Due to several threats in recent years involving commercial dog food brands, many dog owners have decided to try different diets for their dogs. Very often these different kinds of diets include homemade dog food recipes. There is a great deal of information online, some good and others not exactly reliable. In order to make educated decisions about your dog's nutrition, there are a few things to consider.

Become Informed

First of all, become informed. Even though it does make sense to feed your dog a good, nutritious diet, there is a lot of information online and you could unfortunately get some bad info. With that being said, it is vital to do research. You should learn what you can about the commercial dog food market. Become knowledgeable by speaking with your vet and find some good homemade recipes. There are many good and easy to make recipes on the internet and of course in books at the library.

Beware of False Information

Once you have read up on the commercial dog food industry, you'll discover that many of what you have been told for years about dog nutrition is false. The companies would like for you to believe that only food made in labs by scientists is healthy enough for your dog. They have long warned the population that feeding homemade food will result in an unhealthy pet. This is absolutely false. All that's required is reading the ingredients list of a package of pet food from a store and you will see that most of what goes into the major brands is lost calories and not at all healthy.

Provide a Wide Variety of Ingredients

What your dog will need to be healthy and to live longer, is a nice variety of nutritious foods. The recipes to look for should include a variety of ingredients including chicken, beef, pork etc. along with vegetables such as carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes and other tasty veggies. Include a dairy product like egg or cheese and you have a sure winner. Dogs love variety, that's why they beg for human food so frequently, so mix up the ingredients to keep your dog happy and wanting more. You should also consider supplementing the meals with calcium as well as a fatty acid such as fish oil.

Make the Switch Gradually

You should never switch your dog's food all at once. They should be eased into the change and there is a lot of helpful information on exactly how to properly undertake this on different websites devoted to dog food recipes. Some dogs will experience little if any problems with changing to homemade food, while others could take a bit longer to adjust. Some resources suggest adding the homemade food to your dog's current food and ease off the commercial food slowly over a few days.

You know what your dog needs, and with the proper amount of research and recipes it is possible to provide a healthy, homemade alternative for your pet.

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