How to Make Natural Dog Food

Natural Dog Food is one way to pamper your pet and perhaps extend the life expectancy of your dog or puppy. Natural dog food makes sense, since dogs in the wild and animals in general do not eat processed or cooked foods. Raw dog food diets and other sources of natural dog food are becoming more popular. Here are some ways to start your canine on a natural dog food diet.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
   natural dog food

   Find raw meaty bones for the core of your pet's natural dog food diet. Fresh bones are usually available for very little money form butchers and small meat packaging operations. Look for a small custom meats processor near you, and ask if you can pick out some bones once a week during butchering hours. (See Resources, below, for a great book on feeding raw meaty bones to your pets.)

2. 
   natural dog food

   Make natural dog food according to the BARF diet (see Resources) to add to the raw meaty bones you are giving your dog. An example of a BARF meal is ground beef mixed with spinach and raw eggs.

3. Make natural dog food biscuits as occasional treats. The majority of the dog's diet should be food he would eat in a natural environment, such as bones and meat scraps.

4. 
   Dry dog food

   Avoid commercialized dog food, which contains a high percentage of soy, corn and other grains, things that are not part of a dog's native diet. There are also artificial flavors, colors, additives and other ingredients that are not good for your pet.

Tips & Warnings

• Get a large quantity of meat scraps and bones at a time. Freeze in daily portions, and thaw as needed.
• Research the dietary needs of your particular breed.

Resources

• Raw Meaty Bones Promote Health
• Raw Dog Food book list
• The Natural Pet Food Cookbook: Healthful Recipes for Dogs and Cats
• Natural Pet Food books
• The Barf Diet (Raw Feeding for Dogs and Cats Using Evolutionary Principles)
• Natural dog & pet supplements and vitamins

[sullysee]

on 6/28/2009 Good advice.

[daniellep]

on 11/17/2008 I agree, but if you don't have the time there are some good raw diet choices. We sell Primal and it is a really good food. They also have Grinds which would be a good base for a home made diet.

[MacDonald]

on 2/28/2008 Yeah! It's how I've fed all my dogs for many years. :) Once you've done the research it is really not difficult, time consuming or expensive. Plus you'll have VERY healthy dogs. Five stars for writing about this!

[PattyOh]

on 12/20/2007 Great info for dog owners.