When choosing a dog food, there are hundreds of choices out there. For lots of pets, none of these choices are the ideal one. Thus, a homemade diet is always the best option as you will have control over its ingredients.
A good formula for a homemade diet
So, what’s a good formula for a homemade diet for your dog? A good diet should consists of one half cereal, rice or kibbles, together with one half meat, which should also includes its natural fat. Occasionally, add in some green or yellow vegetables.
This is an ideal combination to follow and can be customized to each individual dog’s needs. However, it does require more time and effort to provide a homemade diet for your dog. Additionally, you’ll also need to be well informed about good canine nutrition.
Avoid giving table scraps
Table scraps are definitely insufficient for modern pets who we want to thrive, not merely survive. They are often the direct cause of obesity and various allied skin disorders too.
Dogs with unusually big appetites or with a tendency to obesity will be able to keep their figures if you cut down on the starch and increase on the vegetables. Use the proportion of one meat, one fourth kibbles, and one fourth vegetables.
Older dogs may need reduced protein in their food to spare their kidneys the task of nitrogen elimination.
Food items you can use
Build your dogs meals around the foods that are highly recommended for dogs, such as the following:
- Beef: (ground or chopped for puppies in chunks for adult dogs, raw or cooked. Dogs prefer their meat a little tough, and they need the fat found in cheaper cuts).
- Lamb and mutton
- Chicken
- Horse Meat
- Beef Hearts and Kidneys
- Beef Liver (no more than once a week, as too much or too often causes loose stools)
- Eggs, hard-boiled or scrambled (The yolk may be given raw, but not the white, which in its raw state destroys biotin, a useful vitamin in the dogs intestine)
- Rice, whole wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat
- Carrots (cooked or raw, grated and mixed with his meal, or whole for chewing)
- String Beans, spinach (chopped or mashed)
- Cottage Cheese (excellent for weaning puppies)
- Unfermented natural cheese, such as Swiss and Edam Apples and Pears
Food items to avoid
On the other hand, certain foods should be considered taboo, such as the following:
- White commercial bread
- Cabbage (which causes flatulence and is difficult to digest)
- Potatoes (hard to digest and not very nourishing)
- Starchy Vegetables, such as dried beans
- Spicy dishes and sauces
- Uncooked egg white
- Processed cheese
- Pork (unless it is lean, well cooked, and served infrequently)
- Raw fish
- Delicatessen meats
- Unboned chicken, rabbit and fish
- Cake and candy
- Alcoholic beverages
- Chocolate of any kind
The bottom line
Whichever method you choose for feeding your dog, it is best to stick to it. Once he has become accustomed to a certain diet, his digestive system can be upset by any sudden change.
The upset is apt to take the form of constipation if you change from prepared products to fresh ones, and diarrhea in the opposite case. If a change is needed, make it gradual by mixing the old with the new until his body adapts to the change.
