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Holistic Foods for Dog:Natural and holistic dog food requires a fundamental understanding of the nutritional requirements of dogs and their digestive systems.
This is required because contrary to what most people might believe, dogs are not suited to human diets and therefore cannot partake in the same food that we eat. Most importantly, feeding dogs scraps of what we eat is especially harmful for the animal and this despite the dog’s pleas to the opposite. One of the main things that most pet owners forget is that dogs are fundamentally wild animals that were domesticated rather recently in evolutionary time.
What this means is that their digestive systems haven’t evolved yet to eat the same things that we do without consequences. Not to mention that our digestive systems come from another branch of evolution that is purely a vegetarian diet.
To feed a dog, the first thing to remember is that a purely meat diet is something that a dog is most comfortable with.
Some people would go the extra mile and even propagate the use of raw meat. There is nothing to say that this is any more beneficial but what is a fact is that considering the lifestyle and activity levels of most dogs in an urban environment, even this can’t really be considered very healthy. What should ideally constitute a dog’s diet should be meat but meat that is mildly cooked to remove the fat content in it. Fat is essential to the canine system just as it is to all mammals but when fat is not regularly burnt off, it just begins to accumulate and cause obesity. In addition to this, a healthy intake of vitamin E is also required. This is mostly available in meat sources but is most available from seafood and fish. Considering how many dogs will actually venture into eating this type of cuisine, this simply means that one should also feed a dog kibble once a week for the supplements that it contains.
How many times you feed your dog also makes a difference. Try and space out many meals a day instead of the three meals a day concept that humans follow. This will prevent the pancreas getting overloaded by digestion and insulin requirements. You must also try and adjust the food quantities based on how much the dog weighs and how much activity the dog gets. Never continue to feed a dog the same quantities if it is starting to gain weight abnormally.
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