Factors to address before selecting a dog food

• Your dog's age/life stage - make sure you choose a food that's nutritionally geared to your dog's age (puppy, adult, or senior).


• Your dog's body condition - dogs who are overweight or underweight need different nutrition than those who are not. Dogs who get lots of exercise also have different nutritional requirements. Choose a food that fits your dog's needs, whether it's weight control, performance, maintenance, or another formula.

the better-quality, healthier food you'll feed.

Consider Your Dog's Preferences
Keep in mind that no one food is best for every dog. Dogs are individuals, just like people. Some dogs prefer dry food, some canned. Some dogs prefer chicken, some prefer lamb. You could feed a brand of very well-formulated food to a group of dogs and find that most of them do great on it, some do marginally well, and a few actually get sick from it. Luckily, today's market offers many well-formulated dog foods for dogs at all life stages, and it's fine to try several to determine which one works best for your dog.

Look Closely at Ingredients
When you're shopping for a healthy food for your dog, the ingredient list on the back of the bag is a good place to start. By law, pet food labels must list their ingredients in order by weight. Look for dog foods with meat, fish, or eggs listed as the first ingredient. These are very digestible, and if they are listed as the first ingredient, you can assume the food offers a good-quality protein source, and includes several valuable, usable amino acids.

• "Grocery store" foods - those found in grocery stores and mass-market retailers - are typically made with lower-quality, less-digestible, inexpensive ingredients and are therefore a cheaper alternative. While easy on the pocketbook, "grocery store" foods normally do not provide your dog with the healthiest, most nutrient-dense ingredients.
  
  
• Premium foods - often found in grocery stores, pet stores, and veterinarian offices - contain higher-grade ingredients, but may still include some elements of "grocery store" food, such as artificial colors, artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, and "filler" ingredients. Premium foods are usually more expensive than "grocery store" foods because their ingredients are of a higher quality, and are therefore somewhat more beneficial and digestible.
  
  
• Healthy foods - the newest addition to the pet food market - provide pets with the highest quality, healthiest, and most nutritious ingredients. They are typically available for purchase online or direct from the manufacturer. Foods in the Healthy class contain nutrient-rich ingredients.

Formulated to provide optimum health  benefits for pets, these foods often use  whole, fresh fruits and vegetables, real  meat as the primary protein source, and  carbohydrate-rich  whole grains like brown  rice and barley. They should not contain    artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors.  They will almost always be fortified with  additional vitamins and minerals, and will  use the best natural sources for fatty acids  to help build healthy skin and a beautiful