Over the past few months, I have offered diet critiques that tweaked good home-prepared diets in order to address health concerns – or simply to optimize the diet. To do this, I analyzed the diets and compared them to the National Research Council’s guidelines for canine nutrition. I want to be clear, though: I don’t believe this is a requirement for feeding a homemade diet. Just as with the diet you feed yourself and your family, feeding a wide variety of healthy foods in appropriate proportions should meet the needs of most healthy dogs.
Problems arise with how this description is interpreted. Too often, people think that they’re feeding a healthy diet when key ingredients may be missing or are fed in excess. Here are specific guidelines to help ensure that the diet you feed meets your dog’s requirements.
