Important Information About Commercial Dog Food Recipes

While I believe that all dog owners should be knowledgeable about dog food recipes and their dogs nutrition needs, the facts are that there are a small, but slowly growing, number of dog owners that are actually doing anything about it.

I don’t mean by wasting time trying to lobby for forced change in commercial dog food recipes. I mean choosing the only genuinely effective action for your dog by taking on the responsibility of researching and learning what the actual nutritional needs of dogs are and then developing the dog food recipes that are going to meet those needs.

There is plenty of material to be found on the net about what is involved in the processing of modern commercial dog food recipes (dog’s included) that will give you cause for alarm. I’ll provide you with a partial list here.

Nearly all of the animal protein used in all its forms contains less than 60% of protein that can actually be digested by the animal.
The inclusion of vegetable based forms of protein doesn’t do very much to improve the situation.
In some cases the vegetable based forms of protein can be dangerously toxic.
These grains, instead of adding to the protein level end up only increasing the carbohydrate levels.
They can also end up being processed and stored as excess fat.
The can or bag nutrition labels will count it as protein; meaning that the actual protein level will be lower than indicated and the actual carbs and fats levels will be higher than indicated.
They may also be a source of food allergies.
The use of these very low quality proteins have a substantial effect on a dog’s immune system
Some of the most commonly used preservatives are known carcinogens (cancer causing agents) in humans and in cats; but. Are still legally used in dog food because there hasn’t been any research done in how they affect dogs.
These facts are believed by veterinarians to contribute to the increase of stunted growth, slow recovery from injury or illness and reduced life span of any animals that eat primarily, and sometimes only, commercial pet foods.

If you love your dog; (mine is one of my better behaved family members) then give them the same time and effort you take with your children’s nutrition. You’ll find that it doesn’t really take that much time to make your own dog food recipes and that the rewards will be noticed by all in the improved energy and appearance; not to mention the reduced grocery bill and fewer trips to the vet.

You don’t need to be concerned about incurring higher costs be cause of having to purchase expensive food processing equipment you don’t already have or spending more money for food ingredients that you don’t already buy.

At first it will take a little more of your time gathering the information you need in order to develop dog food recipes; and you’ll find that a local veterinarian and some google searching will get you pointed in the right direction.