The great dog food debate

I love my handsome boy. Relay is a great looking mutt, with a trim figure, beautiful coat, and a face that gets him whatever he wants. Of course I want to give him the best life and health possible, but when it comes to feeding him right I find myself at a loss.

Try to google "what to feed your dog" and you will find a war has been waged on the internet. There are so many types of food out there: kibble, dehydrated, canned, roll, frozen, home cooked, raw... There are also many, many more very adamant opinions.

"Feed kibble, the best brands have the nutritional balance required for a healthy pet. Don't feed kibble, the food is so processed and full of additives it is slowly poisoning your dog. Feed raw bones, they are a natural healthy way to impart nutrients and necessary in a diet. Don't feed raw bones, the small shards can splinter in your dog's stomach and cut him up inside. Raw meets are the only way to go. Raw meats are all contaminated with bacteria. Feed garlic. Don't feed garlic. Dogs are like wolves. Dogs are nothing like wolves. Dogs are omnivores. Dogs are strict carnivores."

It is a mad house out there. 

So, what do I do? I will continue to research and have a list of books to go through on the topic of dog nutrition, but in the mean time, I choose all of the above. Relay is a picky eater anyway (he gets bored with foods rather quickly), so this helps me justify it, but I do feed it all to him. We buy high quality kibble, we get canned, roll, dehydrated foods, we feed him home cooked meals, frozen meals, and some raw. At this point our pup has a cast iron stomach and can tolerate most anything we throw his way, which I have to admit is pretty convenient. 

Is this wrong or right? I'm going to have to say that it just simply is. I am no expert, nor do I pretend to be. But I will simply say that I believe moderation is the key to anything in life. To date, my pup seems healthy, happy, and well loved, so I'm just not going to stress it.

Posted in: diet