There is so much to say and so much has been said or written about canine nutrition. What can a person believe? How can a person make a good decision when it comes to feeding their dog?

Let us start by thinking about what kind of diet is natural for a canine. Canines are omnivores. This means that a dog is a carnivore, (eats meat), a vegetarian, a scavenger, a hunter and an opportunist. He will eat just about anything in the way of food. In fact, so far as eating goes, a dog is one of the most versatile creatures on earth! He will survive on just about anything we throw at him, including commercial dog food.

In the wild a dog eats the internal organs, the meat and bones in the meat. He also eats the stomach and intestinal contents. This is where the vegetables and grains are found for his diet. He loves fruit, especially overripe fruit. So he can be found eating around the bottom of fruit trees and berry bushes. Dogs also love eating acorns and lizards.

Humans, however, have come along and domesticated the dog. As such we have also humanized our pet dog. In doing such we have actually ‘loved them to death’. Instead of thinking our dog is a human we must remember that even though he is a part of our family, he is still a canine.

I’ve often thought about the dogs and cats on the farm, (I come from farm folks), and how they lived a very long healthy life by eating mostly scraps that where thrown out to them.

Now-a-days we are told “Dogs must have commercial dog food,” “Do not feed table scraps’ and “They do not need any supplements”.

Results? Our pet’s lifespan is shortened. They are overweight, have food allergies, cancer, are diabetics and have all kinds of health problems. Hum……

Then there are all kinds of dog food recalls, even in the so called excellent brand foods. So what can we do? I’m going to throw out some recommendations. I’ll start with the best case scenario and work down to the not best but “will do” scenario.

• First you could make and feed your dog a well balanced raw food diet. What do I mean by that? Well, you can feed them raw meat, fresh vegetables and grains. (You can have the whole chicken ground so the bones and gizzard, heart and liver are included. You can also do this with beef, goat, and turkey.)
• Second, if the raw meat is hard for you to handle, you can feed them cooked meat with fresh vegetables and grains. However, NEVER feed them cooked bones! Canned Salmon and Mackerel are excellent additions for canine diets!
• Third, if you do not like cooking or your time is limited, you can buy dehydrated, freeze dried or frozen products (but caution: not all are created equal.)
• Fourth, if you have to resort to dry kibble at least add canned food and water to the meal. Better yet, make your own ‘chicken soup’ or ‘beef stew’ to add to your dry kibble.

After much consideration and interviewing different companies and of course making sure that the balance is correct by consulting my Canine Nutrition Consultant, we recommend a quality food TLC Pet Food

We at Poodle Mojo actually implement both raw and cooked meat. We make our own ‘canned’ foods. We have many different homemade formulas that we use.

TLC only has the dry formula, however, they use three meats,  New Zealand Lamb, Chicken and Atlantic Wild Salmon. We provide recipes in our Puppy Folders and on our website so ones can make their own wet foods.

Remember to always check ingredients. Companies often change their ingredients or are bought out by another company. (Often a company that knows nothing about dog food.)

RECOMMENDED BOOK: Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. (We like the 3rd edition the best.)