YummyHealthyDogFood

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the “healthy” dog food choices in the market, and it doesn’t help things that so much negativity has been said about commercial dog food products. Many dog owners find themselves at a loss in choosing or preparing a good dog food diet for their pets, and often wonder if there really is a perfect healthy dog food diet out there.

It’s really quite simple once you know what should go into the dog – the nutrients. Dogs need a mixture of protein, carbohydrates, good fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Whether you’re checking the label of a particular dog food brand or preparing his meal yourself, making sure that your dog gets all these essential nutrients will keep you on the safe side.

Next, you’ll need to decide on the ingredients of the dog food. Meat, vegetables, starch, and fruit are good sources of the nutrients that dogs need. Meat products such as lamb, poultry, fish, and lean beef and pork are good choices – it depends on the availability. The same goes for vegetables – choose what’s most available, and go organic if you can afford it.

Good starch foods include brown rice, brown pasta, oatmeal, and potatoes. Stay away from the grains, however, as dogs can’t properly digest them and may have nutrients that dogs don’t need. When choosing starch foods, go for whole products so your dog can take advantage of the extra fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

There’s a prevailing rule of thumb for dog owners these days that if you won’t eat a particular kind of food, then don’t feed it to your dog, either. Some organ meats and byproducts (feathers and beaks, for instance) are included in some commercial dog food brands, and may not exactly be best for your dog.

Another thing to remember is that the abovementioned rule of thumb doesn’t apply in the reverse – it doesn’t necessarily mean that if you can eat it, your dog can, as well. Chocolate, raisins, grapes, garlic, and onions have been found to be toxic to dogs, so it’s wise to avoid feeding them such foods. In other words, if you’ve been feeding your dog pizza, it’s in his best interests that you never do it again.

With this information, you then choose the type of dog food diet you’ll be giving your dog. Basically, you have three options – commercial, BARF, or natural. Commercial dog foods are those you find lining the shelves of your pet store or supermarket – they’re basically tailor-made to suit the needs of dogs in all stages of their lives. They also come in organic form, though a bit pricier. It’s a good idea to choose the premium brands over economy, since the cheapest ingredients are almost never the best for your dog.

BARF stands for Bones And Raw Food, the diet some experts insist is the ideal diet for dogs, owing to the fact that this was what dogs ate while in the wild. Despite the theory’s validity, some questions have been raised about feeding bones and raw meat to dogs. It’s best to approach this type of dog food diet with caution.

Finally, you can go between commercial and BARF diets and feed your dog a natural one. Natural dog food diets involve cooked meat, fresh vegetables, enough starch, fruits, and water – quite close to what we’d eat ourselves. Despite the lack of scientific proof, dog owners have claimed that feeding dogs a natural diet (40% meat, 50% vegetables, 10% starch, for instance) make them healthier, happier, and live longer lives.

Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll make no mistake about coming up with healthy dog food for man’s best friend.

The dog food industry today has grown to be so large and diverse that it’s difficult for dog owners to decide which type of dog food diet provides a balanced set of nutrition for their pets. There are three major categories of dog food types available to them, which are as follows.

First, there are the commercial dog foods, which often come in kibble form or in cans. Such dog foods are being produced by dog food manufacturers who put a lot of research into the types and amounts of nutrients that dogs need, as well as offering these nutrients in forms that can easily be absorbed by a dog’s digestive system. Commercial dog foods offer ease of serving and long shelf life, and come in different variations for all stages of a dog’s life.

Over time, commercial dog foods have been blamed for the rise of common dog illnesses. Today, for instance, more dogs die of medical conditions instead of old age, which was the prevailing cause of death only decades ago (back then, owners fed their dogs table scraps). There are also accusations that some dog foods include questionable ingredients in their mixes, such as colorings, preservatives, and low-grade meat.

The commercial dog food industry has responded to these claims through the introduction of organic dog food. Organic dog food products contain ingredients that were raised naturally and were untouched by hormones, preservatives, antibiotics, and pesticides.

When thinking of feeding your own dog a commercially-made dog food product, it’s often wiser to select the premium and organic brands over bargain brands. While these products may be more expensive than others, it subjects your dog to a much lower level of risk and may let you save up on veterinary bills.

The second kind of dog food diet is the BARF diet, the acronym in which stands for Bones And Raw Food. Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst presented this idea in a book a few years ago, in which he suggested that raw foods such as whole meat and fish carcasses, yogurt, raw eggs, fruit, and vegetables imitates the kind of food that dogs naturally ate while in the wild. In effect, the BARF diet is the antithesis of commercial dog foods.

There has been some controversy regarding the BARF diet and some of its components. For instance, feeding dogs raw eggs and raw meat may subject them to illnesses, which may include salmonella. Bones may also splinter and injure a dog’s digestive tract. So far, it seems that the BARF diet has failed to elicit enough attention and interest from dog owners, who instead lean towards the surety and convenience of commercial dog foods – or the third kind of dog food diet.

The third kind of food diet is the organic/natural dog food diet. This diet forms a sort of “middle way” between commercial dog foods and the BARF diet, in which it advocates feeding dogs with foods only suitable for human consumption. Meals in an organic/natural dog food diet involves cooked meat, fresh vegetables, fruit, and starch foods.

To date, there has been no scientific study on organic/natural food diets and whether it does have positive effects on a dog’s longevity. There have been stories, however, of dogs living well beyond their breeds’ normal life spans.

In conclusion, it may not matter which diet type you choose for your dog. The best you can do is to ensure that he gets the most balanced set of nutrients you can give him. This means enough protein foods (meat), carbohydrates (rice, pasta, potatoes), vitamins and minerals (fruit and vegetables), and water.