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Surely you’ve seen it before in movies or television. Before taking the major step in raising your own child, many young adults, either in or out of college, will make the decision to purchase or adopt a puppy. Many people see raising a puppy as a way to understand what it takes to raise your own child. While people may purchase puppies for various reasons, such as attracting the opposite sex or looking for a loyal roommate, the same rules and guidelines apply when providing your puppy with a high-quality life.
At Dog Food Insider, we pride ourselves in our knowledge of dog food. With that being said, we have in-depth and informative reviews on what we believe are the worst and the best puppy food brands on the market. Feeding your puppy the best food you can find is immensely crucial, especially during the first few weeks of their life. In fact, puppies grow at a 20 times faster rate than a young adult dog!
Let us explain what makes a quality puppy food brand and then we shall provide you with some names which are the best in the business.
VIDEO: The Best To Worst Foods For Pets
Ingredients Galore!
Ingredients are the most crucial factor when it comes to deciding the best puppy food brands. Unfortunately, there are pet food brands out there that value their monetary gains way higher than the product that they are putting out. Because of this, unnecessary ingredients such as corn can come into the picture; which provides no nutritional value and is hard for puppies to digest. Instead, we want whole animal products, natural fats/oils, wholesome grains, and essentials vitamins/minerals in our puppy foods. These type of ingredients are going to make your puppy’s life long, healthy, and fruitful.
As with other dog foods, whether they be for an adult or not, we want to make sure that the first ingredient on the list is a whole animal product.
What is a whole animal product?
This would be something such as chicken, lamb, beef, or even salmon (depending on what your dog prefers). A quality meat source like this is absolutely critical in the early stages of a puppy’s life. They need all the protein they can get in order to build strong muscles and a healthy physique.
Quality fats and oils are also extremely beneficial to your puppy; providing them with energy and overall health support. Having a balanced amount of fats and oils will also help to keep your puppy’s coat shiny, as well as help support muscles as well. Wholesome grains provide them with high-quality carbohydrates, and vitamins such as vitamin A, C, and E will help your puppy stay sharp and active.
Looking For The Stamp Of Approval
When looking through puppy food brands, it is also important to look out for the AAFCO statement. This statement provided by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), will ensure that the puppy food you’re looking at is nutritionally balanced and complete.
On a package of puppy food, the AAFCO statement will read something like this: “This product is complete and balanced to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO dog food nutrient profiles for…
- Growth
- All life stages
If you don’t see this statement on your puppy food packaging, then it may be wise to keep looking for other healthy brands.
Our Top Choices
Hopefully, this information gives you a better idea of what makes the best puppy food brands stand out from the rest. Are you ready to hear some names? At Dog Food Insider, some of the highest puppy food brand names include Wellness, Blue Buffalo, and Canidae.
Wellness is a longtime dog food brand that pays a lot of attention to the ingredients it uses. While it may be more expensive than other brands out there, the quality of the product cannot be understated. Blue Buffalo, one of Dog Food Insider’s favorite brands, has a plethora of recipes for you to choose from.
The first five ingredients on the packaging are named meat sources, as well as high-quality carbs and fruits, such as oats, cranberries, and even blueberries. They’re truly one of the best puppy food brands out there. Lastly, Canidae is another highly-regarded puppy brand. While some users have been wary of its slightly higher carbohydrate count than other premium brands, others have praised Canidae for providing their puppies with better digestion and breath.
Visit Dog Food Insider For The Best Puppy Food Brands
Those are some of our choices, but there are much more where that came from on our website. As mentioned before, our team at Dog Food Insider takes pride in our knowledge of dog food and care. Our reviews on nearly every recipe and brand out there are meant to educate our readers and provide them with a better idea of what constitutes a strong dog food. Please visit our website yourself and see what we mean!
