Yeah, I always recommend that clients stay away from anything that has a pork product in it because that tends to be what causes the most GI upset in my experience. So, that's one of the only things I would caution you to avoid. But then there are things like xylitol, which is used as an artificial sweetener in some human foods like peanut butter, and you want to ensure you don't see that on the label or anything that could be considered toxic to your pet. So, you want to make sure you do not see any garlic, onions, chocolate, raisins, grapes, or anything like that on those ingredient labels, but other than that; you should be okay.

The thing that I would have you look at before that would be making sure that there's an AAFCO statement on your pet food. They are a national organization that makes sure that pet food is saying what it is and that it has all of the proper ingredients and nutrition, and dietary needs that your pet needs for a good, healthy life. So, we recommend making sure that that statement's on there, and then you want to look at the ingredients list and making sure that you're comfortable with feeding what's in the ingredients list. When it comes to calories, protein percentages, or carbohydrate percentages, or things like that, I wouldn't stress out too much. There are some situations where we need to be a little particular about that, but it's not a big deal for the average healthy pet.

Right, so that's going to be where if you've got a puppy, you want to make sure that you're feeding puppy food. If you've got a pet who is a year or older, then you want to feed it adult food, and then we start that whole geriatric classification around seven or eight years of age, you’ll go with the senior food. Some of our older pets have issues with maintaining weight or keeping weight on, and so you'll see some senior pet diets out there for when they reach that seven or eight-year-old mark.

I think it's less necessary for their breed. I know there are some diets out there targeted for specific breeds, and I think that's great. Do I believe that you have to feed that diet? Not necessarily, as I think there are many wonderful options out there. When it comes to the size of your pet, I think that that has a little bit more significance. So, you'll see large breed or small breed-recommended foods, and what I like about the small breed foods is the smaller kibble size. It’s much easier for smaller dogs, like Coconut here, who's got a smaller mouth, to eat those small breed diets.

It depends on the age of your dog and what they need. Most adult pet dogs can get away with feeding once or twice a day. I feed my own dogs twice a day, morning and evening because I think they would probably riot at my house if they didn't get dinner, but some dogs do perfectly fine getting fed once a day. When they're puppies, especially very young puppies, they benefit from more frequent, smaller meals throughout the day. So, the amount you should feed your dog varies, but your veterinarian can give you the best advice.

The best place to start is to talk to your veterinarian. Some dogs have special dietary requirements that your veterinarian can help you determine. Other dogs do just fine on food that you can get from the pet store. Still, others need diets for their GI tract, kidneys, or things like that, so talking to your veterinarian first is always recommended. But if you have a happy, healthy dog at home, I know my personal favorite is the food you can get over the counter made by Purina, so their Purina One and Purina Pro Plan line, or even Hill's. Hill's Science Diet line and Royal Canin have over-the-counter lines that you can get at the store as well.

And, the reason why I like those brands so much is that they make the veterinary diets that we prescribe for your pet. So, if they have GI issues or kidney issues or liver issues, or things like that, I trust them to recommend them to you for your pets when they have those needs. I also trust their regular diets that are over-the-counter.

It depends on your dog and what your dog's needs are. For the most part, most dogs benefit from a dry food-only diet, but you may want to spoil your pet a little bit and give them a bit of canned food, which is just fine and offers a mixed diet. Some dogs as they get older benefit from having the added water content that’s in canned food, or maybe they've had dental work done and they’ve had a lot of teeth removed, so they benefit from having some soft food. So it depends on your dog and your dog’s needs.

Getting that commercially prepared diet that has that AFCO statement on it (AFCO has checked that food) is the best way to ensure your dog has the most balanced, proper ration and nutrition they need.