Are You Confused About What To Feed Your Dog?

There are several choices when it comes to feeding your dog. You can find low-priced bargain dog food, even generic dog food, or you can select high quality, high priced brand name dog food. There is also the choice to feed your dog a vegetarian diet or the BARF diet. So, are you confused now about what to feed your dog?

The majority of dog owners choose to feed dogs a commercial dog food because of the convenience of just opening the bag or can and giving the food to the dog. In today's busy world convenience is a must. There are tons of commercial dog food to choose from in different price ranges, different packaging, and different textures (some moist, some canned and some dry).

Some claim the problem with commercial dog food is that some manufacturers of the food are owned my large multinational parent companies that may decide to substitute less expensive ingredients to save the company money.  This means the ingredients can change from time to time making the food your dog eats different and possibly upsetting to the stomach.

A few of the commercial dog food companies do pride themselves on using "fixed formulas" of acceptable quality ingredients.

There are differing opinions concerning commercial dog food as it's considered by some to be a threat to your dogs health  Because commercial dog food may contain questionable ingredients that are implicated in diseases. Diseases such as allergic rashes, food intolerance, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic ear infections, bladder infection, kidney stones, certain heart diseases, canine mammary cancer, bloating, and diabetes all have a certain nutritional component to them. In other words, what we are feeding our dogs just may be making them sick.

Commercial dog food may contain other things that can make our dogs sick such as pesticide residues, molds and antibiotics. There have been many recalls of dry dog food by different dog food manufacturers due to mold contamination of the grain ingredients in the food. Some recalled food contained fungal toxins, which are dangerous when ingested, and this particular recall occurred with the result of 20 dog fatalities. Dog foods labels are suppose to follow certain rules that are designed protect the health of dogs.

The BARF diet stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food. Ask you vet about the BARF diet and you will probably get plenty of good information about it and a hearty endorsement from the vet for you to try your dog on this diet. A raw diet has a lot of health benefits for your dog. A raw diet reduces the occurrence of skin allergies, weight problems, and gland problems too. The diet will not contain preservatives or chemicals and taste better to your dog. The dog will be forced to eat more slowly, have fewer stools, and it is generally less expensive to feed your dog the BARF diet than commercial food. The negative about the BARF diet is that it does take some time to prepare it.

It is possible to have a vegan or vegetarian dog as there are began pet foods available. If you are going to feed your canine a vegetarian diet you do need to watch for the presence of a dry, dull coat, dandruff, low energy, diarrhea, or other symptoms that may be traced to the diet.

End the confusion, talk to your dog breeder or vet about the best dog food for your dog’s breed, activity level and age.

The author has kept two great danes that happily and healthily lived to over ten years of age - a good age for a dane.  Both were fed commercial dried food.