums and teeth of the dog. So when thinking about whether to soak dry dog food, the answer will most often be - do not. It is worth doing this only if it hurts your pet to eat or he is gradually recovering from an illness.

Thirdly, dry food is always about saving. You can buy dry dog food 10 kg at a time and pay much cheaper than wet food. At the same time, the compositions of the best dry food are completely balanced and are not inferior to either self-cooked porridge with meat, or ordinary wet food.

What types of dry food exist and are they useful?

Standard, medical, premium or holistic - for each dog, a dry food has already been invented and created that is ideal for her. This is a key feature of dry food, because you can choose it for a pet with absolutely any needs.

The basic food is considered to be a standard food for the daily nutrition of a dog. It contains the necessary nutritional saturation, depending on its breed, age and individual characteristics. For example, the same best dry food for medium breed dogs contains more calories than the best dry food for small breed dogs. At the same time, there is a classification into economy, premium, super-premium and holistics. Economy class feeds are cheaper, but also consist of lower quality raw materials like various by-products. Sometimes they even contain flavor enhancers, so it happens that the dog cannot be torn off from such food. Premium class feeds already have more natural meat - up to 25%, and super-premium - much more. For holistics, they use completely selected ingredients, which include legumes, vegetables, fruits, berries, and even healthy herbs. Accordingly, the better and better the composition - the more expensive the cost. But it is important to understand that really good foods provide a complete diet for your dog, which includes fiber, protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. As a rule, these are cereals like rice, oatmeal and barley, to which vegetables are added. Meat in dry food can be chicken, lamb, or turkey—the highest quality protein for your dog's muscle tone. And fats get to him at the expense of vegetable oils and animal fats, which are in the composition of dry food.

That is why, when you choose a high-quality food with a good composition for your dog, it will in any case benefit its body: it will saturate, invigorate, improve mood, and also provide energy and activity.

How to choose the right dry food for your dog or cat?

There are also therapeutic and specialized dog foods on the market that take into account the peculiarities of their health. Therefore, before thinking about how to choose dry food for dogs, you need to be sure of the state of her body. Sometimes some diseases may not be obvious, so before buying and choosing food, a consultation with a veterinarian will not be superfluous. If it turns out that the pet has "weak points", then the usual food will no longer work. The food will be different. For example, the best dry food for dogs with sensitive digestion is more digestible, while the best dry food for neutered dogs contains less calories.

Of course, it is not necessary for a pet to get sick directly in order to eat special food. Sometimes it can even be just the age when it's time to find the best dry food for older dogs. As a rule, it also differs from ordinary food and already contains more vitamins and minerals that support the good condition of the body and the well-being of an adult dog.

What are the criteria for choosing dry food for your pet and what should you definitely pay attention to?

The best dry dog foods are formulated to meet all the important nuances of their nutritional needs. Sometimes it is not possible to find the same one the first time, although there are much more positive cases. Knowing what dry food is really right for your dog is easy. You need to carefully observe her conditions for one to two weeks from the moment you started giving it. A dog's behavior is a direct reflection of its reaction to food. The absence of allergies, an active interest in the world around him, energy and excellent health are good signs that dry food is suitable.

On our website you can get acquainted with the rating of the best manufacturers of dry dog food, which included the opinions of the owners of various pets. They are useful to know in any case and no matter what kind of food you are looking for. For example, when trying to find the best medical or simply the best dry food for large breed dogs, reviews are a must read. This is a real assessment of a variety of pet brands, thanks to which you can find out in advance which dry food is worth paying attention to and what to consider when choosing. If you wish, you have the opportunity to chat with one of the clients of such brands and ask all the details in a convenient messenger. To do this, just use the Ask.Direct chatbot, the button of which is located on the right in the brand description column.