Do You Really Want to Change Your Dog's Diet?

You may wonder if the commercial dog food you are feeding you pooch is really less healthy then the shoe he ate last week? A lot of dog owners have switched to high priced organic food or homemade dog food since the pet food recall in 2007. Different dogs have different needs. The age, breed, and special health conditions may require your dogs have different diets. Prescription dog foods have made things easier for dog owners by addressing individual needs of their pets. Still some of the recalled dog food in 2007 was the high end specialty brands.

Diet can make a huge difference in the appearance and health of your dog. Dogs that have skin and coat conditions probably show the most dramatic improvement when dietary changes are made. I had a dog with very dry skin and balding spots. When we found out beef was the culprit and it was an allergic reaction, removing beef from his diet had his condition cleared up in a week. Over weight older dogs will also seem like dogs that had the hands of time turned back in energy level when they take off the excess weight.

My point is if your specialty dog food that is made to order to address your dog medical conditions work I would skip the idea of making my own homemade dog food. It would require a great deal of time and research to come up with a very specialized diet in your kitchen. It also might be very pricy to find some of the specialty ingredients that these foods contain. And these differences must be taken into account so they have a balanced sound.

There are numerous books and online information on making your own dog food. Most in include a combination of meat, vegetables, and carbohydrates. Many people find that running what they had for dinner through the blander does the tricks for most healthy dogs. There are however, a number of foods you should never feed your dog. Like peppers, onions, garlic, large amounts of citrus, and nuts. You should never feed your dog chocolate and chicken bones. These foods can cause illness or worse death in dogs. There are several lists available online about foods that dogs should never have appeared in their dinner bowls. If you are not sure what you are planning to feed your dog is safe, look it up online or ask your vet.

Dogs like people have allergies and sensitivities to different foods. When you introduce new foods to your dog you should observe that the dog has had no reaction to the food. Sometimes it is hard to know if the dog is eating grass because he or she is not tolerating the food they ate or just eating grass. It is a process of trial and error. It is the same process you would have to observe if you were changing the commercial food the dog ate. Many of us already feed our dog table scraps and should have some idea what the dog can tolerate. Still look for reactions like wheezing or loose bowl movements when you make changes to your dog's diet.

Introduce new foods slowly into your dog's diet. Some dogs aren't really having allergic reactions to new foods, but they simply are not geared to quickly accept dietary change. Start with 25% of the new food mixed in with the old and over the course of a week increase the amount of the new food until it has replaced the old food. If you really have questions or concerns about your dog's diet it may be worth an appointment at the veterinarian to get your questions answered. No one wants to come home from work and find a doggie diarrhea disaster.

Most of us already feed our dogs things other than their commercial food. If you make your dog's food at home and are not always consistent in the recipe you might want to supplement the dog's diet with a good general dog vitamin. This way you will know you are not missing vital nutrition. If your dog does not have a weight problem now make sure you don't over do the amount of homemade dog food you feed your dog. Most dogs prefer the food you make over any commercially made dog food. If Fido seems a little arrogant after the diet change just remember he will think his years of sad puppy eyed begging has finally paid off and he got the human food he deserved
Sources
.http://www.newpet.com/quicktips/feeding/qt_f_feedingtimes.htm
http://www.petdiets.com/