Natural Commercial Versus Natural Homemade Dog Food

Congratulations on having made the decision to feed your dog a natural diet!

Having made that first decision, however, there are still a number of them to be made. The initial additional decision you have to make is "how" to change your dog to a natural diet. Your dog's body, after all, has become accustomed to the chemicals and additives in non-natural commercial dog food and you have gotten used to the convenience. Lets look at the three major pros and cons associated with switching your dog from the diet its used to one that is healthier for it.

Natural Commercial Diets
-Convenience: The convenience of natural commercial diets is just as high as the convenience of those that contain chemicals and additives. They come packaged in bags, just as "ordinary" dog foods do. In addition, they are available in rolled loaves, which make them convenient for feeding to elderly dogs or young puppies. They are less convenient than other commercial foods, however, in that they are not available at grocery stores and department stores. Some raw foods are also sold commercially. These foods are usually frozen and will keep for many weeks.

-Quality: The manufacturers claim that all of the ingredients in these foods are of the highest quality. Given that there is no agency that inspects these manufacturer and no guidelines for their manufacture, the buyer is expected to take these claims at face value.

-Variety: If the dog is kept on one brand of commercial food, there may only be a small variety of products available. A limited variety of foods may make it difficult to switch easily between one food and another.

Natural Homemade Diets
-Convenience: Natural homemade diets can be a pain in the neck for the average dog owner to put together. Even with all of the recipes that appear in books and online, it can take time to do research on appropriate diets for certain dogs and conditions that affect their health. Homemade diets also take time to prepare on a daily basis once the research has been completed.

-Quality: The quality of homemade diets is dependent on what the owner puts into them and is dependent on what the owner can afford. A poorly devised homemade diet can be detrimental to the dog's health if it is fed for a prolonged period.

-Variety: The variety of the food is contingent only on the owner's research, imagination, and willingness to experiment. Dogs that are given a variety of foods will find it easier to switch between diets or foods when necessary.

These are only three factors of many that go into deciding on what kind of diet to feed. Many others will be examined and discussed on this site.

Next article: Canine Dog BARF Diet - Understanding Biologically Appropriate Raw Food