Dog Health Food Can Give You An Extra 8 Years With Your Best Friend

By: Mark Syme Click author's name for more of his/her articles

If you're concerned about the effect of preservatives on your best friend, then dog health food could be the answer. You can make your own delicious meals that your dog will love and give them heaps more energy at the same time.

So when was the last time that you actually looked at the ingredient list on your dog’s food? Go ahead and have a look now. Do you know what meal is exactly? What about the preservatives? What are they doing to your dog?

Well, from a nutritional point of view you need a certain ration of protein, fat and carbohydrate to give your dog their full spectrum of nutrients. Often you’ll see ratios like 40% meat 50% vegetables and 10% grain. While not wrong, this can be a bit confusing. The actual ratios that you want to achieve are based on protein (25-30%), fat (30-35%) and carbohydrate (35-45%). Then you need to look at exactly what ingredients make up those ratios. I mean, lean meat isn’t going to add much to the proportion of fat, compared to a really fatty type of meat.

Often you'll hear carbohydrates being dismissed as an unnecessary part of a dogs diet, however this is only true when an excessive amount of the food is made of low quality grain fillers.

Sometimes, pet food companies use cheap grains as a filler for the food so the ratio might be more like 70-80% carbohydrates, so this isn’t going to be the best for your dog in the long run. And can lead to allergies and dermatitis just like in humans. After all it’s a bit hard to imagine a German shepherd grazing on the African savannah isn’t it? They aren’t herbivores so we shouldn’t feed them like they are.

And what about preservatives? A common and hotly disputed one is ethoxyquin. This is used to preserve that fat component from breaking down, but it has been linked to problems ranging from dermatitis to cancerous tumors and dramatically shortened life spans. Unfortunately pet food labeling requirements aren’t as strict as human ones, so some companies are adding this horrible preservative but aren’t actually listing it on the label. Which makes it pretty difficult to track down, if you want to keep using commercial dog food but keep your dog healthy. This is one of the most dangerous additives but not the only one that is routinely added to dog food and hidden.

But what about the actual protein and fat content? What exactly are the proteins used? Some research has found a range of horrible animal parts that have been put into dog food. Offal and by products of other animals and even euthanized pets, their plastic tags and lethal chemicals intact! So 30% protein doesn’t equate to half a pound of mince meat by a long shot!

It’s not hard to see why more and more people are starting to make their own dog food. In many cases it'll be cheaper and far better quality. You can give your dog a variety of meats, you can control the quality and you can eliminate all those nasty chemicals. And it doesn’t take long either. Many people cook up a batch once a week and freeze it. Or you can opt for a baked biscuit type of food with all your dog’s favorite goodies in there.

Dog health food is fast changing from a luxury for pampered pooches to an essential component of keeping your best friend healthy. They trust us to give them what they need, so it's up to us to get educated about what really goes into their food.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Did you know that not being aware of what goes into your dog's food could be making them sick and could even rob years from your best friend's life? To find out exactly what goes into dog food and how to make your own delicious dog health food, subscribe to our newsletter, chock full of great tips to make your dog's life a long and healthy one. Click here www.dog-health-food.com