Dog Food Comparisonwhat you need to know!Do you need a straightforward dog food comparison chart to help you pick out the best dog food for your precious puppy?
When trying to make a dog food comparison (and puppy food comparison) it can be difficult to wade through all the information and hype that surrounds commercial dog food today. If you have a new puppy it's important to make sure you feed him or her a good quality puppy kibble..... but it's not always easy to figure out which foods fit the bill! Well, to make it that little bit easier for you, we've put together a dog food comparison chart covering some of the best puppy foods on the market today. Take a look and then decide which one is the best fit for your little furball. What's in my puppy's food?Dog food manufacturers that adhere to the AAFCO standards are allowed to put the wording 'a complete and balanced diet' on their food bags. For you as a puppy parent, this means that the food has been tested during feeding trials and has been determined to be a well balanced diet.When making a dog food comparison look for a good source of protein as the first ingredient - chicken or lamb products are most commonly used. See our
Dog Food page
for detailed information on what ingredients you need to be looking for, as well as the different nutritional requirements of large breed and small breed puppies.
AAFCO guidelines set a minimum of 22% protein but an average puppy food will contain around 25%. Puppy food especially designed for small breeds should contain a higher percentage of protein than those formulated for large breed puppies, due to their different metabolisms. Fat is generally around 15%, but again is often quite a bit higher in small breed puppy food than in the ones designed for large breed puppies.
In the above puppy food comparison chart, Crude Protein, Crude Fat and DHA figures indicate the minimum amount of each that the food should contain. Crude Fiber and Moisture are the shown as maximums. If your puppy has a tendency towards allergies, keep an eye on her if the food you choose contains ground corn or soybean meal as they may cause problems. If you find your little furbaby has an upset tummy, diarrhea or excessive itchiness after starting on a new puppy kibble, she may be suffering from dog food allergies. Try changing over (slowly) to another brand, or look at making your own home made dog food so that you can control exactly what goes into her bowl! Other options are Dog Food Information
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