So many questions come through the Lab Brats mailbox asking about the right dog food for Labrador Retrievers. What’s the best dog food for Lab puppies? How about a senior dog with skin allergies? Is there a good dog food for a Labrador that has hip dysplasia? We get at least one dog food related question a week and have decided to finally put it all out on the table.
During a recent conversation with a dog-loving friend of mine, it became obvious that true blue dog lovers often pay more attention to what they feed their dogs then what they put in their own human mouths. We grow so concerned about the best nutrition, preservatives and keeping our dogs lean that it can drive us dog owners insane. The thing is, deciding what dog food is best for your canine companion is really simple and you don’t need others to tell you what to feed your own dog.
Simply look at the back of any dog food bag and read the ingredients. If you can’t pronounce a majority of items on the nutritional label, you probably wouldn’t want to feed it to Fido.
The best dog foods contain whole ingredients – things you would have no problem putting in your own mouth. Lamb, carrots, rice and so on are all naturally occurring ingredients. These are good foods for your Labrador Retrievers as well.
And as an extra special treat, give your dog a raw bone from time to time. You can easily get these at your local butcher shop and let them chomp away. Dogs are carnivores and love to get their teeth on these treats. Plus, all their chewing helps break off plaque and tartar – meaning less expensive trips to the veterinarian to get those teeth cleaned.
When in doubt, go natural and look for those products with the “Made in the USA” label. You’d be surprised in how natural diets improve your dog’s health and quality of life. Plain and simple!
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Pay special attention to the top five ingredients, since ingredients are listed in order of volume. Look for at least two good protein sources, such as chicken, fish, lamb, etc. Stay away from anything with corn or corn meal in the ingredients. Even though corn might sound healthy, it’s packed with sugar and provides very little protein. If you have a Costco in your area, they sell some decent quality dog foods from Diamond, though they are labeled as Kirkland brand. If you’re looking for reviews of many brands of dog foods, visit http://www.rateitall.com/t-353-dog-food-brands.aspx?&p=0&s=1
Tim – very true about Labrador Retrievers gobbling up their food. We don’t use any specific bowl but have seen the “break” bowls which have numbs in them to slow the dog down when eating.
Anne – I’ve never heard of “Orijen” dog food but look forward to your post as we are always on the lookout for high quality dog foods. Thanks!
Talking of quality food and Labs ,they are one of the many breeds who can gobble their food and in doing this they can lose a lot of the benefits by overloading the digestive system too quickly.
I used to have a Lab years ago who was always prone to diarrhoea but never found the total solution and put it down to stress and excitement. At the moment we have here in U.K. 2 dogs rescued from Spain,a boxer and a pointer, who both had “wolfing ” problems ,probably due to their backgrounds, and thus had perpetual diarrhoea regardless of different foods and wind.
They now use “gobblercontroller” bowls and their problems are no more, I know this is not available in the States at the moment but any feedback would be appreciated as it could be in the future.
It is worth watching the video
Very informative post. I recently have been studying canine nutrition and commercial dog foods because of a new chocolate lab puppy that came into our lives last week. I am currently looking into a food that was recommended by our new veterinarian. It is called Orijen. The ingredients seem similar to Canadai. I will be posting my findings on our blog later this week. Thank you!