Natural Dog Foods

Natural Dog Foods vs. Commercial

It's dinner time, and you and your family are about to sit down to a steaming bowl of...kibble?

Of course you wouldn't serve your family dog food. It's not truly fit for human consumption, and it doesn't look very appetizing. So, why are you still feeding it to your dog?

Although most commercial dog food is labeled as meeting the minimum daily requirement for your pet's nutritional needs, this isn't always the case.

Here's why:

• The nutritional value of what your dog should receive is based on eating the brand's daily recommended serving size. If your dog eats more, he's out of balance. If he eats less, he's not getting his minimum.
• Your dog only receives nutrition from the food his system actually digests. Some kibble is more digestible than others, so in some cases a dog's system isn't able to render everything he needs from what he eats.

Then, we need to consider what else is in commercial dog foods, mainly the additives and fillers.

• Corn is often used as filler, but it is difficult to digest. This results in lowered nutrition and larger, looser stools.
• Beet pulp is added to most dry kibbles. It has a little nutritional value, but its main function is to firm up the stools. This makes clean up easier for us, but it can sometimes make those stools more difficult for your dog to pass.
• The list of chemical preservatives in some commercial kibble includes several known carcinogens. Companies do have the ability to use Vitamins C and E as natural preservatives, but this drives up the production cost and doesn't offer quite as long a shelf life, so few brands take advantage of these natural preservatives.

On the other hand, natural dog foods offer our pets highly digestible whole nutrition without the preservatives and pesticides. Feeding individual natural foods can also help isolate allergy causing items from an affected dog's diet.

Let's examine another way to feed your dog.

The BARF Diet

BARF is an acronym for Bones And Raw Food.

The BARF diet actually mirrors the way dogs have eaten for thousands of years before man began manufacturing artificial diets. This feeding plan is based on serving your pet raw meats and an assortment of fresh vegetables.

Protein

Poultry is one of the most common protein sources used because it is less expensive and healthier than serving beef, and readily available. Although some people may have immediate concerns over serving their dog a raw chunk of chicken, complete with bones, proponents of this diet say not to worry. Raw chicken bones are softer than their brittle cooked counterparts. This means they are easier to chew and digest, and less likely to break into sharp splinters.

A modified version of this diet involves using cooked meats, but in this case all poultry should be de-boned before serving.

Vegetables and Fruits

Vegetables and fruits are most nutritious when served raw, and are an excellent source of vitamins, fiber and antioxidants. You can choose to serve organically grown fruits and veggies, store-bought, or perhaps those grown in your own home garden. The important thing is to serve only the freshest produce to your pet when all the nutrients are most potent.

• Leafy greens supply iron, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, niacin and manganese.
• Carrots supply vitamin A.
• Cruciferous veggies like cauliflower and broccoli are chocked full of cancer fighting antioxidants.

Fruits that are low in acidity are an adequate source of vitamin C. Try offering your dog a slice of apple or pear, but avoid citrus fruits altogether.

It's extremely important to thoroughly wash all fruits and veggies before serving to remove traces of pesticides and possible E. coli contamination.

Foods to Avoid

Some foods hold varying levels of toxicity for your pet. Some may simply irritate your dog's mouth and stomach, while others are actually poisonous.

It's best to avoid feeding:

• Onions
• Chocolate
• Avocados
• Raw potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Hot peppers
• Citrus

Switching to a Natural Food Diet

Although natural dog foods can be a viable alternative to commercial feeds, you should gradually switch your dog over to this type of diet. Any sudden changes could cause some digestive upset.

While you're still feeding kibble, begin offering your pet a small portion of fresh or cooked meat each day. Then, try offering a carrot stick or green bean as a snack or reward. This will accustom your dog to eating these new foods, and give you a better idea of what he will accept.

Once your pet is readily eating the natural foods you offer, it's time to begin replacing part of his daily kibble ration with them. Eventually you will have weaned him off the commercial diet completely.

Begging

Feeding your dog table food may bring up worries over creating a "beggar". As long as your pet has a regular feeding time, and is fed from his own bowl and never directly from your hands, there shouldn't be a problem. It's really a matter of proper training.

Conclusion

Feeding natural dog foods offers your pet highly digestible nutrition, minus the worries over other additives found in commercial pet foods.

Although you probably wouldn't want to feed your dog everything your family eats, on most occasions feeding your pet natural foods simply involves increasing the amount of dinner you are already preparing for the rest of the family. Maybe you'd like to give it a try?