The Benefits of Homemade Puppy Food
20 Dec 2009
Once you make the decision to bring a puppy into your life there are numerous things about puppy care that are necessary to learn. Attempting to keep up with all of the basic needs of a young puppy can be overwhelming, but feeding him can be easy and rewarding.
Like many things that you buy prepackaged from the store, most puppy food is full of chemicals, additives, cheap fillers, preservatives, and other unnecessary ingredients. As a result, alternative forms of puppy food have recently begun to gain in popularity, such as homemade puppy food.
Homemade puppy food is really quite simple to make and is actually the healthiest and safest way to feed your new pooch.
First, you should understand that the diet you choose for your puppy will be a large factor in your puppy’s overall health. Poor ingredients in a diet can actually weaken a dog’s immune system making it difficult for them to fight off infection and disease as they age. In recent news, many pets have suffered fatal kidney failures and other deadly reactions as a direct result of commercial pet food recalls. If you know exactly what your puppy is eating at all times, this can be avoided.
The commercial pet food companies market themselves as knowledgeable in what nutrients are needed to keep your puppy young, healthy, and strong. However, are you completely confident that the health of your dog is their number one priority? Pet owners are typically enticed into buying from big corporations that spend lots of money on advertising. Just remember, no one will care for your pet better than you so the extra time invested in preparing homemade puppy food is well worth it.
You may notice that making homemade puppy food has cost benefits as well as being healthier for yoru puppy. You will be able to save a good deal of money not having to purchase prepackaged dog food or special ingredients by using some of the ingredients from your own meal preparations.
Even though making homemade puppy food has the potential to be extremely beneficial to your pooch, you must be aware that many people foods can be dangerous, or even deadly, to dogs. While preparing your homemade puppy food you should avoid ingredients such as chocolate, caffeine, mushrooms, raw eggs, garlic, yeast, onions, avocados, grapes/raisins, mustard seeds, macadamia/walnuts, and even tomatoes.
Have you ever browsed the dog food aisle and noticed that there are different varieties of food for different sizes and ages of dogs? When developing your own homemade puppy food recipes that same idea needs to be applied. Just as young dogs require different nutriets than old dogs, the same applies to small versus large. When fed properly, a dog’s lifespan can be increased by numerous years.
When cooking, a good rule of thumb is to make sure that each meal is at least 1/3 protein, 2/3 produce and some portion of grains. Most cooked meat like chicken, lamb, beef, eggs, bacon and liver will work fine when putting together your new puppy recipes. Peas, carrots, green beans, spinach and broccoli are all acceptable forms of produce. You can use rice, wheat germ, oats, and corn meal for grains. Don’t pass up the opportunity to make occasional treats as well using items like vanilla, butter, brown sugar, and fruit.
Canine senses are much more sensitive than ours so remember that you don’t need to season your homemade puppy food. Salt can even be harmful to your puppy. For your puppy, plain and simple is better.
While not all veterinarians will agree that homemade puppy food is best, it is still a good idea to discuss it with them. At the very least they can provide you with an idea of serving sizes and how often particular breeds need to eat along with what sensitivities, if any, the dog could be predisposed to. In respect to a particular breed, they may be able to fill in the missing details that you will need in order to properly formulate your very own homemade puppy food recipe.
Considering more organic substitutes for our pets is only natural now that people have become more sensitive to obesity and healthy eating. Natural food can help your dog stay fit as he ages as well as reduce the likeliness of allergies.
Making homemade puppy food for the newest edition to your family will not only save you money, but it will also provide you with the reassurance that you are doing the very best job possible caring for your puppy.
