Choosing to Make Home Cooked Dog Food
Home cooked dog food and treats are becoming more popular with dog owners these days. There are many reasons that people are starting to explore the idea of home cooking meals for their dogs. Some of these reasons may include:- You want give your dog the healthiest
- Economic reasons
- You want to provide variety in you dogs diet
- Your dog has food intolerances or allergies
You want better nutrition for your dog’s health
As information becomes more easily available these days, many conscientious dog owners are starting to realize the poor quality of nutrition commercial dog food offers. Not all store bought dog food is of poor quality, but in general the quality nutrients of commercial dog food is not great. The dog food industry is a multi-billion dollar business and in order for them to continue to make a profit they need to keep their costs low. Human grade ingredients are expensive. Human grade animal proteins and grains can be sold for much greater profit as human food. Commercial dog food companies are often associated with human food processing companies such as slaughterhouses and grain houses and will use the products that do not pass human food standards. Animal proteins may come from sickly or diseased animals or even worse sources such as rendering plants. Grains found in dog foods are also sub-human consumption standard.
The low nutrition quality of most commercial dog foods can contribute health problems for your dog. There are some experts that suggest that many common chronic health issues in dogs may be related to long-term poor nutrition. If your own diet for the entirety of your life consisted of processed low nutrition fast food, it would not be surprising to discover that you had health issues in your later years.
The dog food industry marketing has altered the conventional wisdom of pet diets, re-educating the public to believe that the best nutritional care for your dog is to provide them a diet exclusively of commercial pet food. However there are countless stories of dogs in poor health bouncing back just from a diet change to high quality ingredients and home prepared food.
Economic Reasons
Not all commercial dog foods use poor ingredients. There are specialty brands that do serve up higher quality food ingredients. However these brands tend to be more expensive. Higher quality dog food can cost upwards of $2.79 a can, the monthly cost of higher quality commercial dog food can be quite significant.
Home prepared food with quality human grade ingredients can actually work out to be more economical than purchasing the higher-grade dog foods.
You want to provide variety in you dog’s diet
Dogs, like humans, enjoy variety in their diet and want to eat different things. Home prepared meals and treats offer a very highly appreciated level of variety for your dog. A variety of food also has the added bonus that it is much easier to maintain a nutritional balance if there is variety in the diet. Dogs fed the same food every day may develop nutritional deficiencies that are not balanced by other foods. Dogs will definitely appreciate a bit of variety in their diet.
Food allergies or intolerances
Many dogs will have allergies and intolerances. Symptoms of allergies may include general itchiness or hot spots. Food intolerances may include diarrhea or vomiting. Common items that dogs may be allergic or intolerant of are chicken, beef, pork, grain, or rice. These are some very common ingredients in commercial dog food. There are food allergy specific pet diets that may use uncommon protein and carbohydrate sources but these foods tend to be more expensive. If you know your dog has allergies or intolerances to certain food, home prepared meals are an easy way to control their diet.