As proud dog owners, we want to put our dogs’ health and well-being in the first place. The first step to improving these two aspects of our dog’s life is to make sure they are eating plenty of healthy foods. Unfortunately, taking care of your dog’s diet can become challenging, especially if you are busy with work and other responsibilities. However, it is important to create a balance in your dog’s diet and provide them with healthy and nutritious foods rather than commercial products that contain harmful ingredients.
Have you ever asked yourself questions such as “what can I give my dog for breakfast?” or “how can I make sure my dog is eating healthier?” The answer is simple. You should make homemade food that will contribute to your dog’s growth and development and provide them with all the essential nutrients for the day. We will focus on the homemade dog food benefits and the advantages that come along with investing a bit of time for the sake of your dog’s health.
Homemade Dog Food Benefits
We already know that homemade goods are better for our health than store-bought products. The same goes for dog food, as the commercial dog food products contain artificial substances and ingredients that might not be so healthy for your dog. On the other hand, homemade dog food can contribute to the animal’s healthy growth and development and affect your dog’s mood and behavior.
Before discussing homemade dog food benefits, keep in mind that making your dog’s food at home will take some time and experimenting. Even though dogs don’t have as many taste buds as humans, they can still tell the difference between different flavors. According to OrganicAuthority.com, dogs have a little over 1500 taste buds, whereas humans have 9000. Still, it is quite likely that your dog won’t like everything you make for him, so it will take some time to learn what you can actually prepare for your dog to enjoy.
When it comes to taking things into your own hands to make homemade dog food, it is important to choose healthy ingredients that contain the ten amino acids essential for your dog’s health. It would be best to create a balance between animal and vegetable protein to ensure your dog maintains proper physical health. Without further ado, here are five homemade dog food benefits!
1. You can select the ingredients yourself
When making homemade dog food, you can select the ingredients by yourself and decide which foods to give your dog. On the other hand, purchasing commercial dog food means settling for the ingredients that the company placed in the can. Most of the time, these commercial dog food ingredients are not very healthy for your dog. The majority of store-bought dog foods contain artificial substances that are supposed to make the food last longer.
After all, commercial dog food products are made for profit, making it easy to understand why companies don’t bother that much with the quality of ingredients. However, we shall not generalize and say that all dog food products are awful for your dog. In fact, some high-quality dog food brands provide food with organic ingredients, even though these options come at a higher price. The point is, homemade dog food is much healthier for your dog because the ingredients used to make the food are carefully selected.
2. You can make sure that all ten essential amino acids are present
According to TheBark.com, there are ten essential amino acids that your dogs need to take in daily to maintain proper health conditions. These amino acids include arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. The truth is, not all store-bought dog food products contain the necessary amino acids. In fact, it might be challenging to find products that contain all of them.
However, if you start making homemade dog food, you will select ingredients that contain these amino acids. Therefore, you will be able to provide your dog a healthier and more beneficial diet. These amino acids can be found in different types of proteins. “Dogs digest these proteins efficiently, and they provide amino acids in proportions suitable for tissue protein synthesis. In contrast, the biological value of most plant proteins is low due to insufficiencies of specific amino acids and lower digestibility” said the animal nutrition expert Donald Strombeck, DVM.
3. Prolong your dog’s life
Believe it or not, making homemade dog food can prolong your dog’s life. Improving the dog’s diet will lead to general improvements in their physical performance and well-being. A healthy diet can prevent various health issues that are otherwise caused by processed foods. Instead of feeding your dog with artificial chemicals from commercial dog food, you can offer them fresh meat, fish, and vegetable suitable for their diet.
Besides maintaining a healthy diet, there are other ways you can help your dog live longer and happier. For example, experts from Rover.com suggest dog owners encourage their dogs to run and thus exercise their muscles. They also advise the owners to maintain the dog’s oral hygiene by regularly brushing the dog’s teeth. Visiting the vet regularly to make sure the dog is in optimal health condition is also a way to prolong its life.
4. Add variety to your dog’s diet
If you were eating the same type of food for weeks, months, or even years, wouldn’t you eventually get sick of it? In fact, we get sick of certain types of food if we consume them three or four days in a row. What makes us think that dogs are any different? We already established that dogs have enough taste buds to distinguish different flavors. They also tend to dislike foods that they are forced to eat multiple times per day, week, or month.
If you switch to homemade dog food, you will be able to add more variety to your dog’s diet and thus keep them happier and healthier at the same time. After all, there is a limited amount of different commercial dog food flavors, which means your dog can easily get sick of store-bought food. On the other hand, if you start making dog food at home, you can switch up ingredients now and keep the diet diverse. The experts at EmotionalSupportAnimalCO.com confirm that dogs can indeed get sick of eating the same food and need some diversity in their diet.
5. Reinforcing the psychological bond with your pet
Even though many dog owners got themselves a dog because they think it’s cute, all of us develop psychological bonds with our pets. It is quite easy to understand why we get so attached to our dogs. After all, they are human’s best friends. Jeffrey Kluger explained at Time.com why dogs and humans love each other so much.
Taking time every day or at least a few times per week to source the right ingredients and make homemade food for your dog will reinforce this bond. It will make you feel closer and more attached to your pet, which is the beauty of being a dog owner. Besides, there is nothing cuter than the gratitude and happiness your dog will show you when you start making some delicious dog food for them. Your dogs will be thankful, and they will surely show it by wagging their tails like crazy when that food bowl hits the floor!
Conclusion
We all want our dogs to be happy and healthy for as many years as they can. We can help them live a longer and happier life by simply putting effort into making some homemade dog food instead of feeding them artificial store-bought products. If you want to make sure your dog remains healthy, consider all the homemade dog food benefits we listed above. From choosing healthy and natural products, to create a stronger bond with your dog, making homemade food comes with many advantages. Most importantly, opting for homemade dog food can help your dog avoid health issues and problems caused by artificial ingredients.
Homemade dog food is much easier to digest than store-bought products. Thus it improves your dog’s gastrointestinal system. However, before you make any major changes to your dog’s diet, make sure to consult a vet to see whether you should focus on specific ingredients. Don’t forget that your dog might not like everything you prepare to be patient and try different combinations of ingredients to add variety to their diet. Lastly, make sure to leave us a comment below and let us know if you liked our topic today! We would love to hear your thoughts and experiences related to homemade dog food compared to store-bought products!
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