Best Dog Food Recipes

Dog food recipes have rarely been out of the news in the last few years with commerical producers suffering from seeing the quality of their products bought into question.

All this has of course created a huge debate amongst pet owners:

Is home made dog food better for your dog than commercial dog foods?

If you do want to make your own dog food, are their certain ingredients you shouldn’t use?

We took a look at home made food for our dogs recipes versus commercial and came up with some answers for the Labrador dog lover—and all pet owners.

A sad fact is that recently many commercial dog foods have been recalled because food poisoning was present.

Some dogs suffered fatalities due to this food poisoning and pet owners are calling for stricter

standards in the dog food industry. To avoid this problem, some pet owners are coming up with their own dog food recipes but there are ingredients that you should use and ones you should avoid.

Veterinarians will tell you that the best food for your dogs should have a ratio of 75% carbohydrates to 25% meat. The easiest way to make foods for your dogs, and this works well for dogs that are ill or have just gone through

surgery, is to combine cooked brown rice, some ground meat, and vegetables along with water and brewers yeast. Because your dog can’t digest veggies very well you should always put the vegetables in the food processor before adding to the other ingredients.

Because of the carbs and meats needed for your dog’s nourishment, here’s a list of things that are good ingredients and ones to avoid:

• Rice is an excellent carbohydrate for dogs and has many nutrients.

• Brewers yeast, flours like corn flour and soy flour and even whole wheat flour are all good for your pet.

• To help your dog with their Omega 3 needs, cod-liver oil or flaxseed oil in small amounts can help their cardiovascular system as well as help to keep their coasts shiny.

• Surprisingly, using garlic in your home made dog recipe can ward off tape worms and fleas and even fight infection just as in humans. Keep your dog’s garlic intake limited as too much is not good.

• For meats choose liver, beef, tuna, lamb or chicken and you should either buy these ground or grind them yourself.

• Vegetables like carrots and spinach are best. Broccoli is okay but do not use too much in your home made dog food recipe as broccoli is harder to digest. All veggies should be put in your food processor first before adding.

• Bone meal is a great way to make sure your dog is getting much needed calcium. Or, you can buy raw meaty bones as a calcium source and even powdered milk can be added for your dogs calcium needs.

Just as there are good ingredients for your dog, there are bad ones as well. We put together some foods to avoid when making your own dog food recipe.

• Chocolate is not good for any dog and can cause seizures and large bouts of diarrhea.

• Coffees or teas can also cause seizures so avoid giving these in any form to your dog.

• Raisins and grapes are dangerous to your dog’s kidneys and nutmeg can cause seizures.

• Everyone thinks giving their dog raw eggs is good for their coat, but due to the possibility of salmonella, try and avoid raw eggs.

• Onions can actually interfere with a dog’s blood circulation.

• Any form of nut is not good for your dog’s digestive system, but macadamia nuts can cause tremors and paralysis.

• Never add fruits that have the pits in them as fruit pits can contain cyanide and that’s not good for any dog.

Home made dog food recipes can be fun and you can even get the kids involved in helping you make it.

If going the home made route is what you want to do and avoid commercial dog food altogether, use these tips and ask your vet what they recommend prior to making your dog food recipes.

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Homemade Dog Food Recipes 

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Diabetic Dog Food 

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