Should dogs eat kibble wet or dry

Benefits of Fresh Dog Food vs. Raw Food vs. Kibble For Your Dog

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Food glorious food. Food is an important aspect of the daily lives of humans and dogs. However, dogs dont get to choose what they eat. We choose what we think is best for the health, energy level, and enjoyment of our canine companions.

With the growing popularity of freshly prepared food for dogs (like Ollie, who makes human grade fresh dog food,) our options have increased, and choosing what is best can be challenging. The first step is to consult your veterinarian. Here are some points to consider when you choose a food for your dog:

• Health: A balanced, nutritional diet is critical to maintain good health.
• Activity level: Working dogs and service dogs have different caloric requirements than household pets.
• Age and size: Nutritional requirements differ between puppies and adults, large breed and small breed dogs.
• Food allergies: Some dogs are allergic to specific proteins or ingredients such as eggs, corn, wheat, soy, or milk.
• Taste: No matter what you think, dog food has to taste and smell good to your dog.
• Your lifestyle: How much time do you have available to spend cooking and shopping for your dog?

Fresh Food

Feeding dogs a diet made with natural, real ingredients, such as beef, chicken, lamb, peas, spinach, carrots, and blueberries, can do wonders for their overall well-being promoting heart health, increasing energy level, making coats shiny and breath smell better, improving eyesight, and even impacting a dogs stool.

However, cooking for your pet is a process thats demanding on your time, space, and finances. Merck Veterinary Manual warns, Most homemade diets do not undergo the scrutiny and rigorous testing applied to commercial complete and balanced diets. If pet owners wish to feed their pets homemade diets, the diets should be prepared and cooked using recipes formulated by a veterinary nutritionist.

Fresh dog food delivery services, such as Ollie, work with canine nutritionists to develop cooking methods and personalized formulas that include the vitamins and minerals that meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials standards for dog food. They calculate the exact number of calories needed based on weight, breed, age, activity level, and body composition and take any allergies your pup has into account.

Ollies food is made with human-grade ingredients sourced from reputable farms and approved by veterinarians. They never use fillers, by-products, artificial flavors, or preservatives. Each recipe is cooked by hand at low temperatures in small batches in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA)-regulated kitchen. All the prep work is done for you, and the food is pre-portioned and stored in the freezer. They even offer all-natural, single-ingredient treats that dogs love.

What to Look For in Fresh Food

Most fresh food services are offered by subscription and delivered to your door. The best ones work with veterinary nutritionists to formulate a plan customized for your dog. They offer options in recipe choices, portion size, and frequency of delivery. They also provide easy-to-understand information about ingredients, feeding schedules, and how to keep the food fresh.

Raw Diet

Raw dog food can be homemade, store-bought, freeze-dried, or dehydrated. A raw diet usually includes organ meats, muscle meat, whole or ground bone, raw eggs, dog-safe fresh fruits and vegetables, and a dairy product such as yogurt. Advocates of raw food diets site these benefits: shinier coats, healthier skin, improved dental health, increased energy, and smaller stools.

Some veterinarians warn that raw diets are not appropriate for dogs who share their homes with young children or people with compromised immune systems. Meticulous care is required in the handling, preparation, and sanitation of raw food. Dogs with pancreatitis, cancer, or other diseases may require cooked food. Puppies are also better off having cooked food.

The American Veterinary Medical Association opposes the unregulated feeding of raw foods and discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens, because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs, as well as humans.

What to Look for in Raw Food

Find a veterinarian who knows the health of your dog, is familiar with raw foods, and can help guide you in the proper handling and cleaning required to address possible health concerns.

Kibble

Dry food or kibble has ingredients that vary by brand, but all are required to be balanced and meet the nutritional needs of a dog. Under USDA regulation, all animal foods must be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.

The ingredients in kibble are processed together and cooked. Required ingredients include: protein sources such as beef, poultry, fish, and eggs; grains; cereals; and vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. All dry dog foods need preservatives to prevent the fat from becoming rancid. Some brands are heavy on carbohydrates or have low-quality ingredients and added sugar.

Those who feed their dogs kibble suggest the potential benefits to be: reduced dental plaque, healthier gums, reduced risk of bacteria, easier storage, less risk of spoilage, and cost-effectiveness. On the other hand, some dog owners choose to switch to fresh food like Ollie due to the risks of kibble.

What to Look for in Kibble

Read the label. Look for a food that has a protein as the first ingredient, not a grain. The best kibbles have a single source of protein, such as lamb or chicken. Grain-free diets exist, but carbohydrates are required for energy, and the choice of grain is important since some dogs have sensitivities to wheat, corn, or soybeans.

Help From the Experts

The food we give our dogs makes a huge difference in their health and well-being. So it makes sense to let the experts help us determine what is best.

Ollies veterinary nutritionists use the latest advancements in research to develop the best recipes for your dog recipes that include fresh ingredients to keep your pups brain function healthy, address allergies and gastrointestinal sensitivities, are proportioned for ideal weight, and use Omega-3 fatty acids to help reduce inflammation. All that delivered right to your door, for free.

Ollie has received rave reviews from both customers and industry leaders. Ollies customers have reported better weight management, shinier coats, and more. Ollie has received a 5-star rating from Dog Food Advisor and has named one of the best dog food brands by Forbes, and Readers Digest.

Why Your Dog Wont Eat Kibble

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When it comes to feeding your dog, owners have plenty of options, from fresh dog food to canned food to raw food diets.

Lets talk kibble. Its easy and often inexpensive and, until now, your dog was perfectly happy eating it. Suddenly, though, your dog turns its nose up when you put the bowl down and it may not be clear why this happens. Luckily, dog owners have choices. Kibble, for all its convenience, isnt the only option for a dogs main diet.

Before you make any drastic changes to your dogs diet, consult your veterinarian. If your dog has suddenly stopped eating something theyve always eaten before, there may be intestinal or dental issues at play. If you determine that your pooch is just being picky, there are plenty of otherdog feeding optionson the market.

Add a Homemade Topping to Your Dogs Kibble

There are some simple homemade choices that you can add to your dogs kibble that may make it more palatable and even healthier. Cut up or pureefruits or vegetables, like carrots, green beans, and apples. Unsweetened cannedpumpkinhas fiber and may settle an upset stomach. Or try bone broth, which is thought to be good for the immune system.

Some owners may even opt forhomemade dog food. However, such diets should only be prepared with advice from a veterinarian and a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to ensure proper safety and nutrition standards.

A fully cooked egg added to kibble is a good source of protein and, as a bonus, manydogs love eggs. However, some dogs may have food sensitivities to eggs, so avoid them if thats the case with your pet. If your dog isnt lactose-intolerant, plain yogurt, especially those with lots of active bacteria, is good for a dogs digestive system. Any of these foods mixed in with kibble may entice your dog back to their food bowl.

One downside of adding food toppings is that your dog may decide they wont eat plain kibble anymore. Therefore, you may have to be prepared to make topping kibble a long-term commitment.

Try Canned Dog Food

As with any other dog food, theres a range of quality in canned food, from those that just barely meet nutritional standards to high-end well-balanced meals. Learning how toread the dog food labelwill help you choose. As a rule, high-quality canned food has more protein than kibble, contains fewer preservatives or artificial colorings, and has more moisture. On the other hand, it generally costs more than kibble, averaging anywhere from one to six dollars a day.

Research Raw Food Diets

Araw fooddiet tries to replicate food a dog would have eaten in the wild. It consists of some mixture of meat, bones, organ meat, raw eggs, some fruits, vegetables, and dairy.

Fans of raw diets believe its the healthiest option for their dogs and that it promotes shinier coats, cleaner teeth, more energy, and healthier skin. Naysayers point out the risks, which include exposure to harmful bacteria for both dogs and humans, an unbalanced diet, and the potential dangers of sharp pieces of bone injuring a dogs teeth and digestive tract.

In spite of its popularity, some research has come out against raw food diets. As early as 2012, the American Animal Hospital Association stated, Based on overwhelming scientific evidence, AAHA does not advocate or endorse feeding pets any raw or dehydrated non-sterilized foods, including treats that are of animal origin. TheAmerican Veterinary Medical Associationdiscourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens, because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs, as well as humans.

Additionally, some frozen raw dog foods have been recalleddue to the presence of pathogens like E. coli and salmonella. Owners feeding these diets should be careful to always stay aware of the most recent recall information for their brands.

If youre considering a raw food diet, be sure to consult your vet first. Be careful to purchase from brands that adhere to high safety measures in their preparation and packaging. Lastly, consider the cost. Commercially prepared raw meats can range from $2.50 to $5.00 a day.

Give Fresh Dog Food a Go

Theres a newer, increasingly popular addition to the array of dog food options: fresh dog food. For example,Ollieoffers human-grade food, made with natural ingredients like chicken, beef, carrots, lamb, and blueberries. The recipes are devised by veterinary nutritionists, are cooked to retain maximum nutrients, and held to the highest safety standards. Then meals are packaged in insulated boxes and delivered directly to your door.

Researchhas shown that dogs need a balance of meat and vegetables. As important, a dogs diet needs to suit their age, activity level, and general health. Rather than having to mix and match various types of food, Ollie has dog owners answer a few questions about their dog and then devises a customized meal plan, including the ingredients and amount of food your dog will receive in each meal.

There are many benefits to fresh food aside from convenience:

• Its made with ingredients you can trust. Fresh dog food labels wont include seven-syllable chemical and filler names, just actual, real food,
• Fresh dog food is highly bioavailable. A word often used in terms of medication, bioavailability describes the rate and degree at which a substance (in the case of dog food, nutrients) can be accessed and used by the body.
• Its good for the immune system. A diet rich in antioxidants and protein can boost a dogs immunity response and eliminate or lessen the severity of disease and illness.
• Weight management isbuilt-in. Portion control combined with a customized diet like the ones offered by Ollie eliminates the heavy starches and fillers that lead to weight gain.
• Owners report that dogs on a fresh food diet have healthier skin and coats, as well as fewer allergy symptoms.

Fresh food combines convenience with quality, nutrition, and safety. That does come with a price range of about two to twelve dollars a day, depending on your dogs size and how many meals they consume per day. So thats another factor to consider when deciding on dog food.

Youve established that your dog is healthy and that theres no medical reason for their aversion to kibble. Take heart! With so many options, ranging from canned and raw food to freshly prepared and packaged human-grade fresh dog food, youre bound to find something that suits your dogs taste as well as your preference and budget.