Most dog owners, if they are even aware of the benefits of homemade dry dog food, will undoubtedly consider this route when it comes to feeding their dogs. It is a well-known fact that homemade food is by far the best source of high-quality ingredients for your dog, including highly prized meat. Surely, it shouldn’t be a surprise that in addition to the main ingredients being meats, the food also consists of such valuable supplements as grains. However, not all foods are created equal, and if you are searching for the best possible food for your dog, you will need to know what to avoid and, even more importantly, how to get the most out of the food you are already feeding your dog.
Avoid Ingredients
Firstly, on the list of many ingredients that should never be found in your homemade dog food are food preservatives such as BHA, BHA, and Ethoxyquin. BHA and BHA have been banned from use in human food for years because of their links to cancer. Ethoxyquin is used to preserve most foods but is considered to be a harmful food additive. Avoid store-bought dog food that contains such preservatives.
Additionally, avoid food that uses other chemicals such as propylene glycol, beet pulp, and soybean meal. Like the food preservatives mentioned, these ingredients have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals. If you are unsure about the food you have purchased, you may want to consider replacing it with homemade dry dog food that does not contain these chemicals.
How to Make Your Own
Fortunately, making your own homemade dry dog food is not too difficult. The ingredients you will want include proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. You will want to focus on adding ingredients to help your dog achieve optimal health and well-being.
Choose an ideal food that your dog can have in a balanced and nutritious diet. This is not the only food that you should be feeding your dog, but it is the best food you can give your dog in order to prevent him from developing food allergies or acquiring diseases that come with old age. Once you have chosen the best food for your dog, you will want to be sure that you do your research on the best foods for your particular dog. This will help you to be sure that the food you are feeding your dog will be all-natural and nutritious.
Another thing that you want to be certain of is that you avoid giving your dog any potentially toxic food. With the wide variety of ingredients that can be found in store-bought dog food, it is hard to ensure that your dog will not be receiving any type of poison. Store guarding is a thriving industry; as long as you research, you can keep your dog safe.
Store shopping for your pet food has plenty of other advantages as well. You can choose from any types of foods, which means you can be sure that there will be something available for the breed that you have selected. Even if you do not have store lot sizes, sometimes you are able to select a specific dog food that is formulated for a particular age group.