The Best Dog Food Diets
The best dog food diet is the one that makes your pet look and feel fabulous. Manufacturers of commercial foods promote their brands with images of young, healthy and active dogs, but in many homes, the dog's main form of exercise is getting off the couch to bark at the postman. Your dog's diet must be tailored to its needs, its feeding schedule, your wallet and degree of convenience. Because dogs are omnivores, a balanced dog diet should include both protein and vegetables.
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Dry Food
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If you include kibble in your dog's diet, read the packaging and identify the ingredients before choosing a product. The most important ingredient is animal protein, which should be listed as meat, chicken or fish. Secondary sources of protein could be eggs and bone meal, and these will be lower down on the list. Select a product containing little or no grains; grain has no benefit for dogs and is foreign to their diet in the wild. You can supplement the kibble with some wet food at one of the dog's daily meals.
Wet Food
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Wet foods include processed dog food sold in rolls in the pet store, tinned dog food, and cooked and frozen food mixes that usually contain rice, meat and vegetables. As with kibble, the product should first and foremost contain real meat, followed by other natural ingredients including vegetables. Look for a mention of human grade products, and avoid any dog foods that contain gluten, which is difficult for dogs to digest.
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BARF Diet
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Commonly referred to as the "Bones and Raw Food" diet, BARF also stands for Biologically Approved Raw Food. Introduced by veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst around 1985, this diet has grown in popularity since the spate of pet food recalls in the past few years. It consists of feeding whole foods that are similar to the evolutionary diets of animals in the wild, and which contain raw meat, bone, fruit and vegetables in balanced quantities. The diet is controversial in its use of raw, meaty bones, but Billinghurst suggests that if the bones present a risk to the dog, they can be finely ground into fresh bone meal.
Home-Cooked Foods
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Some dog owners prefer to cook for their pets, and this is a good way of ensuring you give the right food. Use approximately 50 percent animal protein, including muscle meat, organs such as heart, liver and kidneys, eggs, dairy including yogurt and cottage cheese, and fish. Organ meats are very rich and should not make up more than 5 percent of the total. The other half should be a mix of complex carbohydrates such as pasta or vegetables, and some fruits. Grains should be kept to a minimum because they have been found to relate to a variety of health problems. Organic brown rice cooked with chicken is an ideal base for home-cooked food.
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