Feeding your dog Table Food: A Bad Idea?

If you are debating whether to feed your dog table food as opposed to dog food, you should first consider the pros and cons before making this decision. There are many benefits to feeding your dog table food instead of dog food. The easiness of this type of feeding is one of the most popular reasons why people like to feed their dog table food instead of dog food. Not only is it easier to remember exactly when to feed your dog, but it is also easier to clean up, and you feel like you aren’t wasting any leftover food. Another benefit of doing this instead of using dog food is that it is likely much cheaper. You probably only feed your dog the same amount of food you would have otherwise thrown out, so it doesn’t cost you any more to feed them table food, and you are saving on the cost of dog food. There are negatives to this type of feeding, though.

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As melamine keeps popping up in corn gluten and rice protein all around the world, how can you be sure the dog food you’re feeding your beloved pooch is not going to kill him?

The dog food label should state the name and address of the manufacturer. Contact them and ask them how they can assure the safety of their products.

Which certificates do they have?Do they work with certified suppliers only?Are all feed ingredients labeled with a certificate that ensures quality and states the origin of the ingredient?From which countries are ingredients imported?Are all ingredients checked for quality and micro-organisms before processing them into dog food?Are end products checked before distribution?

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With the many commercially prepared dog foods available on today’s market, it is often quite difficult to tell which ones are better than others and why.

First of all, you can’t judge by advertising which are the good and bad dog foods. Many advertisers spend millions of dollars per year advertising inferior foods. Unfortunately, a good indicator on quality of food is price. Low priced foods are not always, but most often, the lowest quality foods on the market.

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There appears to be a trend in home made dog food and canine cuisine classes. Surely this can be tied to the massive recall that started in March 2007 that involved multiple brands. It certainly feels safer to use ingredients that you buy at regular grocery stores selling human food.

It’s perfectly fine to supplement commercial dog food or switch to home made dog food for a while, either because your favorite dog food brand is missing on the shelves or because your furry friend is suffering from stomach upsets or recovering from an illness.
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The growing puppy should be weighed once a week for the first six months of his life. The weekly growth rate, which starts from weaning to six months, should be very constant that it forms a straight line when plotted on a graph. The amount of food consumed by a fast growing puppy should be increased at almost the same rate as the puppy’s growth. The only way to make sure this increase in food consumption happens at the proper rate is to feed a puppy from a self-feeder. Whenever a puppy eats everything he is fed, add a little more, so that you are always offering the puppy just a little more than he will eat.

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As a loving dog owner you must wish a long life of high quality for your tail-wagger. Many experiments (mainly performed in rodents) have shown that calorie restriction increases life span. Suppose you restrict your dog’s diet to only 75% of his regular menu. Will he be hungry, live longer and hence live a longer period craving food? Not necessarily! You need not reduce the amount of food, just the calories. So you start feeding him a better quality food with all the necessary nutrients present but with fewer calories. The composition may also affect the signs of ageing. Perhaps when we find the holy grail of the perfect dog food, it may suit you just as well! No forget about that last remark, I was only kidding

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