Getting the highest Quality food for your dog, VIP Diet 🐾

As dog owners, we all want the best for our Pups, they're not just pets; they're family! Have you ever stopped to think about what's really in that bag of kibble you're feeding them? In a market flooded with options, it's easy to grab the cheapest or most convenient choice. Worse still you feed a known brand that is expensive thinking you are getting quality for your money but this is almost never the case. Opting for low-quality dog food can have serious consequences, especially for growing puppies and your dog turning its nose up at its bowl can be confused as a "fussy eater" but where is the incentive to eat when there is little nutrition? Dogs have much more of an awareness of this than we realise. Poor nutrition, weakens a dog's ability to fight off illnesses but switching to high-quality food (including key nutrients like taurine) has so many benefits, please read on.

What Defines Low-Quality Dog Food?

Low-quality dog foods are typically those filled with fillers, by-products, and potentially harmful additives like rendered fats or meat meals, not actual meat! These ingredients offer minimal nutritional value and can even introduce toxins. High processing at extreme temperatures destroys essential enzymes and nutrients, leading to a diet that's more filler than fuel. Any goodness that made have been evident initially is lost in the process, killed by high temperatures. 

Grain-free varieties heavy in legumes like peas and lentils have also been linked to issues.

In Adult dogs a low quality diet causes symptoms like increased shedding, gassiness, chronic loose stools, intermittent vomiting, bad breath, swollen gums, and even behavioral changes like irritability or anxiety due to nutritional deficiencies affecting brain and gut function.

Energy levels can fluctuate wildly, causing lethargy or hyperactivity.

Puppies are particularly vulnerable because they're in a critical developmental phase. Their rapidly growing bodies need balanced nutrition for proper bone, muscle, and organ development. Feeding them low-quality food can cause stomach upset, inconsistent bowel movements, and long-term issues like stunted growth or weakened immune systems. Studies suggest that diets lacking in quality proteins and essential nutrients during puppyhood and adolescence increase the risk of chronic gut issues later in life. Over time, poor nutrition contributes to serious conditions like obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and reduced lifespan. Certain breeds may be prone to taurine deficiencies exacerbated by grain-free and low quality diets.

Switching to a high-quality diet— think whole ingredients, balanced proteins, and no unnecessary fillers! This will transform your dog's health. These foods support steady energy, shiny coats, and overall vitality. A key player? Taurine, an amino acid that's crucial for dogs. Switch the dogs dinner and persevere, if you have a "fussy eater" have set feeding times and keep at it, never just leave a bowl down as this increases food anxiety. Set AM & PM feeding times, once a day if yoi think best and stick to the routine. 

Transitioning from low-quality to high-quality food is a very smart move, but it can trigger a few minor "detox" phases as the body adjusts and expels built-up toxins. This is common when switching from processed kibble and usually lasts between 1 and 3 weeks.

 Mild effects include:

Digestive Changes like loose stools, diarrhea or slimy poop as the gut microbiota adapts. A film on poop is normal. Bad breath (which will correct itself). These are temporary and a sign the body is healing.

The "old skool" method is to transition gradually over 5-7 days but the modern thinking is get your dog off the food that is no good for them and get them onto a diet full of what their body needs. You can add probiotics, kefir yoghurt or goats milk to help initial digestion.

Here is a link to high quality Kibble and high quality cold pressed food, both containing top ingredients including essential Taurine Tap here for the foods we use

Good Luck, please ask me anything!