If you have a furry companion at home, you must know the healthy dog food tips to avoid frequent visits to the neighborhood vet. The decision about what your dog’s diet should be like is something that must not ever be taken lightly. Besides regular exercise and emotional health, the dog’s daily diet is one of the biggest factors contributing to his overall well-being. Eating habits can prove to be the difference between a long life and a life ridden with illnesses, rashes, and diseases.

• It is wrong to buy dog foods based on what the advertisements say because ad-makers are not makers of dog foods. They simply market products; so even those who are not healthy will be promoted as safe and healthy for your pets. You can keep your pet safe by carefully examining his treats and foods by checking the food labels. Product labels will list the ingredients, and you can always check online to see which of these are right for your dog and which should be avoided.
• It is a good practice to feed your dog fresh foods; this must be counted as one of the best dog healthy food tips that every pet owner should follow. Fruits and vegetables, for instance, are enzyme-rich and will provide dogs with essential vitamins and minerals. Whole foods are fiber-loaded, and this too encourages better digestion. There are some veggies and fruits that you must avoid while there are some fruits and vegetables with parts that are highly nutritious for dogs, like the beetroot leaves and broccoli stems.
• A common mistake that many dog owners make is to feed their dogs only shelf-stable foods. Processed foods have a shelf life of 1-2 years, and while the ads will make you think that these have everything your pet needs, the reality is vastly different. Shelf-stable foods lack enzymes because of how they have been cooked and packaged. So, they are dead foods depending on artificial supplements to compensate for the nutrition that they otherwise lack. You can, of course, keep canned foods and biscuits handy for long road trips or when you have no time to buy or cook for them.
• To make sure your dog eats the right foods, research foods that help to prevent inflammation and diseases. Inflammation is primarily responsible for all premature deaths in dogs, and processed commercial foods are inflammatory. In case your dog is already used to commercial foods, try to offset their ill-effects by introducing some natural foods in their meals.
• Cooking meats for your pup may not be in his best interest. Everyone on this planet consumes raw foods except humans. By cooking the foods, we deprive it of most of its good nutrients; so, when cooking for your pet, try to avoid cooking meats as that loses much of its nutritional value.
• A rather important tip to remember is to make sure your pet gets enough water to drink all day. Besides checking for the protein, carb, or fat content in your dog’s meals, it is even more significant to ensure that your pet is not dehydrated. Dogs lose water because they pant a lot. So, when a dog loses much of the water and does not drink enough to replenish it, he can fall sick.
• The dog’s diet should ideally exclude corn gluten because this ends up harming his organs. Watch out for GMO corn that is commonly used in dog foods.