Is raw dog food best for your dog?
Do you remember what a good nutritionist always says? The closer to the natural state the food we eat is – the better it is for our health. The same is true for canines. If you think about it, animals have lived off organic substances in the wild for thousands of years and survived, why should right now be any different? Feed your pet delicious raw dog food and get him in his healthiest and best shape yet.
Raw dog food is convenient to make – you don’t have to cook or make elaborate preparations to get it going for your pet. Break turkey and chicken necks, backs and legs with the skin that covers it and mix it in your dog’s meals. This supplies the calcium and fat in your dog’s nutritional requirements. Serve meat and organ meat with fresh vegetables like broccoli, carrots and cucumber for added variance. Chop the food well to avoid any choking incidents.
As you are planning Fido’s meals, always remember to add whole grains and fruits in your dog supplies. Fruits especially give the needed antioxidants that will help protect your pet from certain diseases. You can season the meals with special herbs and spices to make it more interesting. Garlic is a good ingredient to put in but mind how much of it you add – too much garlic may be bad and result in unfortunate digestive problems for the pet.
When walking the dog, there will probably be times when he will eat the grass on the park and your neighborhood’s lawn. Do not yank the leash when he does, let him be. Grass will cleanse his colon and more than that, assists in the elimination of whatever undigested food left in the dog’s system.
A benefit of serving your pet a raw and natural diet is a set of beautiful white teeth and fresh breath on the dog – as fresh as a canine’s breath can be at least. It is because of the enzymes contained in organic food. There is also less toxins in natural food which is the usual culprit in bad breath on dogs when bits of food get stuck in between the animal’s teeth.
Another good excuse to change to a raw diet is the significant decrease in the amount of dog poop; as well as the foul smell this usually gives off. You can know how to improve their diet with how their stool looks like. Soft and mushy stool needs to have more bones included in the meals. If the stool looks too hard on the other hand, you need to increase vegetable portions in the dog’s meals.
The best thing perhaps in serving this kind of diet is that you do not really need a lot of dog supplies in terms of ingredients, and the gains you achieve for your dog can certainly be significant. Allergies and wounds are healed faster; coats take on a glossy sheen; your dog will have boosted energy levels, and on the list goes.
Really, aside from regular check-ups, you will not be seeing your vet a lot anymore. Make the transition from processed food to natural food gradual but begin as soon as possible – it may be the best thing you will ever do for your pet.
Raw dog food – yes, it IS best!
“Do you remember what a good nutritionist always says? The closer to the natural state the food we eat is – the better it is for our health.”
This isn’t true for human nutrition. The nutrients in many foods are more available to us when some processing (cooking, grinding, etc.) has been done to them. A very interesting book on the subject of the invention of cooking and the evolution of humans is “Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human” by the anthropologist Richard Wrangham. It is clearly about human evolution, but there is much research on digestion presented that may have some implications to animal nutrition. It’s a riveting read.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for the comment. Sorry I didn’t respond. I’m not sure why I missed it.
I’ll look out for that book by Richard Wrangham. I’m always interested to read about people’s perspectives on food.
Personally I have found that I was healthier than I have ever been (by far) when I went on a raw diet (actually almost exclusively a raw fruit diet) some years back. I was on it for 2 years and did not get any colds or “off-color” days in that whole time (most unusual for me – I used to get everything that was going!), and the effects lasted for at least another year after I stopped the diet.
Regards,
Brigitte
Which commercial raw food do you think is the best, and why? I’m still not completely sold on raw food for pets. I don’t worry about salmonella, etc. so much as I worry that the pet will be getting the right nutrients. Also, so many vets have completely changed their recommendations about protein amounts. Is it as important for dogs as for cats? Does grain really matter?
Hi Diana,
Wysong is a great one.
Personally I prefer to feed actual raw food from the butcher, but I know many people prefer to buy ready-mades.
Regards,
Brigitte