Making your Own Dog Food
Perhaps the recent pet food recall has you thinking about making your own dog food? It's not a bad idea, as long as you understand the basics.
Before You Begin
It's always a good idea to take your dog in for a veterinary checkup before you make any significant changes to his diet. This will give you a chance to get a current assessment of his health, as well as an opportunity to discuss the dietary changes you're planning to make.
Making Your Own Dog Food at Home
Fresh food is a great alternative to commercial dog food mixes that usually contain chemical preservatives and questionable protein sources. Fresh foods deliver more nutrition per ounce and digest quickly. Additionally, fresh foods tend to cause fewer allergic reaction in dogs, another plus to cooking for your pet.
A basic dog food diet should contain protein, vegetables, carbohydrates and a small amount of additional fat to provide balanced nutrition. Use the following guidelines and your vet's own advice to prepare home cooked meals your dog will thrive on.
Proteins
Ideally, proteins should make up approximately fifty percent of your dog's diet. Working with ground meats is easier when it comes to mixing time.Highly digestible protein sources include:
- Chicken
- Beef
- Lamb
- Liver
That said; there are some questions about how these meats should be fed.
First, there is some debate over whether dogs should be fed cooked or raw meet. Dogs actually ate raw meat before they threw in their lot with humans, so you can argue that eating raw meat is natural for canines.
On the other hand, some people believe that it is safer to cook the meat before feeding it to their dogs, even though this will compromise some of the nutrients. There's something to be said for both sides' opinions, so this is a good question to ask your vet at your initial consultation.
Second, there's a divide in opinion about the safety of feeding dogs bones. Bones do provide calcium and rich marrow; however, some bones can pose a choking threat for your pet. Cooked chicken bones become brittle and more likely to splinter. They can lodge in a dog's throat and even cause internal punctures. Raw chicken bones are more flexible and chewable, so they are easier to digest.
Again, this is a good question to get your vet's professional opinion on before you begin making your own dog food at home. He/She may recommend adding bone meal to your mix instead.
Fats
Your dog will receive some fat from the protein content of your mix, but it may not be enough to maintain healthy skin and coat. You can add a little extra fat to your pet's diet, but do it sparingly or you could wind up making him obese.Good fat sources include:
- Fresh fish oil
- Cold-pressed safflower oil
Vegetables and Fruits
Dogs are carnivores first and foremost, but adding some veggies and fruits to their diet will provide a natural source of vitamins, fiber, minerals and antioxidants.
Highly digestible veggies and fruits include:
- Carrots
- Green beans
- Broccoli, in small amounts
- Peas
- Spinach and other leafy greens
- Plain canned pumpkin
- Apples
- Blueberries
Vegetables and fruits should make up no more than twenty percent of the new diet, and should be run through a food processor before being added to the mix.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates should make up the remaining thirty percent of your dog's diet. They provide energy and help form firmer stools. They are also necessary to keep the thyroid gland functioning properly.Highly digestible carbs include:
- Pasta
- Brown rice
- Oats
- Barley
Always cook these items before adding them to your mix.
Calcium
Some vegetables do supply calcium to your pet, but the following foods can also be added to the mix.
- Cottage cheese
- Plain yogurt
- Powdered milk
Water
Dogs need water just like people do. You should always have a fresh bowl available for your pet, but you can also add a small amount to your homemade mix to moisten it as needed.
Foods to Avoid
Some of the foods we eat are actually not good for our pets.
Avoid feeding:
- Macadamia nuts
- Raw garlic
- Chocolate
- Grapes
- Raisins
- Onions
- Nutmeg
- Avocados
Making the Change
Sudden changes in your dog's diet can upset his system. This can lead to diarrhea, vomiting and other gastric disturbances. It's better to spread the change out over several weeks and let your dog adjust to his new meal plan gradually.
In the beginning, just add a few spoonfuls of the new food to your pet's usual commercial dog food. If all goes well, you can increase the portion of homemade food to twenty percent of your dog's total meal, keeping the other eighty percent his usual kibble.
At this point, you may begin to notice a change in the texture of your pet's stools. If he is having diarrhea or getting constipated, cut back on the homemade dog food and give him more time to adjust. However, if all is going well you can continue gradually replacing more of his meal with the new mix, eventually eliminating the commercial brand altogether.
Conclusion
The key to cooking for your dog is to keep it simple. If you're providing fresh ingredients, there's no need for a lot of additives. Just keep in mind that fresh food will begin to spoil quickly, so only feed your dog as much as he can eat in one sitting. Keep the unused portion refrigerated, and never cook more than you can use up within three days.
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