Natural Dog Food

Natural dog food is the best dog food to feed your pet. It may be the difference between a healthy dog and one with skin allergies and other health problems. What exactly is natural dog food? Maybe it would be a good idea to first discuss what it is not. It is not dry processed kibble that you pour out of a bag once or twice a day. If you feed you dog dry kibble only, it is like if you only ate dry cereal all the time. (without milk) It would get kind of boring and probably would eventually have a negative affect on your overall health. Your dog needs to have a healthy diet just the same as you do. That saying that "you are what you eat" is as true for your dog as it is for you.

Just to give you an example, when I was in college my roommate and I decided it would be fun to go over to the Humane Society and get a puppy. (I was only 17 so my brain was not fully developed yet). I came home with a beagle mix that we called Jessie. Thank goodness my parents and sister agreed to take care of her until I could keep her with me at school. What does this story have to do with natural dog food? Well, Jess and I became so close over the years that whatever I ate she ate. If I ate spaghetti, she ate spaghetti. If I ate take out Chinese food, she ate take out Chinese food. If I ate a salad, she ate a salad. At the time I didn't know that you were not supposed to feed a dog people food, like so many dog food manufacturers would have you believe. Jessie died 3 months shy of her 19th Birthday. Amen. Obviously, this is not exactly a natural dog food diet, but the food was natural. 

If left on their own dogs would eat smaller animals that they might catch. This would include the muscles meat, internal organs and the stomach contents (many times, digested grass, etc.) that the small animal had eaten. This would be a truly natural dog food. I know you have heard this over and over but it is true. Since dogs usually live in our homes we don't feed them small animals, but however we can feed them food that is close to what they would find for themselves. If you can cook just a little bit you can save money by making your own dog food. My dogs have not eaten commercial dog food for quick a while.

Here are some good natural dog food recipes.

Chicken and Zucchini:

Boil a whole chicken in water. Add a little be of olive oil to            it. Chop up a cup or two of Zucchini and steam. When the chicken is cooked, remove the skin (yes the skin is bad for dogs too). Now cut the chicken off the bone. Add the Zucchini. You should chop the Zucchini up real fine so that you can thoroughly mix it. 
     

Add the chicken. (Dogs are like kids. They will avoid vegetables if possible). Feed your dog two servings a day. Add a good dog vitamin.(powdered vitamins are easiest to add to a home cooked dog food). 

    

Turkey, Brown Rice and Veggies:

Get 3 lbs. of ground turkey. Boil the turkey in a small amount of water.

Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. When the meat is almost done, add 2
packages of frozen peas and carrots. (16 oz. each)

Cook 4 cups of brown rice. (Start this when you start the meat so they will be finished close together) When the rice is done, add it to the turkey and veggies. This will make enough food for several days, depending on the number of dogs you have. Add a good dog vitamin.

Chicken, Liver, Brown Rice and Veggies:

Boil a whole chicken in water.

Boil about a pound of chicken liver.

Prepare 4 cups of brown rice.

After your chicken and liver are done, add some broccoli (chopped very fine) and mix it with the meat.

Add the brown rice when it is ready. As usual add a good dog vitamin. Dinner is ready.

Beef, Brown Rice and Veggies:

Get 3 pounds of ground beef. Boil the ground beef in water.

Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. When the meat is done, add 2 packages of frozen peas and carrots. (16 oz. each)

Cook 4 cups of brown rice. When this is done, add it to the beef        and veggies. Add the dog vitamin. If you want to use fresh vegetables instead of frozen just remember to chop them up into small pieces.

If you don't want to cook for your dog the best dog food is one that is organically made. Buy one of the top organic dog food products you can find. At least this way you will know that good ingredients were used to make the food and care was taken to provide all the vitamins and supplements a healthy dog needs.

Premium dog food will be more expensive than the low grade foods and kibble, but you at least know that the manufacturers are putting an effort into making a quality product. Most premium dog food will use human grade meats and vegetables. They will avoid food dyes and animal by-products. Most will use natural preservatives. If you are not into cooking natural dog food for your dog, you will help keep them healthy with a good premium dog food.

Some people feed their dogs a raw food diet. The benefit of this is that the vitamins and nutrients in the food are not cooked out. Not all the good things will be cooked out of foods if you cook them slowly, however some people prefer to truly feed a natural dog food and raw is natural.


 

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