Natural and Holistic Dog Food - Choosing the Best Food for Your Best Friend

Your dog's diet plays a major role in his or her overall health.  A healthy diet equals a healthy dog.  So many dogs develop cancer and other diseases and don't live to their full life expectancy.

Why are dogs dying young?  Could it be their diets?  Most dogs are fed commercial dog food, many brands of which contain meat by-products, chemicals and preservatives.  Meat by-products are animal parts not used for human consumption, such as bones, organs, blood, fatty tissue and intestines.  

Chemicals and preservatives may not be listed on the label because many of them make their way into pet food at rendering plants before the manufacturer even receives the meat.  Some of the detrimental effects chemicals and preservatives can have on your dog include:

• many forms of cancer
• liver dysfunction
• major organ failure
• immune system collapse
• severe allergic reactions
• birth defects
• blindness
• chronic diarrhea
• hair loss
• behavior problems, including increased aggressiveness

Rendering plants use dead, diseased, dying and disabled animals that go into pet food.  These animals may have abscesses, cancers, livers infested with worms or diseases or lungs filled with pneumonia.

Euthanized cats and dogs are sent to rendering plants, and the collars, ID tags and plastic bags they were delivered in are not even removed before rendering.

Sodium pentobarbital, the drug used to euthanize animals, also ends up in some pet food.  

So what do you feed your dog if you want to increase his or her life span?  Here are a few options:

Homemade dog food:  This requires some cooking using human-grade food, but it's important to know what human foods are actually deadly for dogs.  With this type of diet, you know what's going into your dog's food.  You can learn how to prepare homemade dog food, get access to many recipes and learn what human foods to avoid in your dog's diet plus a whole lot more in Dog Food Secrets.

Visit Sojourner Farms, and learn more about their fresh foods program for dogs and cats, and how you can make all-natural, homemade pet food in minutes.

Raw dog food:  More and more dog owners are realizing that a raw diet is best for their dogs.  One of the reasons why is because heat destroys many of the enzymes, amino acids and other nutrients in the food.  Some owners have seen an improvement in their dogs' health after switching them to a raw diet. 

There are two types of raw diets:

1.  BARF (bones and raw food) - raw meat and bones, along with vegetables (pureed in a blender), raw eggs, yogurt and animal organs

2.  Prey model - only raw meat (all types) and bones, raw eggs and animal organs

If you want to learn more about starting your dog on a raw diet, check out Going Rawr! A Complete Guide To Putting Your Dog On A Raw Food Diet.

Pre-made, high quality, natural and holistic dog food:  This type of diet is easier and more convenient.  You may choose: 

• Frozen raw dog food (purchased from a retailer):  Feeding your dog a raw diet can be messy and time consuming.  That's why some dog owners prefer to buy frozen raw dog food from a retailer that's already prepared and balanced.
  
• Freeze dried dog food:  This type of dog food has been cold processed, so the nutrients in the food have been preserved.
• Dehydrated dog food:  The activity of enzymes in the food is suspended in the dehydration process until the food is re-hydrated.  Because the temperatures used in dehydration are much lower than in canning or in processing kibble, the nutrients lost are minimal.
• Canned dog food:  This is a good option for those dog owners who want more convenience but don't want grains in their dogs' diets.  High quality canned food is best, with organic being even better.  Look for canned dog food that is made with human grade, whole food ingredients.  Organic dog food doesn't contain pesticides and other toxins.
• Dry kibble:  If you choose to feed your dog kibble, it's important to know what ingredients are in it.  Many commercial dog foods contain meat by-products, which may include the animal parts that are unfit for human consumption, sometimes containing diseased or even cancerous animal parts.  They also may contain artificial ingredients such as preservatives, dyes, fillers, etc.  There is, however, high-quality kibble available that contains human grade, wholesome ingredients and is truly a natural and holistic dog food.

Some dogs may have allergy problems from grains that are found in many kibble varieties, but it is possible to find high-quality grain-free kibble. 

• If the food contains imported ingredients from risky countries such as China...
  
• If the food uses choice human grade ingredients or a much lesser quality grade of ingredients...
  
• If the food contains risky chemicals linked to cancer...
  
• If the pet food actually contains meat! (many don't)...