There is no short answer for this because it can be good or bad depending on your situation. Some dog owners prefer to provide branded dog food, and some prefer to give homemade dog food. The important thing about this situation is that no matter what you choose, you must be able to provide all the necessary nutrition for your doggo. So the best thing you can do is understand all the pros and cons of homemade dog food. But first, let’s talk about some of the myths that are associated with homemade dog food.
Here are some healthy homemade dog food recipes.
Myths regarding Homemade Dog Food
- Homemade Dog Food is Easy.
It’s not easy to give homemade dog food to your pet. If you choose commercial food, then they have all the necessary nutrition for your doggo. But if you choose to give homemade dog food, then you have to make that food suitable specifically for your doggo regarding nutrition. Therefore, it won’t be that easy.
- Your Dog’s nutrition needs are similar to yours.
This is completely false. Dogs have completely different nutrition needs than humans. So, if you think that you can simply give a portion of your food to your dog, then that is completely wrong. For instance, the human diet has mostly carbohydrates with some portion of fat and protein. On the other hand, dogs need a diet that is mostly protein.
- If you add lots of vegetables to the diet, your Dog will get all the nutrition.
Vegetables will give lots of necessary nutrition for your dog, but they will not give all the necessary nutrition for your dog. So, you can’t just fill your dog’s diet with tons of vegitables. It should be a balanced diet with animal-based protein and other things.
- The Same diet can be used for Puppies, Adult Dogs and even Senior Dogs.
The diet should vary with the age of your doggo. For instance, puppies require more protein and calcium for their growth process. On the other hand, senior dogs require fewer calorie diets since their metabolism slows down as a prevention method for obesity. So, make sure that your homemade dog food is age-appropriate for your doggo.
- Grains are always bad.
People think that all grains are bad for dogs since they are high in carbohydrates but that’s not true. There are some grains that are good for dogs. Certain grains are a good fibre source for your doggo. You can properly cook that and add it to your doggo’s diet. However, if your dog has grain-related allergies, then this myth may be true for your dog.
- Raw homemade dog food is better than Cooked Food.
Both raw homemade food and cooked food have their own benefits. But raw homemade dog food would not always be better since it depends on the situation. A lot of people also asks, can dogs eat meat? Yes, they can, and you can learn more about that from this article on “can dogs eat meat”.
- Adding Yogurt to the diet will cover all Calcium needs.
Dogs require a lot of calcium. Therefore, adding yogurt to the diet will not cut it. If you wants to provide all the calcium need for your doggo through yogurt, you will have to feed your dog about 40 cups of yogurt per week. That’s too much, and it’s highly unlikely that your dog would eat that much yogurt every week. Therefore, you need other sources like liver, sardines, brown rice, squash, turkey, and ground lamb.
- Giving Multivitamin will cover all the gaps in nutrition
This is false. Giving multivitamin will surely help your doggo, but it won’t be enough to cover the necessary nutrition needs. It should be through proper food since the nutrition need varies depending on your dog’s breed, size and age.
Now that you know all the myths regarding homemade dog food let’s talk about all the pros and cons regarding this so you can decide if homemade dog food is better for your dog.
Pros of Homemade Dog Food
- This is fresh, so the ingredients have maximum nutrition value.
- Homemade dog food can be cost-effective than some branded dog food.
- If your doggo is suffering from any kind of food allergies, then you can control the making of the homemade food so your doggo won’t be allergic to it.
- Using homemade food is beneficial if your doggo is a picky eater since you can cater directly to your doggo’s taste.
- Homemade dog food will always be fresh. Therefore, this can be more appealing for your doggo.
- Here, you control what your dog eats. So you can limit your dog’s exposure to artificial dyes, hormones, and flavors.
- You can make homemade dog food using lots of ingredients you purchase for you and your family, such as eggs, vegetables, and fresh meat.
Cons of Homemade Dog Food
Keep in mind that homemade dog food is not all pros. There are also cons as follows.
- It can be very hard to get the right nutrition balanced food for your dog. So at first, you may need help from an animal nutritionist to create the best specific diet for your doggo.
- This can be more expensive than commercial dry dog food.
- Since, homemade dog food is fresh, it has a shorter shelf life than commercially prepared dry dog food.
- If you don’t provide the necessary nutrition needs for your dog, they may develop nutritional deficiencies.
- Creating a proper nutritional balanced diet for your dog may take a lot of research. So it can be a time consuming process at first.
FAQ
- Can Dogs eat homemade dog food every day?
Yes, of course. If you can provide all the necessary nutrition needs through your homemade food for your dog, then your dog can eat homemade dog food every day without any issue.
- Do Dogs live longer on homemade food?
There are no studies that specifically say that this is true. But if you can provide healthy fresh food with all the necessary nutritional needs for your dog every day, then your dog will be very healthy. And if you provide all the necessary daily exercises for your dog, then it will surely expand your doggo’s lifespan.
