It is important that the diet you feed your dog is complete and balanced, meaning it meets all of your dog’s nutritional needs. It is not important, however, that every meal be complete and balanced, unless you feed the same meal every day with little or no variation. Thus you can provide either home made food or ready made food from the market, all must contain the proper balanced diet ingredients.
Home-prepared diets that include a wide variety of foods fed at different meals rely on balance over time, not at every meal. Similar to the way humans eat, as long as your dog gets everything he needs spread out over each week or two, his diet will be complete and balanced. As long as your dog doesn’t have a health problem that requires a very specific diet, you can give multiple combinations of food items to your dog.
Keep in mind that puppies are more susceptible to problems caused by nutritional deficiencies or excesses than adult dogs are. Large-breed puppies are particularly at risk from too much calcium prior to puberty. Following are guidelines for feeding a raw or cooked homemade diet to healthy dogs.
Protein rich food like meat and other animal products should always make up at least half of the diet. It contains rich amount of amino acid in it that is good for the mental and physical development of the dogs. But avoid giving excess fats to your dogs because it is the major cause of obesity in dogs. In such cases owner normally restricts the amount fed in order to control the weight of the dog. But by this the dog may suffer deficiencies of other required nutrients. In such situations if your dog has the problem of obesity, do exercise a lot. This will help out to reduce the weight rather to control or reduce the diet of dog.
Your dog needs ‘fuel’ so stay healthy and active. Hence, provide it with food rich in fat and oils. The nutrient also helps in improving the taste and digestive capacity of the pet. But ensure that dog food must contain all the important ingredients that are essential for its health. Most of the people ignore to give the minerals such as calcium and phosphorus as important inclusions in the balanced diet of your dog. These nutrients are required for strong bones and teeth as well as the development of cells and tissue.
Like wise cereals, pasta and rice are rich sources of carbohydrate that is an essential nutrient required for the supply of energy to the dog. Complement the food with fibrous food, as to improve the smooth bowel movement of the pet. Thus in all means balanced diet is essential to make your dog fit and health that not only looks smart but also able to enhance its immune power to fight against diseases.
In case you are feeding your pet with shop-bought dog food, ensure that you have chosen a well known brand. Good quality is the prerequisite for the good health of the pet. Ensure that you have chosen the food according to the age, weight, breed and special needs of the dog. Also consider a good quality dog crate, its a great item to house break your dog and dog crates can be afford-ably be purchased on-line.