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Plenty of advice on how to provide your dog with a healthy diet is found in the dog food ads and on the cans and packages. Your vet, family, friends and neighbors will add their own advice. Let’s go to the basics and see if we can’t come up with some great home cooking ideas for your pet.

When buying dog food you want a product that breaks down to a ratio of 40% meat, 50% vegetables, and 10% grain, or something close to that. The meat component should be listed first and is commonly chicken, beef, or lamb. If you buy a cheaper product that doesn’t have these ratios or ingredients you’re not doing your pet any favor. Go after the best quality you can afford and you’ll have a happier companion as a result.

Some pet owners are starting to also examine the preservatives used in commercial dog food. BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin are common preservatives that many consider toxic - ethoxyquin is even classified as a pesticide. While the jury is out on the effect these small amounts of preservatives have on the health of your dog, some owners are turning to more natural alternatives and developing their own dog food recipes.

The Internet is a good source for dog food recipes but you’ll find both good and not-so-good recipes. If you follow the 50-40-10 ratio described above you should be OK. Make sure the meat is cooked well and free of bones. The best choice for grain is usually considered to be brown rice or cooked oatmeal.

Once you know the basic ratios, you can experiment until you find a combination of ingredients that your dog will love. Remember not to salt the food, and that some ingredients - chocolate, garlic, onions, avocados, grapes, raisins and mushrooms - are actually dangerous for your pet and should never be used. Make certain that your healthy dog food is also safe!

What’s good for humans isn’t necessarily best for dogs. A vegetarian diet is generally considered to be a healthy one but a dog, being a carnivore, is used to meat in it’s diet and is apt to become bored with food containing no meat or a portion significantly less than the 50% ratio.

If you don’t want to spend time cooking for your dog you might check with your local health food store or look to the Internet and you’ll find a variety of organic dog foods available which may well fit your needs.

As you can see, there are many options when it comes to providing a healthy diet for your best friend, from checking the label of commercial food to developing your own delicious recipes to going organic. Your dog’s health starts with his diet so it’s worth the extra effort to make sure he’s in top form and will be able to give you many years of love and companionship.

Tags: Health

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