Labs are amazing dogs. They are extremely talented and have a strong desire to learn. If you have a Labrador puppy, you probably enjoy lots of play, cuddles, and dirty licking. However, these adorable snuggle balls also have a downside – they have a tendency to put on weight very quickly!
Labs both love to eat and explore. Scheduling regular meals and snacks, as well as ensuring that their diet is largely low in carbohydrates and high in fat and protein. It is important to note that Labradors are prone to disorders affecting the bones, such as hip dysplasia. Your Lab puppy will have a long, happy and healthy life if you make sure they are at an ideal weight.
What dog food is best for a Lab?
The greatest diet for any dog is one that maintains his health without draining your bank account. You must make sure that your dog consumes a “balanced diet.”
But what exactly makes up a balanced diet? Thoughts on this vary, and we’ll do our best to inform you so that you can make the best decision.
Are you wondering what you should feed your Labrador? There are several options available.
Everyone is an expert when it comes to their individual dog. However, even the true experts disagree on which diet is the healthiest and what really makes a balanced diet.
Lab owners typically adhere to one of two very different feeding strategies:
- kibble that is not wet
- BARF Short for bone-in-raw-meat
Is dog kibble healthy?
Dogs were fed canned meat when they were puppies a few decades ago. In India, we fed our dogs a diet that included chapatti, rice, milk, and occasionally meat—usually leftover meat.
But in recent years, interest in kibble, a ready-to-eat dry meal that is packaged in bags weighing 10-15 kg, has progressively increased. It is still too early to predict how the dogs will respond to the switch from wet to dry food.
Kibble offers a lot of benefits, like being convenient to feed and store, but it also has a lot of drawbacks. While kibble itself doesn’t have a particularly horrible scent, the dog’s breath after eating kibble smells awful. Kibble is full of “fillers” that a dog cannot fully digest and passes out of the dog, which is the cause of this. This is the reason why dogs given kibble poop so much more, and it smells so much worse too!
Kibble and your lab
Dogs who eat kibble may also require routine dental cleanings. Some dogs on dry food diets are also more likely to bloat.
But since the invention of kibble, allergies have become the main issue that is now more frequently observed. Allergy diagnoses are becoming more and more common in lab animals, and the rate of increase is apparent.
Determine what your puppy is eating by reading the labels on the container. A well-known brand does not always imply excellence. Additionally, bear in mind that what works for one dog might not be effective for another.
Feeding on raw food is not nearly as practical as feeding on kibble. To prepare meat properly (just as you would when preparing meat for people), you need a lot of freezer space, a specialized place where you can complete all of your prep work, and good hygiene practices.
The benefits of raw feeding, which include excellent dental health that doesn’t require teeth cleaning and small amounts of nearly odorless feces that indicate great digestion, much outweigh the preparation time. A grain-free diet called B.A.R.F. also addresses any allergies your dog may have developed.
BARF Short for bone-in-raw-meat
The benefits of raw feeding, which include excellent dental health that doesn’t require teeth cleaning and small amounts of nearly odorless feces that indicate great digestion, much outweigh the preparation time. A grain-free diet called B.A.R.F. also addresses any allergies your dog may have developed.
Biologically Appropriate Raw Food Diet or BARF stands for Bones and Raw Food. In order to give dogs a handmade diet that includes raw meaty bones, raw muscular meat, liver and other secreting organs, veggies, and fruits, BARF was created. It is fresh food without any artificial or additional preservatives. The most often used raw diet for dogs is generally the BARF diet.