Dog Care Frenzy

If you are a dog owner you have probably wondered what you should be feeding your dog.  Should you feed a raw food for dogs or should you feed kibble?  Which one is better?

As with most things in life, it depends. Both can be good for your dog, and both have advantages and disadvantages.  It can get really confusing with all the available information on the subject.  The real question is what should you really be doing?

With a little effort dog owners can provide the proper nutrition for their dogs no matter if they feed kibble or a dog raw food diet.

Feeding dry kibble or canned dog food may seem like an easy and convenient option. However, there are so many choices that it can be quite a challenge to decide on what’s best for your dog.  There are an almost endless variety of food on the market today. You can find gourmet dog food as well as really cheap dog food made up mostly of cheap filler ingredients.  But it is important to remember that the ingredients in your dog’s food can have a real impact on her health.

A great way to determine if your dog’s diet is good for her is to take a look at her appearance and how healthy she looks.

• Does your dog look good?
• Is she a good weight or is she too fat or too thin?
• Is her coat shiny and healthy-looking?
• Does she have greasy-looking coat or bald patches?
• Does she have dandruff?
• Does she itch and scratch or otherwise seem to have allergies?
• Does she have ear infections?
• Are her eyes clear?
• Does he have good energy for his age?

If you are concerned with any of these issues you may want to take a closer look at what you are feeding your dog.

If you feed kibble then take a look at the ingredients.  What are the first five ingredients?  Do you see named sources of protein among the first several ingredients?  Protein from chicken meal, fish meal, lamb meal, and eggs are all good sources.  If they are listed then at least you know the source of the protein you dog is ingesting.

These sources are all easily digested and makes it easier for your dog to get the maximum nutrition from them.  Other sources of protein that are just categorized as “animal meal” can actually come from any animal and may include some really undesirable parts.  Corn is one inexpensive source of protein that is often used. However, the problem with corn meal is that it is not as easy to digest..  Only about 54 percent of the nutrition in corn meal is actually digested.  The rest is simply excreted as waste.

Because of pet food recalls in the past many more people have become interested in feeding a raw food diet for dogs.  They like the idea of being involved in what their dogs eat and the idea of making it themselves.  They can be certain of the type of meat and other ingredients that they are using.

However, feeding raw food takes time and a certain degree of commitment.  The cost of a raw diet can be prohibitive and people often have to buy ingredients in bulk.  Because of this, some owners find that they must invest in a small freezer to be able to store the meat.  In order to grind meat bones to feed your dog you may also find the need to a meat grinder.  If you truly want to feed your dog a raw diet you may find that these things are a necessity and require some financial investment.

To make certain that your pet is getting all the necessary nutrients you will need to add supplements to her diet as well.  She needs vitamins and minerals, not just protein and calcium that she gets from meat and bones.

In the end there is no right answer. It just depends.  If you are prepared to do the research and commit to the time and effort your dog can do well on a kibble diet or on a raw food diet for dogs.

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