A Healthy Natural Food For Your Dog

What exactly is meant by natural dog food? It means the food will be all natural, with no harmful preservatives, additives, or coloring. In the premium brands of dog foods, it also means that the food is in its natural state - not processed - which retains more natural nutrients and enzymes.

Most people think it's way too time consuming and expensive to make your own dog food from natural dog food recipes. The truth is, many times it's less expensive than premium commercial dog food and it doesn't have to take up hours of your time. The natural dog food recipes show what types of foods to use, what to avoid, and how much to give your dog.

Basically, all natural dog food is made with human-grade ingredients. The average commercial dog food is NOT made with human-grade ingredients; rather, it is comprised of nutritionally-lacking by-products of human-grade ingredients. When you feed your dog a low quality commercial dog food, you are basically feeding him empty calories with very little nutritional value.

So where do you learn how to make dog food and what are the recipes for them? I found an e-book online called The Complete Guide To Your Dog's Nutrition that I highly recommend. Not only is it packed full of recipes, but it goes into great detail about the types of foods for various nutrition and amounts.

I know I had a lot of fear when I first decided I wanted to feed my dogs natural dog food. I didn't know what kind of foods to give them, or in what quantity.

Dogs need certain calories depending on their age, activity level, and metabolism. This is discussed so you will know how much to feed your dog at every stage of his life.

Did you know dogs also need a certain proportion of protein/carbs/fat. Too much or too little and their immune system gets stressed. When this happens, allergy symptoms can arise (scratching, diarrhea, smelly gas) and they become more susceptible to illness and diseases. And unlike humans, dogs get their energy from fat, not carbs. So those low-fat commercial dog foods for overweight dogs can actually hurt them in the long run.

It happens. Sometimes you just don't have the time or energy to make your own homemade healthy dog food. Or maybe you don't have all the ingredients and have no desire to run to the grocery store! I know I have been in this predicament more than once.

I found the perfect solution... I found an all-natural kibble that I always keep on hand. Just re-hydrate the kibble with water and add your own meat. The main kibble I use has ingredients like rolled oats, barley flakes, and kelp. I also like to keep a bag of grain-free kibble (to just change things up) which contains ingredients like sweet potatoes, broccoli and apples.

There are also some great all-natural dog foods out there with meat. Some of the premium brands (Wysong and Nature's Variety) even freeze-dry the ingredients, rather than bake, to preserve more of the nutrients. Other premium dog foods use dehydration to preserve the nutrients (Sojos and Honest Kitchen).

Regardless of whether you make your own homemade healthy dog food from scratch or with the aid of some quality, natural kibble, I recommend reading The Dog Nutrition Guide. This e-book will explain everything you need to know about what kinds of foods are the best for your dog and has many easy natural dog food recipes for you to follow.

Below are the 3 ways to prepare natural dog food recipes:

1. From scratch - gather your healthy, human-grade ingredients and make your own dog food. Make large batches and store in individual portions.


2. From natural kibble - just add your own fresh, human-grade meats and/or vegetables.


3. Premium Brand Natural Dog Food - it's nice now that there are more options for a good, quality, natural dog food for our dogs.