Does A Premium Diet Pay Off When Training Your Dog?

Good health is vital for getting good results when training your dog. The basis for good health is good dog food.
The best ingredient is fresh meat, but it depends on your income whether you can afford it or not. Whatever you do, please do invest in a good dry food product. A good brand is not necessarily an expensive brand. From the label you can learn quite a lot...
On the label the ingredients are in a specific order: higher proportions come first. So, if the first ingredient mentioned on the label is rice, it means that this food contains more rice than anything else.
One of the ingredients that you don't want for your dog, but found in many feed because they are cheap, are animal by products. When you see this mentioned on the label you might reconsider buying the brand. Higher quality brands might mention it on the label, but you'll find it normally at the bottom of the ingredient list.
By-Products Meals are animal parts like feathers, claws, blood that are not good for human consumption. You can find them in animal food, because it is legal to use them for animals, but they don't provide high quality energy and they don't attribute to a good health of your dog.
Just as one indicator, dogs with healthy coats (particularly, long-haired breeds) will look shinier and shed less. Assuming proper bathing and brushing habits, of course.
Some experts believe that the proper ratio of meat, vegetables and starch should be around 40%, 30%, 30% respectively.
Most frequent proteins found are lamb, chicken and beef. These sources of meat are vital for a healthy coat, strong muscles and a good overall condition.
The vegetables contain vitamins and minerals that produce hormones and enzymes, which is important for strong bones among others. For example carrots and squash are extremely good vegetables for dogs.
The starch content is often provided by brown or white rice. Either one is an excellent source of carbohydrates. These compounds are broken down in the body and form the basis for energy and cell repair.
Not all dogs are made alike and thus dietary needs can vary between breeds. Take the Golden Retriever for instance. This breed is quite sensitive to wheat based foods. But what you want to avoid especially are corn based feed, because that's the hardest to digest for any dog.
Look for these on the label and discuss with your vet whether it's necessary to avoid them. Some indicators for poor quality feed are soft stools, excessive scratching and frequent gas.
If your dog doesn't like dry food try to make it moist with some water and then warm it up a little. You can add some left overs or moist dog food so he'll like it better. Most dry food manufacturers claim that dry food cleans the dogs teeth, but that is not the case for low quality feed.
Be careful not to give to many treats. Treats usually have a high fat content. This is why dogs like treats in the first place, but if you give more than 2 treats a day, chose a good brand and give your dog less dry food.
I believe that the price difference of a quality food outweighs the extra veterinary costs that you'll have with low quality foods in the long run. Do invest in a high quality food and you'll reap the rewards for the rest of your dogs life.
The shininess of his coat, the clear and moist eyes and other less clear indicators will show you have chosen the right food. And, to finish off with a final remark. Isn't the health of your dog priceless?

Article Source: http://articlescream.com

About the author: Daniel Varena helps people to train their dog and on his website razas de perros you can read a lot more articles. You can also get lots of accessories to help you with dog training in his shop tienda animales

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