Grain-free premium dry food for dogs

What you should know about dry dog food

What should you look for when looking for high-quality dry dog food?

First of all, you need to decide how your dog should ideally be fed, e.g. dry food, wet food, meat only or home prepared food. Once you have decided on dry food, you need to start looking for the optimal food for your dog. You need to be careful here, because the fact is that most manufacturers do not produce high-quality food. Instead, many producers use a number of quite legal tricks that make it difficult for consumers to get an idea of the ingredients and quality of a food. Therefore, they should be aware of the following three commonly used tricks that indicate low feed quality.

Trick 1: Inaccurate declaration of ingredients

Legislation allows a certain degree of vagueness in the description of ingredients. As a rule of thumb you can remember that the more unspecific the information, the lower the expected quality of the ingredients. Manufacturers who have nothing to hide clearly declare which ingredients are contained in a food and in what proportion. If, instead of the exact ingredients and quantities, only general categories such as cereals or meat are listed, you should keep your hands off such a product.

Trick 2: Animal by-products

Animal by-products is an innocuous-sounding ingredient in many dog foods. But in fact, this category can hide almost anything from the animal, such as claws, beaks, feathers, hooves and innerrein. Even sick or dead animals are classified in this category. But not all by-products have to be negative. Innerrein in dog food, for example, can also be understood in a positive way. However, innerrein is usually explicitly labelled as a by-product. If there is no indication of the exact ingredient of the animal by-product, it can be assumed that the contents are of inferior quality.

Trick 3: Inaccurate quantity information

Make sure that the quantity of each ingredient can be precisely attributed. Blanket quantity specifications such as 50% meat and animal by-products may be in compliance with the law, but they also offer manufacturers many opportunities to cheat. This description would also be correct for a feed that consists of 45% feathers and only 5% muscle meat. No dog owner would choose this composition for his pet if the declaration were clear.

How can I recognise high-quality dry dog food?

The ingredients of the dry food are decisive for the quality. That's why Schulze makes a transparent, open declaration for all of its dry dog food as a matter of course.  This allows you to compare ingredients and their effects in the best possible way. With dry dog food we place particular value on

• High-quality animal protein sources
• Grain-free mono-protein varieties for best digestibility
• Healthy skin & coat care due to essential fatty acids Omega 3 & 6
• Also suitable for sensitive dogs (e.g. with allergies and sensitive stomachs)
• No added sugar, no artificial preservatives or flavour enhancers

Why is the effect of the ingredients so important?

The importance of the ingredients results from the dog's special anatomy. In particular, the composition of the dog's stomach and small intestine. Dogs have a so-called sack stomach that can absorb large amounts of food. The more a dog eats, especially swelling food, the stronger the pendulum movement of the stomach in the dog's body. This is why, in extreme cases, highly swelling dry food can even contribute to life-threatening gastric torsion.

The dog's nutrient absorption takes place in the small intestine. This part of the dog's digestive system is relatively short. It is therefore particularly important that food is easily digestible to ensure the absorption of important nutrients. Foods that are difficult to digest, swell up or dissolve slowly in the digestive tract can put unnecessary strain on the dog. That's why Schulze's Best dry foods contain only easily digestible ingredients.