Dog nutrition can be tricky, especially when considering cooking for your pets. Which human foods are safe for dogs to eat? How can you ensure your homemade food will meet your dog鈥檚 dietary requirements? There can be a lot of questions to answer. Additionally, there aren鈥檛 many sources that offer safe, healthy information on how to prepare meals for your dog at home.
Jennifer A. Larsen, DVM, MS, Ph.D., and Joe Bartges, DVM, Ph.D., board-certified veterinary nutritionists and diplomates of the touch on the pros and cons of cooking for your dog.
Should You Cook Your Dog鈥檚 Food?
Is cooking dog food at home really better for your pup? While there may be claims made to that effect, there鈥檚 no hard scientific evidence to support it. 鈥淥wners are told by many sources that homemade food is superior to commercial products. However, there is no proof to support this claim,鈥� says Dr. Larsen.
Larsen cautions dog owners to be aware of fearmongering within the pet food industry. This is often driven by myths about ingredient quality. While there are no scientifically-supported benefits to homemade diets, whole ingredient-based diets are better in the long term. Commercial foods are made to be complete and balanced, adds Dr. Bartges, albeit not the most exciting of meals. 鈥淭hink of it as eating the same highly processed food for every meal, day after day, for years, 鈥� he affirms.
Put that way, feeding your dogs a variety of whole foods makes a lot of sense. In fact, there are a multitude of reasons why you might want to prepare homemade foods for your dog, according to Dr. Larsen and Dr. Bartges. These include gaining control over your dog鈥檚 diet, appeasing picky eaters, combatting food intolerance issues, concern over food recalls, or simply for the bond-building joy of preparing a home-cooked meal for your dog.
Common Mistakes When Cooking for Your Dog
When it comes to cooking for your dog, there are some things to keep in mind when it comes to sourcing recipes and ensuring that you鈥檙e using dog-safe ingredients:
Not Using Trusted Sources
鈥淭here are many inadequate, and sometimes dangerous recipes, available to owners,鈥� says Dr. Larsen. 鈥淭here are now many studies demonstrating that most of these are not balanced.鈥� Some of these may cause deficiencies in your dog鈥檚 diet, while others may lead to an excess of certain nutrients. To avoid encountering unhealthy or dangerous options Dr. Larsen and Dr. Bartges recommend avoiding generic recipes from books or online sources. Some so-called 鈥渘utrition experts鈥� are without proper training, and may do more harm than good.
Larsen and Bartges also suggest consulting , a site run by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, to help create a semi-individualized diet.
Not Preparing Balanced Meals
When you don鈥檛 prepare balanced meals that are individualized to your pet鈥檚 needs, it can come at a cost. Nutrition deficiency (or excess) can lead to diseases, such as malnutrition or obesity, and can ultimately be fatal.
鈥淓ach of the [approximately] 40 essential nutrients required by dogs has a specific role in the body. When they are provided in inadequate concentrations, the function is not optimal and suffering may result,鈥� explains Dr. Larsen. 鈥淪imilarly, nutrient excesses can also cause illness. While the impact of an unbalanced diet may be mild and not even noticed or attributed to the diet by the owner, these problems can also be very severe, and pets do not always survive.鈥�
Relying on Multiple Diets to Create 鈥淏alance鈥�
鈥淥ur study and my clinical experience has demonstrated that this approach is very unlikely to address problems since so many recipes share the same deficiencies,鈥� cautions Dr. Larsen.
Using Unsafe or Unhealthy Ingredients
There is a wide variety of unhealthy and unsafe foods to avoid when preparing meals for your dog. Potentially toxic ingredients are of special concern, including chocolate, xylitol, avocado, grapes, raisins, onions, garlic, and macadamia nuts.
The above list isn鈥檛 exhaustive and other potential issues can arise if you鈥檙e not careful about ingredients. So make sure to always be aware of which foods are safe for dogs. Additionally, cites Dr. Bartes, a certain type of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy has recently been reported in dogs eating homemade diets that are grain-free, legume-based, and high-fiber.
Not Following Recipes
鈥淢ost general recipes provide vague instructions for ingredients or preparation. This leaves the owner to interpret what type of meat to use, or which supplement product to buy,鈥� warns Dr. Larson, of the potential difficulty in following dog food recipes.
Rather than improvising, it鈥檚 important to run any questions by a veterinary nutritionist. That way, you鈥檒l be able to understand the impact that alternative ingredients might have on your dog.
Understating the Impact of Dietary Changes
Ideally, when you go about creating a custom recipe for your dog, it鈥檒l be under the guidance of a board-certified veterinary nutritionist. Factors like your dog鈥檚 eating history, weight, and overall health should be considered. To make sure the food you鈥檙e introducing is having the desired impact, you鈥檒l want to monitor your pet鈥檚 health for changes over time.
An Alternative to Home Cooking
Home cooking isn鈥檛 for everyone, though, and it doesn鈥檛 have to be. 鈥淐ooking for your pet is a process that鈥檚 demanding on your time, labor, space, and finances,鈥� says Dr. Larsen. Another option to provide your dog with whole ingredients is to get carefully prepared ready-made meals. 鈥淭here are commercial foods that can be purchased that contain whole ingredients that are pre-cooked. Which is very close to cooking,鈥� notes Dr. Bartges.
So, while you might think that cooking for your dog is better for their health, it can be just as beneficial to purchase pre-prepared food that鈥檚 made with the same principles in mind. Whichever method you choose, just to make sure you are always catering to your dog鈥檚 individual health and nutrition needs.