Is A High Fiber Dog Diet The Right Solution?

The high fiber dog diet is becoming popular for dogs that need to improve their intestinal or digestive health. It can also help with diarrhea and constipation. A high fiber diet will help dogs who have bowel issues because it makes the stool softer and gives it more bulk.

However, what many do not realize is that the maladies that high fiber diets treat are actually caused by a poor diet made up of commercial dog food. The maladies are actually symptoms, not conditions in themselves. In this sense, the high fiber dog diet is not treating the main problem, a poor diet made up of commercial dog food full of corn meal and meat by products is the culprit. Provide your dog with home cooked meals using fresh food and you will likely find that your dog's medical conditions improve or disappear all together.

However, this is a topic for another article. Let's assume that commercial dog food is your only option right now. If this is so, then a high fiber dog diet may be the best solution to address your dogs issues.

The benefits of a high fiber diet include the prevention of constipation, the lowering of cholesterol, and much more. Such a diet may also prevent of a number of gastrointestinal conditions and diseases like hemorrhoids, constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, heart disease and colon cancer.

What Is Fiber?

Fiber is an indigestible part of many plant-based foods, like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These are the kinds of foods you would want to include in a high fiber dog diet. For a sick dog, fiber is a remedy and a preventive measure for lasting dog health. It is a great way to improve the over health of your dog next to totally cutting out commercial dog food in their diet.

Fiber is necessary for effective digestion and for elimination of waste products. Fiber gently scrubs against the inner walls of the intestines, effectively cleaning them as it moves along. Keep in mind that there would be less garbage to clean out if the dog was not eating commercial dog, but rather consuming healthy home cooked meals. Fiber keeps stool soft and lowers pressure inside the colon so that bowel contents can move through easily. Fiber works best with water. Make sure your dog gets plenty of water each day to get the maximum benefit.

What Is Better Than A High Fiber Dog Diet?

As mentioned above, commercial dog food is destroying your dogs health. This isn't any different than fast food joints destroying our health. The more processed and treated a food is, the worse it is for our health. That is just a fact of life.

You can resolve most or all of your dog's health issues by simply preparing home cooked meals for him or her. Home cooked meals should consist of chicken, beef or pork. Dogs can handle raw meat but it is probably better to cook it. Your dog's system might not be as resistant to the bacteria as a dog's in the wild. Remember, dogs in the wild eat raw meat.

In addition to meat, experiment with various fruits and vegetables. They are a necessary part of your dog's health. Dog's in the wild are not 100% meat eaters. They also eat plant matter, and they need it.

So, if you are being told that a high fiber dog diet is necessary for your dog's health, first consider home cooking your dog's meals. Or, if it is too time consuming, cook for your dog once or twice a week instead. If cooking is out of the question right now, then try adding fiber.