Diet dog food is marketed to you at the grocery and pet store in all kinds of packaging, offering all types of promises. With a large number of our family dogs experiencing medical problems due to obesity, shopping the right types of diet dog food is important. Knowing a bit about what dog food labels mean and what types of food a dog's body needs for survival will help you to find the best food for your pet, and will help to prevent obesity and encourage weight loss.
Carefully check ingredient labels to be sure of the contents, as the words "diet" or "complete and balanced" written on the package can be misleading. You may find that quality dog foods are much more expensive, but careful inspection will reveal that your dog will require a much smaller serving of quality food as compared with filler brands. This will even out your expenses as a higher quality food will last longer and work to even out any medical and weight issues that your dog may have.
1. Natural Balance
Natural Balance offers a diet dog food called Original Ultra Reduced Calorie Formula. The label promises fresh meat products, fewer calories, oatmeal, omega 3s for coat shine and skin, brown rice, potatoes and no corn, wheat, soy, eggs, dairy or oils that may be harmful to the health of your pet. Careful inspection of the ingredients label will reveal that the first several ingredients listed are, in fact, meat products. This is a positive signal that you may be reviewing an excellent choice in quality food.
2. Wellness CORE Reduced Fat Adult Dog Food
Wellness diet dog food is another brand that offers real meat products as an ingredient in their dog food products. This brand actually has a higher protein content than Natural Balance, which may benefit your dog even further. Lack of harmful preservatives and artificial flavors or colors will also lead to a more naturally balanced diet for your dog. For dogs, less intake of calories and fat is not necessarily the answer. Feeding a well-balanced diet, rich in protein and nutritious ingredients will quickly return the dog to an optimal weight.
3. Dog Foods to Avoid
There are many diet dog food brands that should be avoided due to the ingredients and processing that goes into manufacture. For example, Eukanuba is one of the brands toted as higher quality, and this brand offers several choices for diet and weight management dog food. The description of its Weight Loss Adult Dog Food claims that it contains 43% less fat than it's regular food and also includes L-Carnitine, an enzyme that promotes fat oxidation which may lead to weight loss. It's important to understand that dogs require a certain amount of healthy fat to keep their energy levels elevated. Simply removing fat from a dog food tends to defeat the purpose. A less active dog will gain weight. Additionally, the first ingredient on the label of this food is corn grits. Always avoid foods that do not list a meat product as their first ingredient. Feeding your dog a grain based diet will not only elevate weight levels, but may lead to other severe health problems.