|
Non-Commercial Dog Foods
How To Feed The Outdoor DogThe dog that is kept outdoors all of the time, or an exclusive diet of dry food, does not need to be restricted to portion ..... As a dog owner you have two options on the type of food that you can provide for your dog: Commercial foods and non-commercial foods.
Non-commercial foods, as explained here, are not necessarily foods which are not associated in some manner with a commercial enterprise, nor are they foods that do not cost money. The term ''non-commercial'', as used here, refers to those foods which are not a part of the commercial pet food industry or are not sold exclusively as dog food.
Actually, the first food fed to a dog was a non-commercial food, which are leftovers of some caveman's meal. Some of the earliest records provide both descriptions and pictures of dogs being thrown food from the table. It is likely that most of these scraps that were thrown to modern dog's early ancestors were an assortment of unbalanced morsels that were unfit or unwanted by human owners. Some of the more obvious skeletal and growth defects from improper nutrition are depicted in some of the earliest drawings and figures of dogs.
For over 3000 years dogs survived an existence from the food left to them by the owners who had domesticated them. Gradually, as dog-raising became more common, elaborate formulations of natural ingredients were compounded for feeding dogs. These formulations were meticulously designed to duplicate exactly the dog's wild diet. They were carefully kept from generation to generation. A few that were inherently balanced have survived. But, for the most part, the preparation of a dog's diet from complex formulas and elaborate ingredients have disappeared in exchange for a cheaper, more practical, and far better balanced commercial foods.
Dog owners who provide non-commercial foods for their dogs claim to do so because of economy or better nutrition. Although it is possible to provide economy and a good source of nutrition from a diet of non-commercial foods, an examination of most such feeding programs quickly reveals that neither economy nor better nutrition prevail. In fact, in many occasions, the dog owner is unknowingly providing his pet with a poorer quality nourishment at a price higher than he would have to pay for commercial foods.
Can I Feed My Dog Meat Only?There are a few dog feeders who foolishly insist that meat is the only thing a dog should ever be fed. Meat alone is entirely inadequate .....
|
