Saturday, December 31, 2011

Dog Food

By Olga Cooperman


Recently, there have been more and more stories in the media encouraging people to take better care of their bodies by engaging in routine exercise and eating healthier. While our pets may not care about the latest health news, it is still up to us, their owners, to make sure they are as healthy as they can possibly be. To ensure this, a great number of dog owners are now turning to homemade dog food recipes, rather than the supermarket brands. Though you would think pet food from the veterinarian's office would be quite healthy, it may be surprising to find out that homemade meals are likely the best choice for your dog.

If a dog owner were to look at the ingredients of any given prepackaged bag of dog food, he or she may wonder if these companies are selling food for dogs or just getting rid of their garbage. Bone meal, animal byproducts, and other items otherwise not recommended for consumption have now become primary parts of our pets' diets. All of this may be great for compost piles, giving plants the nutrition they need, but ingredients such as these certainly are not the healthiest things for pets to eat.

Very often these ingredients leave indigestible substances in the animal's system, which could lead to serious health problems. Most brands of dog food would like you to believe that the amount of protein listed on the package is high and beneficial to your dog. Yet, while the protein content may be high, because of the kinds of proteins they use, a dog's ability to digest these may be considerably low. Dog food manufacturers will use any combination of plant products that are not naturally easily digested by dogs, like variations of soy and grains, to boost their brands' protein content.

Plus, most dry dog food brands fall short when it comes to providing enough fat content for active dogs. Dogs require a sufficient amount of fat to store energy and for proper functioning of a number of the body's systems. If you would like to eliminate these harmful ingredients and provide only the most essential nutrients required for good pet health, you should definitely consider preparing your dog's meals at home yourself.

Pet owners should do a little research on some of the different artificial flavorings and colorings that go into each bag of food from the store shelves. Consider the countless preservatives which have no nutritional value, but are used to maintain the product's "freshness". While many people treat their pets like children, they too often fail to provide the adequate nutrition such as a child requires.

In spite of what it may seem, it is neither expensive, time consuming, nor complicated to make your own dog food. There are so many delicious recipes with various ingredients that most dogs love and enjoy. A lot of the more popular homemade dog food staples include honey, peanut butter, veggies and fresh meats, which most dogs really love.

Stop feeding your dog science fiction, laboratory-designed, machine-made "foods", and give your pet food with quality that is equal to the love you have for it. It make take a slight mental adjustment for you to prepare your dog's food at the same time you prepare your own, but you will undoubtedly see the value in it when you see how healthy and happy he or she becomes.




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