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Low-cost food might be better for your wallet, but it can be a raw deal for your dog, because he may not get the nutrition he needs. Premium foods, such as IAMS™ ProActive Health™ Smart Puppy Original , make sense both nutritionally (because of consistent, high-quality ingredients) and economically because they provide:
The investment in a premium food might initially cost more per bag, but because these high-quality formulas are high in nutrient density, your dog may need less food, which can offset the higher cost per unit of weight. On a cost-per-feeding basis, look at how much you feed each day as opposed to how much the bag costs, because nutrient and energy density will generally be lower for a low-cost food compared with premium foods.
With budget-priced formulas, the emphasis is on production and ingredient costs. Two bags of the same least-cost formulated food can have different ingredients and/or levels of ingredients. Plus, those ingredients may vary significantly in digestibility. This means, simply, that you may need to feed more just to equal the nutrition offered by a smaller amount of a premium dog food formula.
High-quality, complete, and balanced premium dog foods such as the IAMS brands are specifically designed to provide your dog with a food that has:
To determine how much food to give your dog, check the daily feeding recommendations set by the pet food manufacturer and read the label. To calculate portion sizes, divide the total daily recommended amount by the number of times (usually two for adult dogs) you plan to feed your dog.
To tell if your dog is at a healthy weight, move your hands along his sides. If you can feel his ribs, he's about right. Or, look down at him when you're directly above him. You should be able to see a waistline.
If he's gaining or losing a lot of weight, slightly decrease or increase his daily intake and weigh him in another week. If you have specific concerns about your dog's weight, talk to your veterinarian. He or she can assess your dog's needs and make a feeding recommendation.
Once you've decided on a premium formula, you have another choice to make: dry or moist. And what about biscuits?
Premium dry dog food gives you the best value and convenience, while fortifying your dog with high-quality nutrition. Premium dry foods come in a number of bag sizes and formulas suited to size, life stage, and activity level. Dry food also helps keep teeth clean, and it stays fresh for a long time if you store it properly.
Wet foods from IAMS provide 100% complete nutrition. IAMS ProActive Health Puppy Biscuits make great treats and rewards and can add taste variety to your new dog's diet.
Providing dogs with vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional components is important to their health and well-being. The best way to do so is by feeding a high-quality complete and balanced diet. Supplementing dog food often upsets the balance and may lead to a variety of health problems.
People supplement their dog's diet for different reasons. Some of these reasons might include:
It is important for concerned pet owners to realize that a quality dog food is carefully formulated to meet the caloric needs of the animal. In addition, the food provides the essential amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals specific to the nutritional requirements of dogs. Quality foods are complete and balanced for a specific life stage or lifestyle. By adding table scraps or other supplements, the delicate nutrient balance can be disrupted.
The interaction between different minerals is very complex. Fortunately, this is an area of nutrition that has been the focus of extensive research throughout many years. Research has shown that not only are the individual levels of minerals in a diet important, but so is the proper balance. An excess of one mineral may affect the absorption of a second, and lead to a deficiency in that second mineral.
One common supplement is feeding additional meat. However, because meat contains 20 to 40 times more phosphorus than calcium, adding meat to a balanced diet will upset the calcium to phosphorus (or Ca:P) ratio, which is important for proper bone development and maintenance. This may prompt the animal's body to absorb calcium from the bones in order to reach the right balance. This is often the case in older animals that experience tooth loss due to the resorption of bone from the lower jaw. Ca:P ratio should range between 1.1 to 1.4 parts of calcium for each 1 part of phosphorus.
Excess amounts of calcium have been associated with several bone diseases affecting growing puppies. Owners of large-breed puppies in particular believe that their puppies require extra calcium for proper development of large bones. Adding yogurt, cottage cheese, or calcium tablets to the pup's diet will only upset the body's delicate mineral balance. Remember that large-breed puppies will consume more food and receive the calcium their bodies need by eating the recommended portions. The best way to support a normal growth rate is to feed growing dogs adequate—but not excessive—amounts of a balanced diet, using a portion-controlled regimen.
The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) regulates the pet food industry and has established certain nutritional requirements for dogs and cats. These requirements are published annually in the AAFCO Manual. Only pet foods that have met the strict testing criteria established by AAFCO can carry the 'complete and balanced' statement on the label.
