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Dog owners can opt for either commercial packaged dog food (easily available at any local supermarket or pet store in dry, semi dry or wet state formulations) or raw dog food (such as raw meat and bones).
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Another alternative is to go for homemade dog food which typically includes meaty stews, healthy soups, pies, vegetables and raw bones. Never change your dog’s diet overnight from commercial dog food to home made foods because it might upset your pet’s stomach. Start the change gradually by mixing the commercial packaged dog food with small portions of home cooked food. Gradually increase the portions of home cooked food every day for a period of one month before you provide your dog with complete home made food.
In order to be able to prepare home made dog food, one must keep a stock of the following items:
- Meats such as chicken, beef, lamb, or any other meat. One can also consider adding eggs, whole fish or fish cuttings.
- Grains such as corn, barley, whet, rice, oats, brewer’s rice, brown rice or any other grain,
- Vegetables such as green turnips, broccoli, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, peas, spinach or any other green leafy vegetable. One can also consider adding guava leaves or peppermint leaves.
- Fruits such as oranges, papaya or pumpkins.
In order to prepare a healthy and well balanced dog meal at home, any of the above mentioned items can be used but the thumb rule is to maintain the constitution as -- 40 percent proteins, 30 percent grains, and 30 percent vegetables. Cook rice and meat adequately. Consider chopping the vegetables very finely for easier digestion. Instead of overcooking the vegetables, try to leave them half raw. The food prepared in this manner is both healthy and easily palatable and that is the reason why most dogs love homemade foods.
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