A Word On Diet

What should we feed our dogs? That is definitely one of the most controversial and confusing topics today. The market is flooded with dog food products and the media hosts a war between proponents of different feeding philosophies.

To find some common ground, I suggest we start with something we can all agree on. Cheap dog kibble you can find at your grocery store is probably not the best diet choice for your dog. Simply because it is designed with price as the main factor. A dog can survive on it, but can it sustain him for a long healthy life? Not likely.

With that out of the way, what other choices are being recommended to us? There are the highly promoted veterinary diet foods. There is a large number of natural and holistic food products. There are proponents of home-made food, cooked or raw.

Diet is an important issue. A quality diet is the difference between a healthy vital life and a life hampered by disease.

We all want what is best for our dogs. But how do we know what it is when the experts cannot agree on any one thing? Well, I guess at least they care enough to have opinions about it.

I'll tell you how bad this gets. The other day I was talking to a friend in the dog park, and she mentioned that she spends one day a week preparing her dog's food. I asked her what she feeds, and instead of just telling me, she answered that I wouldn't agree with it.

Turns out she's feeding a raw diet. She tried feeding a couple of the recommended veterinary diet formulas, but her dog wasn't doing well on either of them. She decided to switch to a raw diet. It seems that all the problems are gone and her dog is thriving on it. When I asked her why she was determined that I would not agree with it, she said that most people don't. Well, her dog clearly does.

After trying to weed through all the trends myself, here is a conclusion I came to. I believe that the closer the food is to its original form, the better it is for my dog. And I believe that the closer the food is to what a dog would eat in the wild, the better it is for my dog. Most importantly though, I believe in making up your own mind. Whatever you feed your dog, do so because you believe in it.

I believe that making your own dog food, whether raw or cooked is great if done with dog nutritional requirements in mind. I also believe that many of the natural dog food products out there are quite good.

After much consideration, and keeping her health condition in mind, Jasmine gets a home-cooked diet based on Hilary's blend. She's been on it for over a year now, and it seems to be working really well for her.