Dog Nutrition Archives : Judy's Dog Report

Dog Nutrition Part IV – What’s on Roxy’s menu?

So today, my final dog nutrition part IV in the series is all about what’s on Roxy’s menu! Up to now you have learned about why processed pet food is unhealthy and what other options are available? And also how to approach buying non-processed dog food.

How I created the best dog nutrition menu for Roxy.

If you have read through my previous 3 dog nutrition blogs, you will not be surprised that my primary choice for Roxy is raw food. This is because dogs’ digestion systems are designed to deal with it safely and efficiently. Raw food is also my first pick, because it provides superior nourishment to cooking the nutrients out of the food. High quality fresh frozen raw food purchased from my trusted pet specialist is balanced with the right proportions of muscle, bone and organs for needed for optimal dog digestion. That way, I can be sure I’ve got the correct ratios.

And, surprisingly, it can be the least expensive, except for maybe home-cooked meals. But feeding home-cooked meals to your dog requires much more planning. You must buy and formulate the right nutritional ratios of all the ingredients. If you select, buy, apportion and then cook the food, you will spend more time and effort. It’s simpler to buy the fresh frozen food from your local dog food expert as I do for Roxy.

Why also serve freeze-dried or air-dried raw food?

This all being said, I also wanted Roxy to be able to digest something other than fresh frozen raw food. So I have included the freeze-dried Stella and Chewy and the air-dried Ziwi Peak raw foods in her diet for the following reasons:

Buying non-processed dog food – Dog Nutrition Part III

In this blog, you will learn how to buy non-processed dog food! I’ll answer the following questions: Where do you buy these raw foods? How do you decide which type and how much? How do you introduce raw food to your pet? What are the cost comparisons? Are there any risks to feeding raw?

So far in my previous two blogs in the series, you learned about why processed dog food is unhealthy and then, what are the non-processed alternative dog food options?

Where to begin buying non-processed raw dog food to ensure proper nutrition?

Karen Schiavone founded and has operated Barkside Bistro in Toronto for a number of years. I have been purchasing high-quality frozen commercial raw dog food from her at Barkside since 2014. On Karen’s website, she indicates that her mission is to “strive to offer products that have been carefully selected, with consciousness towards environmental sustainability, and ethically responsible decisions.”

So I trusted that the brands from Barkside Bistro were sourced from companies that Ms. Shiavone personally vetted to be ethical, both environmentally and in their farming practices. And what I learned from Ms. Schiavone, is that a dog’s full nutritional requirements are obtained through 90% meat and organ content, with 10% bone content per meal. When you search online, you can see that most commercial raw dog food products contain this ratio.

Ms. Schiavone also obtains a health history for all new clients’ dogs, so that she can recommend the appropriate commercial raw food for the given dog’s health. Based on the dog’s medical and dietary needs, she also discusses possible supplements.

Nutrition for dogs – Non processed food alternatives

In this blog, you will continue to learn what to serve your dog for optimum nutrition. By now you have read my last post showing processed dog food is unhealthy, and watched the recommended documentary “Pet Fooled”. If you are new to our community, please READ THAT POST FIRST! The key information that you need to absorb is found in the Pet Fooled Documentary. This is essential homework to understand why I say that processed dog food is unhealthy for your pet.

So now I’m sure you are wondering, what are your options? Which kinds of dog food give proper nutrition? Let’s discuss alternatives to processed food.

Here are the options that I recommend instead of feeding your dog processed food. The list is in order from the most effective, to the least effective nutrition sources for dogs:

Fresh raw, or commercial frozen raw food
Commercial freeze-dried, or air-dried raw food
Home-cooked meals
High-quality canned dog food

Dog Nutrition – Why processed pet food is unhealthy

Let’s talk dog nutrition. Before I explore specific diets in my next blog, Dog Nutrition Part II, let’s first consider what the majority of our dogs eat. Over the past 100 years we have been purchasing dog food based on a myth, the myth that dog lovers can feed highly nutritious processed foods in an easy-serve format. I have researched the pet food industry in depth; and it has flourished precisely because we have believed that message and bought into the concept of nutrition in a bag.

And that is because the processed pet food industry has artfully sold us that concept. Yes, I said “concept”, not “product”. Pet parents have bought the idea that we can feed our dogs well from a simple bag of dried food! So easy! Just rip open the bag and pour! Everything we need to nourish our dogs is contained within! But when you learn how this food is designed and produced, you will likely want to avoid it.