Homemade Dog Food

Choosing a commercial dog food formula can be very difficult. Though every dog food formula claims to have high quality nutrition for your dog, not all of these formulas are good for your dog’s health. This is even true of some premium and super premium dog food formulas. In order to help your dog get the best nutrition possible, you may choose to make homemade dog food. By making homemade dog food, you can ensure that your dog gets the best diet you can provide.

Why Homemade?

When it comes down to it, dog food companies do need to make a profit. If every company offered the highest quality ingredients at a low price, they would not be able to make as much profit. This is why many companies choose to add filler ingredients to “bulk up” their formula, without adding much nutritional value. Other commonly used shortcuts include adding leftover waste from human food plants, ground-up euthanized animals, and artificial flavoring to raise the appeal of the food. To avoid being subjected to these tactics, you can choose to make your own dog food formulas. By feeding your dog homemade dog food, you will know each and every ingredient that your dog eats. This is very useful if your dog is experiencing food-based allergies, since it can help you to identify the ingredient they are allergic to.

Finding Recipes

There are thousands of recipes for homemade dog food formulas available online. However, not all of these recipes may be right for your dog. You may need to experiment with your dog food formulas, in order to find one that your dog likes. Since homemade dog food formulas do not contain artificial flavoring, you may have some initial trouble making them appetizing for your dog.

In addition to this, some people may design dog food recipes that contain ingredients that could potentially be harmful to your dog! Some dangerous ingredients to avoid include:

• Garlic
• Onions
• Chocolate
• Fat Trimmings
• Grapes
• Raisins
• Bones

Among these, garlic and onions are the easiest to mistake for “safe” ingredients. Garlic and onions can cause a breakdown of your dog’s red blood cells, especially in high amounts. Never make a homemade dog food formula that contains dangerous ingredients.

Choosing Ingredients

If you want your dog to have the best possible diet, it’s best if you only choose ingredients that are of the highest quality. Choose meats that have not been treated with steroids, growth hormones or antibiotics. Keep the fat content of your dog’s food below 20% by choosing lean proteins. Never use vegetable proteins as a substitute for meat proteins. When choosing vegetables for your dog’s food, be sure that they are thoroughly washed to remove any fertilizer or pesticides. When possible, try to buy organic ingredients for your dog’s food. Take care when choosing carbohydrates, since a lower carbohydrate diet is often better for your dog. Avoid corn, wheat, soy and other common ingredients that may cause an allergic reaction in some dogs.