5 Reasons Why Top Dog Food Brands Are The Better Choice
When you think of puppies and their boundless energy, it’s easy to think that they will remain that way forever. And while most puppies will have no problem eating any piece of kibble in sight, not to mention anything off your dinner plate if you’re not careful, a healthy well-balanced diet is essential if you want your dog to retain as much of that puppy energy as possible.
When you factor in other areas of health, such as digestion, immune system, and the heart, you realize everything comes back to diet. From maintaining a shiny coat to keeping regular digestion, the food you feed your dog has a very real impact on their quality of life, especially over time. The best brands of dog food prioritize high-quality ingredients that contain better nutrients, which is what makes them so beneficial to include in your dog’s diet.
This detailed guide covers some of the ways in which a healthy diet can help your dog stay active and strong, as well as examples of some of the incredible brands we carry right here in our store at My Pets Plus. We’ll also be taking a look at the importance of diverse nutrient sources in your dog’s diet, and why sustainably source ingredients matter as well.
1.Skin and Coat Health
One of the first clear benefits to helping your dog eat a healthy diet that you may even notice in the short-term is in the state of their coat. It can be fairly obvious when your dog’s coat or skin becomes
compromised in some way. They will shed more easily, and their coat won’t have the same luster or thickness as it usually does.
Your dog’s skin can also become dry and flakey due to a poor diet. When certain nutrients are not present in the diet or aren’t being properly absorbed, it can result in a wide swath of different hair and skin issues that range from inconvenient to quite serious, if not addressed. Of course, once dry itchy skin and hair loss sets in, it can promote scratching and eventual irritation, which has a snowball effect. These dry irritated patches can even become infected, and other issues can set in as a result.
While not all coat and skin conditions that dogs develop are because of a poor diet, a lack of nutrition certainly plays a role in many. If you are concerned at all about the thickness and shininess of your dog’s coat, or the condition of their skin, making sure they are eating properly is essential. You might be wondering which kinds of foods to focus on, however, especially if you are unsure of which nutrients your pup is lacking.
Healthy fats are specifically credited with shiny and healthy coats. While a variety of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids play a role as well, beneficial fats are essential. This means it’s important to make sure your dog is getting plenty of quality meats. You may want to consider freeze-dried dog food, which helps to preserve the nutrients of the meat.
Our North Winds Premium Haven Sun Seeker Chicken Bites are a perfect example of the high-quality protein and fat that would help your dog maintain a shiny coat. The quality chicken, combined with other nutrient-rich ingredients such as salmon oil, pumpkin, and coconut oil is exactly the kind of ingredients your dog’s coat and skin need.
2. Maintaining Digestive Health
Small animals like dogs often suffer from digestive issues, and part of the reason for this is because their diets aren’t being properly addressed. Foods that include low-quality meat meals and cheap grains don’t do much in the way of supporting a healthy gut biome for your dog, and also make bowel movements a chore. While dogs don’t necessarily require the same amount of fiber that we do and have many other different dietary requirements, cheap meats and unnatural ingredients aren’t enough.
Maintaining dietary health is essential for your pet because a healthy digestive system is simply integral to the overall well-being of your pet. This is not an area you want to take any chances on. Simple complications with digestion or nutrient absorption can dramatically impact your dog’s health, especially in old age.
The top dog food brands formulate their products in such a way as to promote regular digestion and a healthy gut biome whenever possible. This means diverse and nutrient-rich food that contains plenty of beneficial fats, fruits, and vegetables that work together to help ease your pet’s digestion. Healthy ancient grains can also help play a role here as they have fiber that aids in the digestive process as well.
It is important to note that all dogs are different and some can eat anything without so much as a hiccup, and appear as though nothing is amiss. They may not have any indicators that anything is wrong in terms of their health, digestive, or otherwise. It’s up to us as pet owners to properly monitor the health of our pets and make sure they are getting what they need when they seem perfectly fine. This is how you help prevent issues from popping up in the future.
3.Benefits For The Immune System
Much like the digestive system, dog immune systems rely heavily on a well-balanced diet that includes plenty of beneficial nutrients, especially vitamins and antioxidants. You want to make sure that the foods you are feeding your dog aren’t harmful to the balance of their gut, which means you should make sure the food that you are purchasing doesn’t include fillers and chemical additives. The more natural and high-quality the ingredients are, the better.
While high-quality meat meals do contain many vitamins and minerals that support immune health, fruits and vegetables may be a better source. It is worth noting that technically speaking, your dog doesn’t need fruits and vegetables to survive. They are more than happy to chow down on a meat-only diet, and if they are getting a regular influx of high-quality meat, they will be perfectly healthy and happy as is.
However, by introducing products that contain fruits and vegetables into your dog’s diet, you may be providing them with a more complete nutrient-profile that better represents their ancestral diet. While we are apt to think of dogs as pure carnivores, they are better classified as omnivores. In the wild, they are scavengers that exist quite fine on a mix of meats and plant matter.
The reason why it may be helpful for your dog to eat fruits and vegetables specifically is that trace nutrients found in these plant-sources may not be available in the meats that they are getting. No amount of wet food or kibble can completely replicate the exact nutrients that your dog would be receiving had they caught their own wild prey, High-quality dog food brands seek to rectify this by adding a variety of beneficial vegetables and fruits into their formulas for a more complete and well-rounded diet.
As it concerns the immune system specifically, as a pet owner you always want to make sure your pet is getting what they need to fight off illnesses. Certain vitamins and other nutrients are important to include in your dog’s dietary regimen if you want them to be as close to peak health as possible. You never know when your pup could fall ill due to a virus or other complication, and if that time comes, they will rely on a strong immune system to see them through. Diet certainly has an impact on how well your dog can respond to such threats.
4.Diverse Nutrient Sources
One of the differences between typical mass-market dog food and the top dog food brands is that the latter focus on diverse nutrient sources in order to help your pet get everything he or she needs. From quality fish oils to antioxidant-rich berries and vitamin-packed vegetables, these products take into account the full range of needs that your pet has.
You can’t forget about the meat, either, which is why these brands also go out of their way to include better quality meat meals in their products. For instance, our North Winds Premium dog food blends contain pork meal, chicken fat, and succulent ocean fish that not only contain plenty of protein and fat but taste great too.
Getting a diverse profile of nutrients is one of the keys to maintaining your dog’s energy and overall health. As stated before, most dogs would be perfectly content to munch on a diet of basic meats, but this might not be the best possible option for them given the fact that they have omnivore proclivities in the wild. It’s far more beneficial for the long-term wellness of your dog to make sure he or she is getting a robust diet packed with nutrients from a variety of sources, which will help to fill in any nutritional gaps in their diet while also making sure their palette is pleased as well.
5.Sustainably Sourced Products
The last point that is worth mentioning here is that these high-quality brands tend to place a lot of importance on sustainable sourcing for their ingredients. Aware pet owners who not only care about their dogs but the state of things in general for animals everywhere, as well as the environment. The foods that you feed your dog should be developed in such a way that it minimizes the impact that it has on the environment.
North Winds Premium products specifically source ingredients as responsibly as possible, with an emphasis on quality, making sure every batch of our fine dog food will truly benefit your pet without harming the planet. Just as we are all becoming more conscious of what we eat, we need to be more aware of what our pets are eating as well and not be so quick to jump on those bargain foods.
Whether you have a bunch of puppies who you want to make sure are getting a complete and wholesome diet, or an adult dog or two who needs a better-formulated food that will help them stay energized and regular, you should be able to find such products easily and without any hassle. Here at My Pets Plus, we make it easy to find high-quality dog foods from top brands that focus on quality above all else.
The food that your dog eats every day should include beneficial nutrients from sources like sweet potatoes, peas, cranberries, quinoa, collard greens, and even kelp. Just like us, dogs thrive off of a varied diet, which means you need to keep your eye out for brands that take this into consideration. To meet your dog’s nutritional needs, it’s best to stick with products that have natural ingredients and that are well-formulated to promote muscle growth, shiny coats, and happy grins.
Interested in starting your pet on a healthier diet? You won’t have any trouble finding beneficial dog food products here at My Pets Plus. We only carry brands that we stand by and trust in terms of nutrient quality and taste that your dogs will enjoy. We also work hard to make sure the brands that we support practice sustainable sourcing whenever possible, for products that you can really be proud of giving to your pet.
If you aren’t quite sure which products are best suited for your dog, or if your pet has a sensitive stomach or other special digestive need, simply give us a call at 218-444-4738 and we will be happy to help answer your questions and assist you with finding a dog food that your pet will go wild for.
