The Ultimate Dog Diet

All dogs are different, and a food that suits one may not be ideal for another. For this reason, finding the ultimate dog diet is not easy. It is about finding a food that promotes good health and vitality in an individual dog, from the large range of prepared foods and home-cooked recipes readily available.

  1. Food Basics

    • As a dog progresses through life, its dietary requirements vary. For this reason, manufacturers produce a range of foods for dogs of all ages. A puppy needs increased protein for muscle development, calories for energy output, calcium and phosphorus for strong bones and fatty acids for a healthy and shiny coat. An adult dog requires good quality protein for muscle maintenance, a balance of essential fatty acids and a source of calcium and phosphorus. A senior dog is less active, so a diet lower in calories may be appropriate. With declining kidney function, excess phosphorus may lead to further kidney damage, and salt to higher blood pressure.

    Ready Prepared

    • The question for the pet owner looking for the ultimate dog diet is "Do I want to use a commercially prepared food, or make my own?" The pet food industry is huge (U.S. retail sales in 2008 were $17 billion). Recipes developed over decades by the research arms of companies such as Eukanuba, Hills and Waltham have been refined by experimentation to offer optimum nutrition for all dogs. Many recipes are based on the the Association of American Feed Control Officials' (AAFCO) dog and cat food nutrient profiles. Manufacturers offer complete dry and moist foods targeted at life stages, activity levels and individual breeds, giving consumers a huge choice both in terms of quality of ingredients and price.

    Raw Food

    • Some dog owners are convinced that commercial dog foods are not a healthy way to feed a pet, and have developed a range of home-cooked and raw feeding regimens as an alternative. The quest for the Ultimate Dog Diet has led to the Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) diet pioneered by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. The diet is based on the premise that the diet a dog evolved to eat over millions of years is the most appropriate way to feed today. The BARF diet contains no cooked ingredients as it tries to mimic the food eaten by a dog's wild ancestors, using whole, raw, meaty bones, offal and vegetables.

    Home Cooking

    • For those who prefer not to handle raw bones, there are numerous recipes for home-cooked food now available. Bernard E. Rollin, Ph.D., points out that for most of a dog's evolutionary history, they ate what we cooked, a mixture of table scraps. Dr. Ihor Basko, DVM, recommends cooking grains (rice, oats and millet), protein (meat, eggs or dairy) and fresh vegetables, varying the proportions in the recipe depending on a dog's age.

    Considerations

    • There have been several recent and high-profile health scares concerning ingredients used in commercial pet foods, with food being removed from store shelves and destroyed. Taken in perspective, these are isolated incidents, and historically millions of dogs have thrived on commercial diets. Despite BARF and home-cooking enthusiasts emphasizing the importance of ingredient quality and source, some veterinarians question whether these regimens are ideal. It can be difficult to ascertain whether the food is nutritionally complete and appropriate to a dog's age and activity levels, and raw bones can be contaminated by pathogens.