Dog Food Nutrition Requirements.
Is Your Dog Food the Best or Basic?

Dog food nutrition requirements should provide the fundamental necessary elements of health and life for your dog. But does it? Does the dog food you're serving your dog contain only...

  • the basic dog food nutrition requirements as set out by law, or does it contain
  • the best complete and balanced nutrition for a healthy life as required by your dog's body?

Do you see the difference?

Canine nutrition basicsWhy does Lily eat a healthy raw diet? Because she's worth it!

Basic Dog Nutrition or
Better Dog Nutrition?
Your Choice!

It all boils down to food. Your dog must have a wide range of necessary nutritional components, not only to survive...but to, thrive! Have you ever really seriously thought about this? How does the dictionary define the word ' food '?

Food is an edible or potable ( drinkable ) substance, usually of animal or plant origin which consists of nourishing and nutritive components such as protein, fat, carbohydrates and essential vitamins and minerals, which when ingested and assimilated through the digestive process are able to sustain life, generate energy, promote growth and maintain the health of the body.


The cow
The beef kibble
The chicken
The chicken kibble

What is Commercial Dog Food Exactly?

Take a look at the pictures above. When you think about food for your dog, what do you think about? Your eyes see the cow and the chicken in the pictures on the left. Do you see any beef or chicken in the pictures on the right? Ask yourself...which one is really the food?

The cow and the chicken are the real food of course. The beef and chicken kibble are the cow and chicken processed in such a way that it can be eaten by your dog. Processing has changed the cow and chicken into something else. The cow and the chicken are no longer the cow and the chicken. Right?

Therefore, the cow and the chicken are no longer real food. You are simply left with the processed end result of cooking the cow and chicken at very high temperatures ( which destroys most nutrients ), then combining that slurry with other ingredients ( fruits/vegetables/grains/starches ) and then adding some nutrients from vitamin and mineral premixes back in.

Finally, most of the moisture is extracted out, so the end result ' dog food product  ' is dry, won't go bad quickly and can be stored for long periods of time on the store shelf, so you can buy it later.

It doesn't matter if the original ingredients were good or not. What was once actual real food, has been changed by processing into something that doesn't even remotely resemble the original ingredients, the cow or chicken!

So, you tell me?

Is this real food, meeting complete dog food nutrition requirements and life giving energy? I don't think so! Who knows best what's good for your dog? Does the manufacturing company and the government know best what your dog needs, or does Mother Nature know what's best for your dog when it comes to dog food nutrition?


What Is Necessary to Meet Complete Dog Food Nutrition Requirements?

Macro-nutrients

Protein

Carbohydrates

Fats

Micro-nutrients

Vitamins and Minerals

Enzymes

Other

Water

Fiber

Phyto-nutrients


                                           

The only way you can create, maintain and sustain optimal health for your dog is to make sure your dog is getting enough of these important canine nutrition elements.

Feeding dogs a variety of nutrient dense fresh whole foods ensures that dog food nutrition requirements are met beyond what is legally required, and will help make up for nutrient deficiencies caused by...

*** If you feed your dog the same food every day for years, that's all the nutrients your dog is getting and nothing more! ***



Why Is It Important to Understand Dog Nutrition From the Perspective of Species?

Because not all species are the same. Each species has their own special nutritional needs. Dogs are not humans ( thank, God! ). Understanding that dogs are carnivores, is critical to understanding dog food nutrition requirements.

Carnivores need to feed mostly on meat. That's what carnivores do! So correct dog nutrition must come mainly from...

  • Meat
  • Bones
  • Organ meats

The history of canine nutrition can teach you how to feed dogs in this present day. The Canine Ancestral Diet is Mother Nature's way of feeding dogs. This has always been true and will remain true forever. You can't improve on nature's way, but you can try to duplicate it as best you can, or at the very least improve what you're feeding now.

Improve Dog Nutrition With Fresh Foods

For optimal health dogs should meet their energy ( glucose ) requirements from breaking down the proteins and fats from meat. Check this page about ketogenic diets for dogs as it regards health and disease recovery.

Small amounts of carbohydrates in the form of fruits, vegetables and selected herbs, can help you meet dog food nutrition requirements by providing an extra source of vitamins and minerals, important antioxidants, phyto-nutrients and fiber. Here are my 3 favorite easy fresh foods for dogs.


Make the Jump From Dog Foods That Only Meet Basic Dog Nutrition to Food that Provides Better Dog Nutrition Today

Meeting dog food nutrition requirements is not hard once you get the basics down.  Then, when you know better, you can do better.

Look at what you're feeding your dog now, and see if it fits the definition of food as set out above. Ask yourself if your dog's food contains enough nourishing and nutritive components which when ingested and assimilated through the digestive process are able to...

  • sustain life
  • generate energy
  • promote growth and
  • maintain the health of the body

Well? What's your answer?


Other Natural Dog Food Options


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