Not anything to do with Dog training online today. I want to know what you think are the ten best Dog foods. I  will get to my top 10 Dog foods in a little while. First I want to talk a little about what we feed our Dogs, why we do it, and the buzz of late over ensuring that we give them a balanced diet.

Anyone who reads this Dog blog on occasion (subscribe to get each new post via the easy ways to the right) knows that I am a firm advocate of raw meaty bones for Dogs.

I still get comments and emails talking about the fact that people who have fed their Dogs have been killed or had to have operations. Upon further enquiry about the bones for Dogs that they gave them it is always the same reply. It was a cooked bone! Never, under any circumstances, give a Dog a cooked bone. They can block their intestines, pierce them, splinter in to tiny shards that can kill them and are so brittle that you are asking for trouble.

Raw meaty bones are completely different. They are easily digested and are a fantastic way to clean Dog’s teeth.

The Advantages Of Raw Bones For Dogs

A few weeks or a month or so ago we had gone through a phase of no raw bones for the Dogs. Jet-ski the youngest one started to get bad breath and I could see discoloring on all the three girls’ teeth. This was the first time in two years that the older ones had ever had anything but perfectly white teeth.

Raw bones perform so many tasks of given as regular as possible.

• They clean your Dogs teeth and will stop expensive teeth cleaning or extraction in later years.
• They completely eliminate bad Dogs breath. Clean teeth equals clean breath. If you don’t believe me then do this. If your Dog has bad breath then give it a RAW bone every day for a week. It’s bad breath will be gone.
• Less stools to clean up. Rather than the brown mush so many Dogs produce if we feed strictly bones for a few days then the stools are really infrequent, almost white, and much smaller. This is a known fact if you feed Dogs raw bones. THey do not need an equivalent weight in bones as they do in Dog food. They can be fed less, they absorb so much more of what they are given and the stools are compact, small, and do not smell any where near as bad.
• Raw bones clean through a Dogs colon and keep the Dogs anal glands emptied. Many Dogs scoot along the floor before their glands need emptying. This involves a smelly visit to the vets or a smelly time at home if you are brave enough. Raw bones will keep the glands emptied and healthy.

There are loads more benefits to raw meaty bones but these are some of the most important.

Many people have asked where to buy raw bones for Dogs. Either ask in your supermarket but much better is to support your local butchers. Start buying some meat from your butchers and keep their store running. At the same time ask about some bones for your Dog. Regular custom will probably see you getting them very cheaply if not free. You can’t get better than free Dog food.

The Myth Of Dog Foods And Balanced Diets

Many people make homemade Dog food and those that do often obsess over giving their Dogs a balanced diet. Those of us that buy ready made Dog food never really consider this. We assume that the ratios are perfect. The objection to making homemade Dog food or feeding raw bones to Dogs is often based on the fact that people assume they will make their Dog unhealthy by not giving them the exact ratios of vitamins, minerals, proteins or Carbs.

I say nonsense. Do you eat a perfect diet? No, you don’t. Neither do I.

Next time you buy your dried Dog food that is magically perfect for your Dog as well as all other Dogs take a look at the other supposedly best Dog foods in the store. They will all have different ratios but will all be touted as the perfect mix.

Dogs, by nature, will gorge on whatever is available. The grassy contents of a herbivores stomach, a pile of dead chickens, fruit etc.

When we go walking our Dogs jump up at trees to eat cherries, at the moment they are in to eating blackberries straight of the wild bushes that are all over the place. They are opportunists and will naturally eat what is available.

Do you think that by only giving them raw bones for a few days is going to make them more or less healthy? What do you think will effect a Dogs life more?

An infected and rotted mouth full of decaying teeth or a few days of total enjoyment as they munch through some health giving bones?

I think we put way too much emphasis on finding that perfect ratio of food. As long as things are kept in a general balance you really don’t need to become so obsessive about it.
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Why We Buy Dog Food

I am as guilty of it as everyone else.

Partly we have been indoctrinated to assume the only way we can give a balanced diet to our Dogs is to buy a ready made Dog food. I feed a dried food to my Dogs because of the convenience. They have bones quite often as a meal and other times it is a brand called Brokaton.

It is inexpensive at 11 euros for a 20kg sack and lasts a good few weeks. I have looked at the so-called better Dog foods and the ratios are all over the place for them so I picked a middle ground and I am happy with it. Some Dogs need specific foods I know, but unless they have a real dietary problem or need, do you think you need to spend the crazy prices some people do for Dog  food?

The reason many of us feed ready made Dog foods is simply because we don’t want the chore of making it for them and we worry we may get ir wrong.

There are a million Dog food recipes to make at home on the Internet so there really is little to worry about. If you are concerned about what goes in to Dog food why not start making your own. We worry way too much about giving them a perfect diet.

On to what this post is all about.

The 10 Best Dog Foods

I would really like for you to give your 10 best Dog foods in the comment section so feel free to leave what you think are the best Dog foods. Here is what mine are:

1. RAW MEATY BONES
2. Raw chicken, including necks, wings, the whole carcass etc
3. Kitchen scraps
4. Any suitable dried Dog food
5. Olive oil
6. Free fruits
7. Fish (raw)
8. Eggs (raw)
9. Left over kitchen stock (liquid from boiling cabbage etc)
10. Any food we would otherwise throw out

I know that is not what you were expecting. You were expecting a list of the top then best Dog foods to look more like a list of the best Dog food brands. I really think that these brands are often overrated.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that in some cases certain breeds have very strict dietary requirements, but most Dogs can, and more importantly will, eat anything.

Do you throw boiled water that cooked potatoes away, Do you throw away slightly gone off fruit away. Do you, in fact throw any food away?

Dogs have completely different constitutions to us. They can happily eat food that would make us extremely, and violently, ill.

They work in a totally different manner to us and are built to eat food that is well past its best and raw meat with no ill effects.

Don’t think of your Dog as anything like you. Their dietary needs are different and they can eat so much more than we can.

How To Expand What Your Dog Eats

You may decide to implement what I have talked about here. If you do think that just feeding your favorite brand of Dog food day in and day out is not ideal and you can see the adverse consequences of such a restricted diet then here are a few pointers:

• Introduce changes slowly. A Dog only ever fed one type of food will take a while to adjust.
• Choose some good quality hard bones to start such as Beef bones from the leg. These are hard to chew, kepe the Dogs occupied for hours, and will be the best at cleaning their teeth and stopping that bad Dog breath.
• Start adding the water you cook food in to the Dog food rather than just running it under the tap. You should make a conscious effort to add water to any pot or pan you have cooked in to gather up all  the nutrient rich bits and pieces left over after cooking.
• Replace expensive Dog treats with something you make yourself or buy a big bag of chicken wings. They will thank you for it no end.

The key is to start changing your Dogs boring and unfulfilling diet slowly. We still give dried food every day but they also get bones. If spoiled food does not go on the compost heap the Dogs get, and love, it.

Every time we make eggs or fry something or boil something the remains are scraped out and stored ready to be given to the Dogs at the appropriate time

Never give scraps to the Dogs unless it is their meal times. You don’t want begging Dogs. If your Dog does beg now then chances are it is because you have given it scraps at inappropriate times.

If they do not know what the food you are making tastes like then they won’t beg for it. Simple.

And The Best Dog Food Is…..

Obviously for me it is Raw bones. They don’t get hem as much as I would like but they are a large part of their diet. their coats will gleam, their teeth will be dazzling, they won’t poo as much and they will stay out of your way for hours every day munching away.

Try this slowly if you think that maybe just regular Dog food may not be the perfect way to go. I thank you.
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