How to choose the right dog food for your dog? 4 tips!

Are you planning to buy or adopt a dog soon and therefore wondering how to choose the right dog food for your new friend? Or do you want to switch to a different type of dog food, and want to know what to consider? Every day we are inundated with a large number of different brands and an even larger range of different flavours. This can be overwhelming, especially as a new owner. So how do you know which dog food is most suitable for your dog? In this article, we will give you 4 handy tips for choosing the right dog food to give your dog a happy and healthy life!

Every dog is different, and so every dog has different needs. Since, as an owner, you only want the very best for your four-legged friend, it is wise to do some research beforehand. Luckily, we are here to help! Of course, we cannot answer the question of which dog food is suitable for your dog in one sentence, as every dog will react differently to different brands and flavours. However, we can give you some useful tips to consider as a dog owner.

Choosing the right dog food: why is it so important?

Before we tell you what to consider when choosing food for your four-legged friend, it is important for owners to understand why finding the right dog food is so important. Why is not every dog food suitable? And can it hurt to feed your dog the wrong kind of food? We can already give a short and clear answer to that second question: Yes, often it does.

A healthy life for your dog? It starts with the right dog food!

Here’s the thing: dog food is actually the basis of your dog’s health and happiness. Unfortunately, the importance of choosing the most suitable dog food is still underestimated by many dog owners. However, we cannot stress enough how important it is not to skimp on quality here! After all, how does the saying go? “What you save on food will pay you back double and double at the vet!” Yet many owners do not bother to thoroughly read the labels on dog food packaging. They are misled by promising, catchy slogans, and therefore miss important information. How much food to give of a particular food, for example, and what nutrients the food contains.

In addition, many owners make the mistake of not taking their dog’ s daily activity into account when choosing the right dog food. Is it very active, or just very quiet? All too often, dogs become overweight because they are not fed the right food! And let us certainly not forget the age or life stage of our four-legged friend! By choosing dog food based on a number of determining factors, we as owners can ensure that our dog gets the right nutrients, and stays at a healthy weight. We firmly believe that a dog is truly a part of our family, so we consider his health just as important as that of a family member!

What should you consider?

1. Quality of dog food

Let’s start right away with the most important aspect to look out for when choosing the right dog food: quality ingredients! When choosing dog food, it is incredibly important to read the labels thoroughly, as they give a good indication of the quality of the food in question. A handy tip: the ingredients are always listed on the packaging in order of exactly how much has been processed in the food. In other words, the most important ingredient will always be listed first! Read through the first 3 with great care, these will already give you a good idea of what you are dealing with. Always ask yourself the following question: does this dog food contain the right nutrients that will optimally contribute to my dog’s good health?

Dibaq: 100% top-quality natural food

We made it our mission to look for food brands that stand out from others due to their top-quality natural ingredients and exceptional freshness. That way, you don’t have to read through lists of ingredients – we did that for you! That’s how we came across, among others, the great brand Dibaq, our partner for high-quality dog food than contains 100% natural ingredients. The products, packed with fresh meat, fresh fish, and fresh vegetables and fruits, were also all approved for human consumption. Discover the Dibaq Sense Line here!

2. Does your dog have allergies or other problems?

As an owner, it is important to know if your dog has certain allergies, and if there are certain ingredients he cannot tolerate. This is the basis of choosing the right dog food, and is crucial. If you notice that your dog often scratches or licks himself, he may well have a grain or gluten allergy. Chicken and beef allergies are also common in dogs. A visit to the vet is definitely not unnecessary here!

Hypoallergenic food: also for dogs without allergies!

We highly recommend choosing hypoallergenic food! This means that all the ingredients in the food are chosen to prevent allergies. One tip we would like to give you right away is that even dogs without allergies really benefit from being served hypoallergenic food. For this too, we recommend the dog food from our partner Dibaq. This food is not only hypoallergenic, but also holistic, and also very easy to digest!

3. Size, age and weight of your dog

Third, when choosing the right food for your dog, it is important to consider your dog’ s life stage, size, and weight. Often, according to age and weight, certain products are added to dog food. Since puppies still have to grow and therefore need more energy, they naturally also need a modified type of food. This food will be higher in calories compared to food for older dogs. Also, the pellet size differs between those for small dogs and pellets suitable for larger dogs, such as a labrador.

Adapted food for older dogs & puppies

For older dogs, we recommend choosing food that is lower in fats and therefore lower in calories, such as our Dibaq Sense Light & Senior line. It also contains L- carnetine, which is good for the heart. Dibaq also has an adapted line for puppies, you can discover it here.

4. Extras to look out for when choosing the right dog food

Read through the ingredients list thoroughly? Taken into account your dog’s age, size and weight? Checked whether your dog has any allergies? If you answered “yes” to all these questions, there are still a few things to consider. For instance, omega 3 & 6 fatty acids ensure a good coat, act as an anti-inflammatory and improve the immune system, which in the long run ensures fewer allergies. In turn, prebiotic herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano…) are natural antioxidants that help feed the good bacteria in the intestines, keeping them healthy. Thus, these too contribute to a strong immune system.

There are also chondriotine and glucosamine. These counteract the breakdown of cartilage and stimulate its production. This keeps your dog’s joints healthy and strong. Certainly not unimportant! Yucca, another topper, has the same properties as the herbs above. Yucca also has the added benefit of sharply reducing the smell of faeces. This is due to the fact that yucca binds to ammonia and volatiles. Always a nice bonus, isn’t it?

The search for the right dog food for your dog is not easy. Nevertheless, it is an important process that is worth spending some time on! With these tips, we want to share our knowledge with you, and hope to save you some of that time. Looking for more information about our partner Dibaq, and how their products contribute to a healthy life for your dog? Then be sure to take a look at this page!