The right dog food is the first thing you should consider when looking to optimize your dog’s health . Feeding a high quality dog food will add years to your dog’s life and reduce the chances of developing many common health problems.

Go Homemade if Possible

How do you know what dog food is right? Many holistic vets and dog owners will tell you the best choice is a homemade diet. If you have the time and the inclination, I believe that this is truly the way to go. If the will is there, but not the time, there are pre-mixes to get you started, or complete diets for true convenience.

Premium Dog Foods Worth the Money
If you prefer to feed a commercial product, choose one of the many premium dog foods now available. Though the cost may be higher than grocery store brands, what you save in vet bills will more than make up for the difference.

Home Made Dog Foods
The pet food industry will have you believe that dogs MUST have dog food, that “people food” and table scraps are bad for them. But what did folks do before the advent of kibble and canned dog foods? Dogs have been man’s companions for thousands of years. They either hunted for its own food or ate leftovers from the table. And they thrived!

How to Make Your Own Dog Food
Basically, a homemade diet should consist of 40-60% meat, 20-50% vegetables and the rest, optionally, grains.

The choice within each category is vast, and depends on your budget, availability, and what the dog prefers and best agrees with him. Each dog is unique and what is best for one may not work well for another.

Feeding a variety of foods, like you yourself would eat, is the best way to provide all or most of the nutrients that a dog needs. Some foods should be avoided, however. Click here for a list.

Calcium Supplementation a Must for Dogs
A good quality multi-vitamin and calcium supplements will help make sure the diet is complete. It is difficult to attain the right amount and balance of calcium to phosphorus in a home made dog food, so be sure to include some form of calcium supplement.

Dog Food Pre-mixes
Sort of the “Hamburger Helper” of homemade dog foods, these mixes are meant to simplify the process of making your own food. They provide the grains and/or the vegetables, you provide the meat. Some include the meat portion as well, some include herbs, vitamins and minerals. They usually require adding boiling water and soaking time.

Recommended Dog Food Pre-Mixes

Frozen Raw Dog Food
This is a fairly new category in dog foods. This is the choice if you don’t mind the cost and don’t have the time or ability to prepare your own.

All are meat based, some require you to add vegetables (if you desire), others are complete.

Freeze dried options are also available, which are easier to ship and are portable, therefore good for travel. They vary in price and quality, so be sure to do your research before choosing.

Here are a few choices to get you started:

 Recommended Frozen Raw Food   

Premium Dog Food: Canned or Kibble?
Whether to feed canned or dry dog food will depend on you and your dog. Canned food is usually more expensive, kibble is more convenient.

Dogs usually prefer canned foods and some dogs need the softer, wetter consistency.

Canned dog food generally contains higher quality proteins than dry, and a higher percentage of protein and fat. The higher moisture content of canned foods can be beneficial to dogs with kidney or urinary tract problems.

Dry dog foods contain more preservatives. Some people choose to use both.

Recommended Dry Dog Food

Recommended Canned Dog Food

Choosing the Best Dog Food
The most important criteria in choosing either a canned or dry dog food is the list of ingredients. Whole meats are always better then meat meals, and meals are preferable to by-products.

Single source meals, such as “beef meal” or “chicken meal” are more wholesome than those marked simply “meat” or “poultry” meals. Single source meals contain the muscle meat from that animal, along with accompanying tissues, such as nerves, blood vessels and skin. Generic meals may contain other organ tissues and fatty tissue. By-product meal is a catchall term for anything that doesn’t fit the other meal definitions - avoid these at all costs!

Look for the meat source (or sources) to be listed first on the label. If grains are included (which they always are in kibbles), they should be whole grains, rather than fractions, such as wheat bran, brewer’s rice, etc. Watch out for multiple listings of grains, they may add up to be more than the meat portion!

It is best to avoid artificial flavors, colors and preservatives. Colors are added for your benefit, not to appeal to dogs. Artificial flavors are added to enhance palatability or cover up off tastes of poorer quality ingredients.

When choosing a dry food, the shape and size of the kibble may be important if you have a small dog. Also if you have a “gulper”, smaller size kibbles may encourage the dog to eat slower.

For Periodic reviews of the best dog foods, and more information on choosing a food, subscribe to “The Whole Dog Journal”, an excellent, ad-free publication dedicated to holistic rearing of companion dogs.
Back issues are also available.

Dog Treats
All dogs love treats and we love to provide them. Treats are an excellent training tool when used properly.

Don’t limit yourself to dog biscuits when thinking treats, other low-fat goodies such as carrots and apples work just as well. There are also many freeze-dried meat products available.

If you are using treats for training, be sure to include them when figuring your daily total rations. And be as particular in your choice of dog treat as you are with the food.

You can also use the dog’s daily ration of kibble as a training treat, feeding him morsels all day long as rewards for correct behavior, rather than any regular meals.

Recommended Dog Treats

For more on appropriate foods for dogs, see
"Species Appropriate Diet"

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