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If you have a new puppy it is important to find the right food to keep it healthy. Here are the things you should consider.

If you have recently got a new puppy for your family you may well be wondering how to find the best food for it. After all there are a huge number of different brands on the market. You may also have found that much of the advice you have already received is quite confusing.

The first thing to bear in mind is that there is no more important time in a dog's life to be feeding it a quality food than when it is a puppy. You have gone to the trouble to get a puppy in the first place. Give it a good start in its life by feeding it a quality food. The cheap brands on the market simply do not offer good nutrition, no matter what the label says. In the long run it will end up costing you more as poor nutrition is one of the main causes of health problems in dogs. Therefore you may well find large vet bills later in the puppy's life.The first place to get advice on the right puppy food is from where you purchased your puppy. If it is from a pet shop or breeder they will have already been feeding it a certain type of food. Although is is not essential to continue with the same food, it's a good place to start. Just remember that they may have been using a particular food because they get a good deal from the manufacturer, not necessarily because it's the best.
Next, do some of your own research. Look for puppy foods that have a specified meat (such as chicken or lamb) as the first ingredient on the label. If it is chicken or lamb meal that is even better, as meal is simply a more concentrated form of meat. Avoid ingredients such as cereals, soy, wheat, dairy products of beef as these are fillers or can cause allergies and skin problems. You should also certainly avoid anything artificial such as preservatives, colorings and flavorings as they are definitely harmful.

Anything labelled as by-products, animal fat, or non-specific meats (in other words labelled simply as 'meat') is also not desirable as they can contain all sorts of things that are unfit for human (and animal) consumption. They are of questionable nutritional value and can cause health issues.It is important that you give your puppy the best start in its life be selecting the right puppy food. Get the best you can afford and remember that the more expensive foods may not be as costly as they seem; you will generally feed a smaller amount than with foods containing cheap fillers so a bag will go further.

Here are a few ideas that will help you save time and money and ensure you get the best food for your pet when you are buying dog food.

Buying dog food can be a bit of a nightmare. After all there are so many brands on the market, all claiming to be the best possible food, “complete nutrition” and so on. There are also many television and print advertisements, all showing happy and healthy dogs and screaming to you to buy their brand ahead of any other.However, if you go beyond the marketing hype there are a number of things you can do to ensure you get the best food for your dog or puppy. Not only that but you can save yourself some time and money as well.
Firstly, remember that the cheapest priced food will not always work out to be the most economical. Most of the lower cost brands contain cereals and other fillers that hold little nutritional value for dogs or puppies. That means that not only will your pet suffer health wise in the long run, but you will need to feed more. Because of that, you may find that your weekly food bill is greater than if you had used a better food in the first place. Remember too that poor food can create health problems that can mean bigger vet bills.

So don't just buy the cheapest. Look at the recommended daily feed allowance on the package and compare the average weekly cost. Remember too that many of the better brands offer loyalty plans where you can receive free bags; these should be taken into account when calculating the overall cost.When looking at ingredients, favor the foods that have a named meat (such as chicken or lamb) or meat meal as the first ingredient on the label. The ingredients to avoid include cereals, wheat, soy, beef (a major cause of food allergies in dogs), animal fats and by-products. Certainly also steer clear of any foods with artificial colorings, preservatives or flavorings. These can all be harmful.
Once you know the brand or brands you wish to buy you can keep an eye out for any special offers. Dogs do not usually have problems switching between foods as long as the foods are of decent quality.

When considering where to buy your dog food, remember that a very good option these days is online. If you know the brand you are looking for (or at least the type of ingredients you are after) then you can get some very good value through online shopping. These online stores do not have the same running costs as retail outlets so can often be cheaper. You also get the convenience of home delivery.With a bit of planning and research you can not only save time and money but you can ensure your dog or puppy has the healthiest and happiest life possible.

If you're looking for the best food for your dog or puppy it's a good idea to check out what others are saying. Here are some of the best sites with dog food reviews.

Finding the most suitable dog or puppy food for your own particular pet can be a difficult task. There is a huge variety of foods available from supermarkets, pet stores and vets. All of them of course claim that theirs is the best! Adding to the confusion are advertisements showing healthy dogs loving to eat their food, with the a claiming that this is the result you will get of you feed your dog that food.When choosing a dog food many people use price as an indicator of quality. In fact, this is not necessarily a good measure of quality at all; many companies (particularly the large ones) have huge marketing costs and these have to be built into the price you pay. After all, the advertisements on television or in magazines – and even the signs at the vet clinic – all have to be paid for from the sales of the food (this is one reason smaller pet food companies can often offer better value, even if they are not so well known).
You could also try to look at the ingredients, but this is not as straightforward as it seems. Many ingredients on dog food labels are confusing and difficult to understand. There is a high degree of leeway in the marketing of dog foods (and other pet foods). For instance, did you know that if a food says “with” a certain ingredient (for instance “with real chicken”) then by law it only needs to contain a minimum of 3% of that ingredient? The rest of the food may well be filled up with low quality cereals and by products which do little for the health of the dog.

Another alternative which many people use is to ask a salesperson at their local pet shop or vet clinic. However, they may not know much either; after all, they usually want to sell you the products they have without having done a lot of independent research into dog or puppy nutrition.Fortunately, with the internet, there is a solution: dog food reviews. There are now a number of websites which review dog and puppy foods. A word of caution, however: it is very important to only take the word of independent dog food reviews that look at the food based on the ingredients. That is why the websites of a particular dog food manufacturer are not usually a good guide, unless you can find the ingredients and understand them yourself to make up your own mind.
Here are two websites with independent dog food reviews that are excellent:www.dogfoodadvisor.com
This dog food review website not only reviews products by brand, but they also have a lot of other useful information about dog food that pet owners would find very helpful. There is also the opportunity to post questions and comments.www.dogfoodanalysis.com
This is another website of dog food reviews. Like DogFoodAdvisor above, it uses a star rating system to grade the foods by quality.www.dogfoodproject.com
Although not a site with actual review of dog food brands, this is a very informative website that goes into a lot of detail about what really is in dog foods and the effects on animals. If you are wanting to learn more about dog food ingredients and overall nutrition this is highly recommended.

Fortunately, the internet now provides a way to navigate through the confusing world of dog food and find the right one for your dog or puppy. Dog food review websites such as those above provide excellent – and independent – advice.

There is a lot of misinformation regarding allergies and pet food, but there is no doubt it is quite a common problem. Fortunately Pro Pac Ultimates and Earthborn Holistic is one of the least allergy-creating brands on the market. This is based on the choice of ingredients in each formula.

Below is an excerpt from an article which highlights many good points about food allergies in dogs:

By Dr. Jennifer Coates, PetMD
Allergies are a common problem for dogs. Typical symptoms include itchiness resulting in excess scratching, biting, or licking, and sometimes chronic or recurrent skin/ear infections. While dogs most frequently suffer from allergies to environmental triggers (e.g., pollen, molds, and dust mites or flea bites), allergic reactions to food are possible, and are frequently a source of greater controversy.

Diagnosing canine food allergies is not easy. It typically requires a food trial during which a dog eats ABSOLUTELY NOTHING other than a food containing protein and carbohydrate sources to which he has never been exposed before. Another option is to only allow your dog to eat food that has been processed in such a way as to make it hypoallergenic. A food trial needs to continue for at least eight weeks before its success or failure can be evaluated. This is easier said than done!I think the difficulty we have in definitively diagnosing food allergies in dogs is at least partially responsible for some of the myths that have developed around the condition. Let's look at a few, along with the truths behind them.Myth: Dogs are typically allergic to corn, wheat, soy, and other plant-based ingredients.Truth: In a study of 278 cases of food allergies in dogs where the problem ingredient was clearly identified, beef was by far the biggest culprit (95 cases). Dairy was number two at 55 cases. Wheat came in third with 42 cases. Soy and corn were actually minimal offenders, coming in at 13 and 7 cases, respectively.
In fact, protein sources are more often to blame than grains. Beef, dairy, chicken, egg, lamb, soy, pork and fish were responsible for 231 of the food allergies, while wheat, corn and rice combined accounted for only 54. (Some dogs were allergic to more than one ingredient, which is why these numbers total more than 278.)

Pro Pac Ultimates and Earthborn Holistic do not contain any of the most common allergy-causing ingredients.  It's why we get so many dogs that have moved to Pro Pac and Earthborn Holistic from other foods that find any allergy problems clear up.
If you have any issues with allergies feel free to give us a call anytime. We're obviously not vets but we do understand dog nutrition better than most.

With so many brands of dog food on the market today, how do you choose the best one for your dog or puppy? Here's what to look for when buying dog food.

There are a huge number of dog food brands for sale these days, and many more seem to be coming onto the market. Many of them are backed by extensive advertising campaigns, telling you that they are 'complete nutrition' and have all sorts of wonderful ingredients that your dog will love. Often the packaging isn't much help, either. Again, they all seem to say that theirs is the best, and have pictures of happy dogs to prove it.There is of course also a huge range of prices and many dog owners use price as a guide for the quality of the food. After all, the more expensive the dog or puppy food the better it must be, right? Well actually, not necessarily.
Some people decide which food to feed their dog based on whether their dog likes it or not. This is not necessarily a good idea. After all, if you asked a child what food they liked the most they would very likely say ice cream, french fries or some other fast food. But would it be in their best interests to give them a diet only of those foods? It is the same with dogs – the food they like may not be the best for them. Not only that, but most dogs will eat virtually anything if their owner goes about things the right way with them.

Ultimately, the only two things you can use to select the best dog food are the ingredients of the food and how well the dog does on it.As far as ingredients go, unfortunately labels can be very confusing. Find the ingredients list on the package (which can be hard to find, or may be listed in a number of different languages). Avoid anything artificial such as flavorings, colorings, preservatives or other additives. Over time these can definitely be harmful to your dog. Also make sure the the first listed ingredient is a meat, preferably chicken, lamb or poultry. Avoid those which have the first ingredient as a cereal or grain as these are just fillers. Also avoid by-products; these are all the parts of the animal that are not the meat and can contain all sorts of things that do your dog or puppy no good whatsoever.
Once you have selected a dog or puppy food with quality ingredients, try it out with your pet for a few days or weeks. Notice the condition of its coat and see if it gets better or worse. Also look out for signs of scratching or skin irritations which may suggest an allergy to the food.

It is very confusing trying to find the best food for your dog or puppy and there is very little in the way of independent advice available. Every company will of course say that theirs is the best! The above guidelines will go a long way to making sure you have the food that suits your pet the best.