Stop Killing Your Dog! Homemade Dog Food Is The Answer!

Is homemade dog food the secret to long lived dogs? Studies have shown a dog's life span can be 27 years yet the average life span of a dog in the US is 10.5. A number of theories abound as to the cause of this substantial decrease in a dog's life span.:

1. Environmental Factors
2. Lack of Exercise
3. Too much inbreeding.
4. Poor Nutrition

While all of these no doubt have some input into a dog's lifespan, we are going to focus on the lack of adequate nutrition. A movement is afoot to bypass the huge Dog Food Industry and provide nutritious homemade dog food.

Take a look at the dog food you are currently feeding your pet. Look at the ingredients and nutritional analysis. How much do you know about the protein and carbohydrates that are listed on the box? What is the source of the fat? What kind of preservatives is being used?

Unfortunately the protein usually comes from the parts of slaughtered animals that are considered unfit for human consumption. Anything left over after the animals have been packaged for markets and restaurants gets shipped to the pet food suppliers. There the protein undergoes a substantial further processing which degrades it's nutritional availability.

Any heating of protein above 250 degrees can cause the protein molecule to became damaged or "denatured". The aboriginal dog did not exist on cooked food and damaged protein. Dogs before man's intervention lived off the uncooked flesh of the animals they killed or scavenged. Their systems are not attuned to absorb the denatured protein that is available after the processing in the dog food factories. In fact dry-shaped dog food is cooked twice: once in the rendering phase and then again in the extruder when it is shaped and the dry pieces are formed. This further damages the protein molecule and inhibits its ability to be used by the dog's body.

One of the points that needs to be made is that the nutritional analysis does not address the palatability, digestibility or biological availability of the nutrients. The altered protein in the food can cause food intolerance, food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease.

Manufacturers need to insure long shelf life (12 months) and to preserve the fats on and in the food. They do this using a long list of artificial and natural preservatives. Some preservatives are known carcinogens that are limited for both human and animal consumption in how many parts per million can be found in the underlying product. But in the case of dogs the overall consumption far exceeds those a human would take in since the animal is essentially eating the same food day after day.

The answer is homemade dog food. Homemade dog food does not necessarily mean dog food made in your home. But rather homemade dog food constitutes food that is not processed and preserved and provides balanced nutrition of good protein that has not been damaged in the preparation process. Homemade dog food does not have preservatives. The amount of information available now for natural holistic homemade dog food is outstanding. A large number of recipe books for natural dog food are available as are locations where natural dog food can be purchased or ordered for delivery.

Do some research, buy some information that is available to help direct your efforts. Help protect your dog and give him or her a long healthy life with homemade dog food.