As a general guide to deciding the best foods for your dog, remember, even though dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, they were once a wild animal, catching prey, scavenging and eating whatever would supply some nutrients. Though they are carnivores, they are also omnivores and scavengers, equipped with digestive systems which enable them to utilise a vast range of material. They are also equipped with a marvelous set of teeth and powerful jaws, which do a great job of tearing, stripping and grinding raw, tough foods.

Should each individual meal be complete and balanced?
Using a wide variety of foods will create the balanced diet that supplies all the essential nutrition. But it is not necessary to provide complete, balanced meals every time you feed your dog. The balance will be achieved over several meals. Nature has a marvelous way of adapting !

What about feeding bones ?
This is a personal choice. Many owners feed bones because they believe that bones are a natural food for dogs. Dogs have the correct type of teeth and digestive system to cope with raw meaty bones. Repeating the three last words ; they are important.
Raw Meaty Bones.
The bones must be fed raw, as cooking them will detract from the nutritional value and make them more difficult for your dog to digest.They tend to splinter if they are cooked. Never feed cooked bone to your dog, as this is not what nature intended.

And the meaty part ? If bones have a reasonable covering of meat, this helps to protect the lining of the gut, as the meat covering the bone acts as padding while both meat and bone are digested together. Nutritionally, it also makes a more complete meal, because the bone contains minerals which are not supplied in sufficient amounts in the meat. When your dog has digested as much of the bone as it can, he may regurgitate any remaining pieces. Don’t regard this as a reason to stop feeding bones, this is a perfectly natural process.

What about fruit and vegetables?
Dogs are scavengers and will eat almost anything. Many dogs enjoy soft fruits such as apricots, bananas, figs, pear, plum and will crunch pieces of soft fruits or apples. Fruit may be fed processed as per veggies. Most dogs will probably draw the line at oranges or grapefruit, which are more acid, though some dogs do eat them.

Leafy green vegetables can be fed raw, well shredded, grated or processed. e.g. lettuce, spinach, a little cabbage, cauliflower, kale, also green vegetables such as cucumber, courgettes. Root veg.- potato, parsnip, carrot, swede, need either grating or processing to break down some of the cellulose, making the nutrients more accessible to the dog. Cooking to soften them and increase digestibility is okay if that is what you prefer, but some of the nutrients will be lost. All dogs have different veggie preferences and its fun to discover just what your dog will eat.

What else can my dog eat?
Eggs are fantastic protein food for dogs. Fish is good for your dog, raw is best but canned fish such as tuna is fine.
Many dogs enjoy milk, cheese, yoghurt, a little cream ! Again, raw milk is best if you can get it, but otherwise pasteurised has to do, but remember this is a cooked food.
Cooked grains are fine but preferably in small amounts only. Rolled and flaked grains such as rolled oats or flaked rice have already been heat processed so require minimum cooking, -- rolled oats can be soaked in hot water instead of cooking them, before feeding to the dog.
Not all dogs tolerate dairy and grains and some owners prefer not to use these foods, though many dogs enjoy and benefit from them, but be aware that they may cause or accentuate allergies in some dogs.
Lentils and pulses are nourishing but require cooking, though used raw as sprouting seeds and processed with veg, they are extra nutritious.
The addition of powdered kelp will provide essential minerals. Other additives to provide additional nutrients : honey, molasses, coconut, brewers yeast, wheatgerm, cold pressed vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar.

What if my dog is allergic to something?
When offering a new food, introduce only one new food at a time and give only a small amount the first time, so you can assess any allergic reaction. If you notice any allergies, eg, itchy skin, stop the food. Be certain that it is the food that is causing the allergy -- it may be a combination flea-food allergy. Many dogs with allergies seem to do better on fresh foods.

What foods are not good for dogs?
Commercially produced foods are not good for your dog because of the various processes they are subjected to during their manufacture and because the source of the basic ingredients may be questionable. (see links)

Cooked grains, pasta and bread are not good in large amounts. They would not be the dog’s own choice of food if he could select his own, are high in starch but low in protein, and because they need to be cooked, much of the nutritional value is lost. They are fine in small amounts only.

Chocolate is best avoided, as it can be fatal if your dog happens to have an allergy to the theobromine in chocolate.

Cooked foods: a word of caution. If you choose to cook any foods for your dog, we strongly recommend cooking in saucepans, rather than using a microwave. Microwaving causes the creation of cancer causing agents in the food, increases the foods ability to absorb radiation from the atmosphere, chemically alters the food, which is thought to cause a lowering of immune system function and may cause digestive system disorders, due to the unstable breakdown of foods.(see links)

Green potato skin, plum and other soft fruit stones, corn husks, raisins and grapes should not be given and garlic or onion should be used in quite small amounts.

Supplements (mineral & vitamin capsules) are not really necessary in most cases, if you feed a well balanced, varied raw food diet. A dog that is unwell, recovering from an illness or has a chronic health problem, may benefit from supplements. The geriatric dog may also benefit from some supplementation, but most dogs will get all the nutrition they need from a good raw food diet.

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