There is a lot of debate right now going on among dog lovers about what is better for their dog – homemade dog food or the stuff that you get in cans. Certainly the canned kind of dog food is more convenient but is it in the best interests of your dog?

The problem is that you can’t always be sure exactly what is in canned dog food.  This is because according to the Federal Drug Administration itself there is no requirement that pet food products have premarket approval by FDA. It only requires that the ingredients be truthfully labeled and that the food not contain any ingredients that are “deleterious” to the animal. However that word “deleterious” is very vague as it could always be left up to the discretion of the dog food manufacturer to figure out what kinds of additives, animal body parts or fillers are deleterious to an animal at once. For instance, dogs are not vegetarians. Still you will find all kinds of dog foods out on the mark with cellulose-based fillers in them, which could affect a canine digestive system in a negative way or cause obesity.

Like it or not, a dog is a carnivore. However many people that are fans of home made dog food insist that it is all about making them vegetarian meals. This is not fair to your dog that does not have the teeth or digestive juices to handle this type of diet. By making your dog a homemade mash of vegetables instead of giving him canned dog food or fresh meat you are putting him or her at severe risk of anemia.

However there is another school of cooking when it comes to making home made dog food and that is that your dog is healthier if you cook the meat yourself and serve it to him. This of course makes a great deal of sense.

The benefits of homemade dog food are –

• You have better control over your dog’s diet
• You know for sure that there is no additives in the food
• If you fry the food first you can keep your dog thin by draining the fat just like you would for a human.
• There is no risk of food poisoning due to a sabotage of manufacturing processes

To keep your dog healthy serving up your own home made dog food might be a great idea especially if you want to have more control over what your pet eats. You could purchase specialty meats such as rabbit or other types of game at a pet food store that has a raw pet foods freezer on the premises or you could go the much cheaper route and by ordinary hamburger or other types of meat in a supermarket. The benefits to making your own home made dog food are that you are never blindsided by the sight of your dog being sick or getting too fat possibly as the result of what he or she is eating.