What Makes a Dog Food ‘Premium’?

When buying food for a dog you’re no longer faced with a simple choice of dried/wet cans/bags of food.

Instead you now face brands such as; Royal Canin, James Wellbeloved, Skinner dog food, Bakers dog food and labels; organic, natural and holistic.

How can you tell a regular can of value dog meat from a can of ‘premium’ dog meat?

• What does ‘premium’ mean?

There’s no universal definition of what makes a premium dog food, as it differs from person to person, class to class.

However it is generally agreed that the difference between your average supermarket brand and premium brands is the ingredients.

Where your run-of-the-mill dog food may have cheap grains and animal by-products, the premium brands offer food that is free of these, and they also come with no added preservatives, artificial colours or flavours , Arden Grange being a fine example.

• How can it benefit my dog?

Premium dog foods are available in various forms, like the above mentioned (organic etc…), but there are many that are designed especially to keep your dog fighting fit through weight-management for example, while still being available as normal dog feed.

Do any of you have a dog that suffers from a certain allergy? Well you’re in luck, many premium brands now offer hypo-allergenic dog food, like James Wellbeloved, which contain none of the ingredients commonly believed to cause allergies in other dog food.

• I am on a tight budget, can I afford these brands?

Ah, a very common question, that can indeed cause a problem, I know.

When I personally buy food for my own dogs I make sure to not only check the ingredients (you judge a premium brand by its ingredients), but practice shopping around (try shopping online even).

Try the brands official site, or sites such as Nutrecare Animal Health, where you can get deals on great food and you can also check the ingredients and health benefits.

• Ingredients are the key trust me!

The first one should take priority and should be a protein (meat).

Few grains (generally two max).

Animal fat based.

Vegetables contain anti-oxidants, and high minerals/vitamins.

No BHT or BHA, and no preservatives.

Always make sure to compare!