4 Things to Avoid When Buying Dog Food Online!

How to navigate through the veritable minefield of hundreds of different dog food options online.

Buying dog food online is an increasing trend among dog owners. After all, you can’t beat shopping from home combined with the convenience of your dog’s food being delivered straight to your door. Not only that, many online dog food stores now offer automatic orders, so even if you forget to buy more, your dog’s food still gets delivered on time, when you need it.

However, for those of you who love your dogs, once you decide to buy your dog food online, you still need to navigate through the veritable minefield of hundreds of different dog foods. Where to start? Let us show you the route.

A Checklist

Find the Best Dog Food at the Best Price

1. Check the site for a guaranteed analysis and list of ingredients for each product. Don’t settle for a casual mention—the sites that offer the best quality food want you to be able to judge for yourself, so look for a picture of the label itself, one that you can easily read, that lists the guaranteed analysis percentages as well. If it’s not there, move on to the one that does.
2. Avoid grain-based dog foods. Dogs are mostly carnivores – they must eat a good amount of meat to be healthy, not grains. Grains are known to cause allergies in dogs. Common culprits are corn, soy, wheat, and barley. Rice, while not a big risk where allergies are concerned, is still a grain and offers little nutritional value to your beloved dog.
3. Avoid feeding your dog dry food with low protein levels. Protein levels under 28% are not good sources of nutrition and should be shunned. Again, dogs are carnivores. They must have meat. Make sure the protein comes from animal sources, like chicken, lamb, and fish. Meat meals are a good source of animal protein as they are concentrated meat and bone, with protein levels exceeding 60% (in comparison, lean fresh meat is only 21% protein approx.).
4. Skip dog foods that don’t get ALL their fats from animal sources. Chicken fat, for example, and fish oils are far more digestible than vegetable and flaxseed oils, meaning your dog’s body can use animal fats for energy. Fact: Omega-3 from fish oil is 10 times more effective in reducing inflammation, in dogs, than omega-3 from flaxseed oil.
5. Avoid dog foods lacking the ideal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. This ratio is critical for good health. Stick to dog foods with an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio between 5:1 and 10:1 respectively.

Once you’ve found the foods that deliver all that, it’s time to compare prices. Remember to take into account the cost and convenience of buying dog food online vs. having to drive somewhere to pick it up and back. Companies that offer free delivery are ideal in that there are no unwelcome surprises in the form of added costs tacked onto their price. That makes it easier to compare prices per kilo.

Quality ingredients cost money. When you shop for yourself, you know that hamburger costs less than a T-bone. So, when you compare products, see whether the protein levels are the same. A 28%-protein grain-free dog food is typically cheaper than a 32%-protein grain-free brand. Different sources of protein affect the cost as well. Venison, for example, is more expensive than lamb, which is in turn more expensive than beef. However, since the amino acid profiles of both venison and lamb are similar, there is no noticeable benefit to feeding your dog venison unless it is allergic to lamb.

One terrific resource for reviews and comparisons of dog food available in Australia is petfoodreviews.com. The 5-star-rated dog foods are the only ones you should consider.

To jumpstart your search, here is their review of our 5-star-rated dog food, completely grain-free, sourced and manufactured in Australia, that meets all the above recommendations and more. Plus, we offer free delivery. Find out more at Stay Loyal Grain Free Formula .