Top 10 Tips to Feed Your Dog for Health

Your canine companion might be super cuddly, but their digestive system descended from wolves. Just like their wild ancestors they are omnivores and thrive on a fresh, raw and varied diet of not only fresh, quality meat (including some fat and offal), but also some suitable vegetables.

While your beloved dog is not likely to hunt down its meal beyond the kitchen they still need a ‘biologically-appropriate’ or ‘ancestral’ based diet. The veggie matter of the wild, ancestral diet consisted mostly of semi-digested vegetable matter of their mostly herbivore prey. A 2005 Purdue University study found that even a small amount of vegetables, especially dark leafy greens, carrots and cruciferous veggies, significantly reduced bladder cancer risk in Scottish Terriers!

This means more than a bit of grated carrot or the like. Ensure roughly 20-40% of their meals are a low carb mix of pulped, grated, lightly steamed or – even better – semi-fermented veggies.

Make a batch with your choice of meat (ideally plus offal) at the beginning of the week and keep in the fridge or portion to the freezer – our Veggie Mixes make it easy!

Minerals punch above their weight in dogs’ health and can often be overlooked in home-made diets to your dog’s detriment. All 7 macro minerals are important but calcium is the most common mineral in the body and is responsible for numerous functions including nerve and muscle activity and even keeps the heart beating. Along with the right balance of phosphorus, and magnesium it is crucial to bone and teeth health.

An all meat diet (and no raw bones or veggies) usually translates to too much phosphorus and a calcium deficiency causing brittle bones. If there is insufficient calcium in the diet it is taken from the bones into the blood for use in the body so having adequate amounts in the food is crucial.

The opposite is also true. Too much calcium to phosphorus can cause bone deformities and weaknesses, as well as kidney stones and bladder issues. Dr Ian Billinghurst of original BARF fame recommends raw meaty bones as the best way to balance calcium and phosphorus. This is especially true if you feed your dog predominantly muscle meat.

For the 11 micro minerals, it’s especially important to include a good source of bioavailable iodine and selenium to support thyroid function (not too much, not too little). Selenium is also is an essential component of the naturally occurring antioxidant, glutathione peroxidase, which is in all body cells. Great sources of iodine include a clean sea kelp, green lipped mussels or marine plankton.

Pasture-raised eggs are a great source of selenium (and many other goodies like tryptophan, riboflavin and other important vitamins, as well as calcium and phosphorus), and can be included in meals with the shell once or twice a week.

Moringa is also high in selenium, has all essential amino acids and boasts ten times more calcium than of milk, much more vitamin C than oranges and mega more iron than spinach, plus many other minerals and phytonutrients.

Our Miracle Greens with moringa, barley grass, hemp and kelp have got you covered. It’s the perfect dog home ‘cook’ helper.

It’s probably not news that vitamins are important to our dog’s health but what’s most important is whether they are recognisable to the body. Commercial dry foods are heated repeatedly in production such that very little true nutritional content remains. It is common for dry food manufacturers to spray the kibble with synthetic vitamins after extrusion and baking to meet required nutrient levels – yes, even some grain free. However, synthetic vitamins have only one component out of a whole entourage of micro-nutrients that would naturally accompany them in their natural state and help them function. Too often the body just doesn’t recognise these faux vitamins and they wash straight through the body providing no goodness at all, and sometimes detriment.

Fake vitamins can cause serious deficiencies that result in serious health issues of which the source is hard to diagnose. It’s no surprise that synthetic vitamins are not as good as the real thing and industrial foods that have to spray on vitamin creations to meet the nutrient requirements are not likely to underpin optimal health.

Give your dog vitamin rich, whole foods that their body can recognise and assimilate just the way nature intended. Ensure any supplements are sourced from nature, like ours! Real food for real dogs.

Good fats are an important source of energy and nourishment and play a vital role in the body. But not all fats are good. Animal fat is saturated fat and, while it does play a role in providing energy and also helps the body absorb fat soluble nutrients like vitamins A, D, E and K, too much can cause inflammation and other health problems, especially if heated.

Not having enough good fats though can also cause health problems which is why it’s so important to have a healthy ratio of good omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.

Eggs, sardines, hemp seed oil, marine nutrients such as kelp, phytoplankton, fermented chlorella, and coconut oil are all great sources.

We have hemp seeds and hemp seed oil in almost all of our range including Pumpkin Passions, Kanga Kisses, Super Veggie Mix, Vita Veggie Mix, Miracle Greens, Magic Golds and our Puppy Power Formula.

A functional intestinal system is the engine room of good health for all of us. It’s where the nutrients are predominantly absorbed into the body and waste is expelled. A diet of inflammatory foods can cause the internal lining to become angry or perforated which not only allows toxins to enter the system but causes more inflammation by the body recognizing these foreign invaders on undigested foods. This can manifest as allergies in ears, paws or skin, diarrhea, arthritis or even lay the groundwork for developing disease.

Good digestion can alleviate allergies, boost nutritional absorption, soothe inflammation and protect against disease. MSM and nutritional yeast (such as in our Magic Golds) have many health benefits including soothing and strengthening the intestinal wall.

Natural prebiotics and probiotics in fermented vegetables (such as our Veggie Mixes) and other natural sources such as natural kefir and yogurt can also provide soothing benefit.

It is also important to ensure that you regularly gently flush any potential parasites in the intestines. This can be done with ancient algae, known as diatomaceous earth, mixed into their food.

The best thing you can do for your dog’s immunity is to keep their natural immune system strong. That starts as puppies and continues through every meal and life phase. Give them a clean, best quality you can afford, high nutrition, low inflammatory diet.

Supplements that can help strengthen immunity include certain medicinal mushrooms (such as reishi, cordyceps, turkey tail, shiitake, chaga), turmeric (check out our Golden Buddha Paste here, and Vita Veggie Mix, or make a paste at home with this recipe), vitamin C, vitamin D3, and be sure to keep the gut strong, clean and healthy. A good gut and healthy digestion means good immunity and health (see above!)

Inflammation is an immune response but if it becomes chronic or overly sensitive the inflammatory itself becomes the cause of ill health and discomfort. Inflammation can manifest as allergic responses such as skin irritations, hotspots or ears and yeast infections, pain and mobility issues, poor organ function, moods and irritability, sleep dysfunction and gut irritation and more.

Some foods themselves are considered to be inflammatory (such as grain fed chicken and starchy carbs, often kibble), as well as certain life stresses (eg moving, injury, illness, isolation), and low grade foods.

Moringa, turmeric paste, quality protein, no to low carbs, green leafy vegetables, berries, bone broth and some organ meats.

Foods high in Omega 3s also soothe inflammation such as shark cartilage, green lipped mussels, marine nutrients (phytoplankton, algae, kelp, fermented chlorella), plus fish such as sardines and mackerel (in natural oil or springwater, not vegetable oil) are all fantastic as long as they are from clean water and environmentally considerate sources.

Mix it up. None of us want the same meal every day, every meal – even if it’s our favourite. Not only is it boring, but it is not the basis for good health. Eating the same thing all the time can create food intolerances and cause nutritional deficiencies or excesses. Give your dog as much variety as you can. Cycle through different proteins and consider feeding a different breakfast to what’s served at dinner.

If their system responds negatively to any changes in diet that can be a sign of imbalances in the body, not a sign the new food itself is the problem. If your dog has only ever had the same food, introduce variety slowly so they can adjust but don’t give up on them.

If you are introducing your dog to a raw diet of meat and veggies but they are used to only cooked food or commercially processed food, you can start with the meat being lightly cooked and gradually introduce raw or less cooked meat into your mix. You’ll find they love it!

Don’t believe that dogs have to have the same meal every day. Clearly they wouldn’t have the same meal morning and night in their ancestral ‘wild’ conditions. Yes they’ve adapted but not to commercial foods in such a way as to give them their best health that way. You must ensure they have all the nutrients covered in sufficient amounts but this can be accomplished across the diet as it is for ourselves.

Check out our recommended ‘Meal Wheel’ here to help you get the hang of it.

If you are making your own meals at home – well done – our Miracle Greens can ensure you have all the nutrients covered and our Veggie Mixes make it super easy. You just mix with meat and offal – or a pet mince if that’s what you prefer – and hey presto you have a healthy meal they’ll love.

If you’re feeding kibble then perhaps reduce the kibble when you can and add these real and nutritious foods to their bowl. Or include as many real food meals that suit their constitution as much as you can.

Fresh, wholefoods are the best way to give your dog good nutrition that their body can utilise. That means nothing that they wouldn’t get in the wild.

No pasta, bread or processed meats. No pastries, cake, cooked fat or bones. Just because you love it, or even if they do, doesn’t mean it is good for them. Just like us. Real food for real dogs is the best motto. If it’s not natural, it’s not natural.

Vegetables (mostly above ground), berries, meat, offal, bones, fish etc are all amazing. Of course it’s unlikely a wolf finds any chia seeds or nutritional yeast or the like in the wild  but these are natural and super healthy and we like to say ‘better than nature intended’.

Just like our diets have evolved to include a wider range of nutritional foods and natural medicines, so can that of our dogs if we have some guidance and access to great products.

How much we should feed our dogs is dependent on their weight, age and activity levels but it’s vital that we don’t overfeed them. While it’s hard to deflect those (literal) puppy dog eyes it’s up to us to feed them less rather than more.

If you want to feed them treats during the day then please feed them less overall. Generally you want to feed your dog 3-4% of their body weight over a day. But it’s important what’s fed is able to be metabolized by the body and used for energy and health. An overfed dog will pay for it in inflammation and other chronic health issues.

Fasting is also a natural part of the ancestral diet and skipping a meal can be a fantastic way to boost health if your dog’s health condition supports that. Work with an holistic vet or canine nutritionist before you do this but generally this can be a great boost to health.

The very best thing you can do for an overweight dog’s health is help them to healthily lose weight. First and foremost. Don’t starve them or punish them though. You can introduce low calorie and nutritious ingredients that help them feel full without the weight gain as well as low impact exercise, like swimming or shoulder height water walking and hydrotherapy, or beach walks and play.

Sometimes change can be confronting or confusing. Don’t be overwhelmed by the information or confused by conflicting advice. Look into the source and background of those advisors and do what feels right for you. Start small and grow into it if that’s best for you.

If budget is an issue, or convenience, and that’s why you turn to cheaper, pre-processed foods there is no shame or judgement in that – certainly not from me – just add what goodness you can. You can always improve the nutrition of what you currently feed your dog (presuming you aren’t already doing all of the above).

The good news is that the I Love a Dog range provides you convenient options of nutritional supplements to add to your dog’s meals to both boost immunity and sooth inflammation (often both!).

Don’t forget we have our Meal Wheel to help you balance your dog’s meals and check out our healthy recipes here to make it easy to try at home. We add more every week.