When deciding what dog food to buy for your Labrador retriever you should know what you are getting for your money.
Being big dogs Labradors have large appetites and need to be fed highly nourishing foods, otherwise they will not get all the minerals and vitamins they require.
When you are shopping for their food you will notice that there is a large choice available to you. Most of the brands you see will most probably be ones that your have seen advertised on the television or in magazines. These are mainly known as Commercial foods.
There may be a large choice available to you but firstly you should understand what standards there are.
Commercial dog foods are the most commonly seen and advertised products in the market. They are the biggest selling and most popular products because they are cheap and widely available. Dont get me wrong, Commercial foods are okay for your dog. But you could buy better food.
If you look at the ingredients section on the wrapper you may see the term By -Products. This is a substitute for real meat. By-Products are what is left-over once the meat has been used. Some of what is in the by-products can be very hard for your Labrador to digest. Due to the lack of nutrients in the commercial food your dog will most probably need more of it to fulfill its dietary needs.
The next step up is known as Premium food which is more nutritious. However with this benefit comes the extra expense.
Super-Premium is the description given to the highest quality of food available to dogs. These brands are expensive but provide the very best in nutrition. They very rarely contain any artificial colourings or preservatives and have a smaller shelf life because they are freshly made and sold.
So, think carefully about what food you can afford to buy your dog. If you can you should go for the brands that provide more quality rather than those who have bigger advertising budgets!
