Healthy Choices

• Canines are classified as carnivores. Therefore, a majority of the diet should contain high-quality protein. Feeding a raw diet derived from a variety of protein sources will meet these requirements. All meat including poultry, pork, beef, fish, lamb and even rabbit are excellent choices. Meat can be fed whole or cut into slightly smaller chunks. However, pieces should be left large to encourage chewing and minimize gulping. Raw bones are also very necessary to the diet as well as beneficial for cleaning and removing plaque from teeth. Rounding out a raw diet is the addition of offal (organ meat) such as liver, kidney or spleen. The total diet should be based on roughly 80 percent meat, 10 percent bone and 10 percent organ meat.
  
  

Eliminate Grain

• Removing grain from the ration is key to providing a healthy canine diet. Cooking homemade food is another alternative for a healthy diet. Meat such as beef, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, fish and rabbit, among others, are suitable. Cooked protein sources should not include bones as they will splinter, unlike raw bones. Natural enzymes present in raw foods may be destroyed during the cooking process and should be supplemented. Enzymes aid in digestion as well as eliminate free radicals within the dog's system. Organ meat, as well as some additional vitamins such as A, D and C, must be supplemented to complete a cooked homemade diet.
  
  

Commercial Foods

• Purchasing a high-quality commercial dog food can supply a healthy diet if raw or cooked foods are not desirable or feasible. More and more pet food manufacturer's are offering grain-free high-quality protein foods. These foods tend to be more expensive but boast less waste, healthier skin and smaller meals among other benefits. Commercial foods should list meat as the first ingredient while avoiding ingredients such as grain, meat by-products and chemical preservatives such as ethoxyquin or propylene glycol, among others. Commercial dog foods preserved naturally will have a shorter shelf life but are much healthier.
  
  

Fatty Acids

• All diets should include Omega fatty acids as they cannot be synthesized by the body. Omega-3 and Omega-6 are two key fatty acids required for a healthy diet. Many foods include too much Omega-6 as it is cheaper and more stable than Omega-3. Feeding fish, fish oil pills or liquid are two forms of supplementing Omega fatty acids. The label should read salmon oil, marine fish oil, deep sea fish oil or coldwater fish oil. These sources offer usable fatty acids.