Homemade dog food horror stories (full of grain and veggies) and little nutritional value

This article looks at some of the ridiculous notions regular dog owners are swapping around about what is good or acceptable ingredients and what are bad.  Yes, they all love veggies and forget that dogs are meat eaters.

Here are some simple facts.  Domestic cats are 100% carnivore (require and only MEAT diet) yet most cat food has a substantial amount of grain in it for profit. IF Vets sell anything but 100% meat to your cat, don’t trust what they will sell you and your dog- or at least add some 100% meat healthy dog treats to your dogs diet.

As a perfect example I have found these comments by readers about Homemade dog food and dog treats …

MISINFORMED 1

” My vet said “no bacon for dogs”, is this correct? He said it causes Pancreatitis, which I had to give antibiotics to my dog for”

ANSWER  – there is no nutritional reason that dogs can’t eat bacon EXCEPT if it is very fatty and they eat a lot of it.  Dogs can process saturated fats much better than humans. The only issue is that some dogs (like mine) have food intolerance to such things as a LOT of pork fat.  IF your dog has pancreatitis then you know to reduce fat levels in general, not just bacon or meats.

Dogs in the wild get their ENERGY from protein from MEAT and from FATS.  The problem for domestic dogs that are not exercised is that fat contributes about 2.5 time the energy of lean meat, so sedentary dogs can get fat.   IF your dog has pancreatitis, it is on a LOW FAT diet. Bacon does not cause pancreatitis.  PS anti-biotics are used to treat bacterial infection, not pancreatitis or bacon eating.

 MISINFORMED 2

‘I use 2 trusted Vets. both active in assisting with treating rescue animals. Both concur, cooked pork is one of the worst foods to feed your dog. Likewise for pig’s ear and raw hide chews. They always recommend Gerber baby food sweet potato, chicken also and goat milk “.

ANSWER:  OK there is NO reason why a VET would have a vendetta against PORK. It is no more allergic to the average dog than any other food. It is also a great protein source.  The same as Pigs ears are fine for dogs.

They are a whole animal product, 100% natural, unlike rawhide that is a leather off-cut often containing bad chemicals. One can ascertain that the vet sells the type of food he is recommending.

MISINFORMED   3

” make homemade dog food and dog treats since my dog has so many allergies. … I substitute buckwheat flour for everything and sometimes add organic coconut flour for something different. Her favorite treats are pumpkin and peanut butter.”

ANSWER –   There is a strong chance that this person has not done a proper exclusion diet, and if they did, they probably have not correctly identified all of the foods their dog is allergic to (if any).

NOTICE that there is no mention of any form of meat in their great ‘recipes’. It’s like they think their dog is naturally vegan, or that all meat causes allergies.  If they don’t know how to safely make meat based dog treats at home, they should leave it to the professionals. Everything else they are feeding their dogs is just grain substitutes and fillers, not nutrition.

MISINFORMED 4

“dogs cannot digest potatoes very well, so I think that potatoes are not a good thing … so I use organic sweet potatoes in my recipes.  The dried sweet potato is also good for keeping his teeth nice and strong.”

ANSWER –    Potato is often one of the main ingredients in exclusion diets, meaning it has a very low likelihood of causing an allergy. Whether it is a regular potato, sweet potato or organic makes little difference.

It is still a carb (sugar) with fibre and has very little useful protein that ALL DOGS NEED (like in MEAT).  Potato has no magical ingredients to keep a dog’s teeth strong or its jaws.  That is what we sell 100% meat jerky for, and bones for cleaning tartar if you are so inclined.

As dogs are 95% carnivore (they will tolerate carbs but don’t thrive on carbs) so why is dog food 70% grain?  Why aren’t people’s in comments talking about feeding their dog ALL meat or a TINY amount of grain of vegetables? 

Dogs evolved from wolves (carnivores) NOT rabbits (herbivores).  It would only make sense that the bulk of their diet should still be MEAT.  

If your dog loves carrots or broccoli its usually because they saw you eat it, and there is a crunch and a sweetness to it. Dogs in the wild don’t dig up potatoes or carrots.

• A domestic dog that has not been fed vegetables will generally not eat vegetables (ie my dog). 
• A domestic dog that has not been fed meat generally eats meat on the first chance.