Premium Dog Foods

What Exactly Are Premium Dog Foods?

When we think of Premium Dog foods, we typically think of two things: expensive and good for our dog. So it is natural to think that if a dog food is expensive, then it must be exceptionally good for our dog. But just because a dog food costs more doesn’t mean it is any good for your dog. A premium dog food should be nutritionally superior to other dog foods, irregardless of the price.

To determine if premium dog foods are indeed healthy and worth the money, you need to look at and decipher the dog food ingredient label. Ingredients, must by law, be listed by weight. So the first ingredient weighs more than any of the others in the product. Generally speaking, the first 5 ingredients of a dog food will show you whether it is a premium dog food or not.

But what should those first 5 ingredients be? A lot of times it is just as important as what it should NOT be.

Meat/Protein in Premium Dog Foods

Super-Premium Dog Foods

Premium and Super-Premium Dog Foods: What’s the Difference?

What is the difference between premium and super-premium dog foods? In a nutshell, the quality of the ingredients, and to a lesser degree, how they are processed (which will be discussed in a another post).

First we showed how to tell the difference between economy and premium dog foods. You look at the label and see what kind of ingredients are listed as the top dog food ingredients. Economy dog foods use lots of grains, and meat and grain by-products. Premium dog foods use these to a lesser extent.

What Makes For Super-Premium Dog Foods?

Premium Dog Food

What Makes For A Premium Dog Food?

There are so many ‘categories’ of dog food out there. Premium dog food, super-premium, organic, holistic, all natural, …. So what should you feed your dog? Is a premium dog food good enough?

If money was of no issue, I myself would go for a holistic and organic dog food that is freeze-dried. I think that as far as food quality, this is the next best thing to a healthy, homemade dog food. But money is an issue for me. And with one 50lb dog and another 110lb dog (not to mention 2 cats and a bearded dragon) the amount of pet food that we go through is quite a lot.