How To Feed Your Dog - Raw Food Or Commercial Food?
Narrated from: Dog NutritionChoosing the best diet for your dog is important. It has to keep the dog happy and healthy. Dogs are prone to eating problems no less than you – in many aspects, they are even more vulnerable!
Generally, when you decide how to feed your dog you are faced with two major types of dog food – commercial dog food, be it dry or wet; and raw dog food. Commercial food you all know – it is all over the stores. Raw food is considered a natural alternative, since it based on raw meat and bones – it is usually distributed in smaller shops, but could easily be made in your own home. Both alternatives have supporters and have long since proven their value in dog feeding.
Here are some of the main differences between the two types of dog food:
• Raw or cooked? – Supporters of the raw food diet claim that raw meat is the natural food for dogs, while manufactured dog food has only been around for about 50 years. Dogs are adapted to eating raw food (except rabbit, pork and salmon that could pose a threat!).
On the other hand, manufactured dog food supporters believe that cooking the dog food is a natural stage of progress just like cooking human food – it’s a way of preserving the nutritional value while making the food tastier and much, much safer.
• Ingredients – The raw diet is based on a much simpler combination of ingredients than commercial dog food. The best known recipe is the so called BARF diet (60-80% of raw meaty bones and 20-40% of fruits and vegetables, offal, meat, eggs, or dairy foods). Raw food supporters claim that there is no need for most of the additives used by manufacturers.
Yet, some additives are essential for your dog. There are a lot of chemicals and ingredients you just couldn’t put in raw dog food. Quality dog foods have a wide variety of minerals, vitamins and supplements that improve your dog’s health and vitality.
• Variety – Raw dog food makers believe that the raw diet is flexible enough to allow variations that would be much more pleasing for your dog’s taste.
Manufactured dog food supporters argue that dogs have sensitive digestive tracts and should stick to a fixed diet.
Verdict: At this point of time there is no ultimate truth proving that a raw diet is better or worse than a commercial food diet – or the opposite. What it comes down to in the end is this: quality. Whichever food alternative you choose, you have to make sure it is of high enough quality for your dog.
A raw dog food advocate would tell you: “Do you know what is REALLY in your dog food? It’s full of additives and fillers that are actually BAD for your dog!” Well, you couldn’t say if that is true or false, since you are not a highly paid veterinarian expert working for a multinational company. But in the case of low-quality dog food there is a high chance that it would really turn out to be bad for the dog. Cheap dog food may seem like a bargain – but there are usually reasons for its lower price, and each penny saved affects your dog’s health.
So, all in all, you have to learn how to recognize quality dog food, which means that you have to read the labels!
The same is true for the raw diet. You are not supposed to just buy some bones and throw them in your dog’s bowl. If you decide to stick to a raw food diet, you have to learn the recipe that best suits your dog. Then you either have to find a reliable supplier, or start making dog food yourself – but you have to make sure you are doing it right!
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