What Is In Your Dog's Food?

Many people never give a thought to what is actually in their pet food. Maybe you use a brand because it is on sale, or someone else suggested it, but do you really know if that is the best choice for your little friend? Even if their pet is the same size or breed as yours, they may need very different diets to be truly healthy.

Your pet is someone who is always there for you. They are waiting at the door when you come home, or crawling in your lap to be held and shown affection. Your pet doesn't mind how you look and is always there for you when you have a bad day, or just need comfort. We get used to them always being available and sometimes forget that it is a two-way relationship. Just as our pets try to make us happy, we should return that favor by making sure they are happy and healthy too.

U.S. Pet-Ownership Estimates from the American Pet Products Association for 2012

·         *83.3 million - Number of owned dogs

·         *47% - of households own at least one dog

·         *70% - of owners have one dog

·         *20% - of owners have two dogs

·         *10% - of owners have three or more dogs

·         *1.47 - the average number of owned dogs per household

·         *20% - of owned dogs were adopted from animal shelters

·        * 83% - of owned dogs who are spayed or neutered

·        * $231 – the average annual amount spent on routine vet visits   

In a recent survey,over 83% of dog owners consider their pet to be a member of the family, so it only makes sense that they would feed it as such too. You wouldn't offer poor quality, unhealthy food to your family members, and you shouldn't feed it to your pets either. A healthy diet helps keep your pet functioning correctly and, considering the average household spends hundreds of dollars a year on pet care, it can save you money in the long run too.

Why are natural dog food diets so important anyway? “Natural products go far beyond just basic nutrition,” says Dr. Al Townshend, staff Veterinarian at Wellness® Pet Food. “Natural diets are designed to provide the very best nutrition and can have significant benefits.”

In fact, according to Dr. Townshend, “natural diets offer ingredients with some important health benefits such as probiotics, those good bacteria that are essential for a healthy immune system and digestive tract; glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health; omega-3 fatty acids or fish oils for heart and kidney health; and added digestive supplements to enhance digestibility to get the very best benefits from quality proteins and fats.”

As a leader in natural pet food, Wellness uses natural, high-quality proteins and fats in their dog food recipes. They also include fruits and vegetables for natural vitamins, minerals and other benefits, especially antioxidants that occur in blueberries, cranberries and some vegetables, which help make their dog food products some of the healthiest options in the marketplace.

Wellness recipes do not include added artificial colors, flavors or ingredients, and they’ve even created the helpful site http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/checkyourbag  that you can use to compare their natural dog food to those from some competitors who claim to be natural.

Some of the biggest benefits to Wellness® Complete Health® Recipes include:

·         *Live Active Probiotics – Added after the cooking process to promote a healthy intestinal tract and overall digestive health at guaranteed levels

·         *Omega 3 & 6 Mix – Offering guaranteed levels of essential fatty acids for cellular function and healthy skin

·        * Essential Vitamins & Minerals – Designed for cellular health, immunity and disease resistance

·         *Fruit & Veggie Antioxidants – A proactive step in improving your pet’s nutrition

·         *Rigorous Safety Testing – A Quality Assurance program that maintains strict standards for food safety

·         *Excellent Nutritional Standards – Every batch of dry food is tested throughout the entire manufacturing process, from its basic ingredients to the finished products

To pick up a bag of some of this high-quality, natural dog food, you can order it online or stop by one of the retail locations listed in the http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/store-locator 

.

But be sure that you also connect with them at http://wellnesspetfood.com/pet-club-register.aspx, a free online program that provides exclusive savings offers, fun contests and helpful tips about keeping your pets happy and healthy.

And consider following them at http://facebook.com/wellnesspetfood and Twitter feed, where you can join in on the fun with a huge group of fellow animal lovers who share heartfelt, funny stories, entertaining photos and videos of their pets.