You don't need to be a rocket scientist to make your own pet food.

A message in light of the recent Pet Food Recall:

If you have been thinking about finally leaving commercial dog food behind and moving on to better options, but have second thoughts about being able to meet all your dog's nutritional requirements, I have a solution for you:

Feeding plans for home prepared diets (cooked or raw), individually designed and balanced for your dog, according to the newest nutritional guidelines of the National Research Council (2006).

Claim:
"There’s nothing wrong with a balanced home-cooked diet, but it’s crucial that a vet nutritionist is involved.”
Fact:
It's crucial that a person is involved who has a firm grasp on canine nutrition. I have completed coursework in Animal Nutrition as part of a study program for my certification in Animal Care and have studied the dietary needs of dogs independently for several years now. There are actually only very few veterinarians who actually hold the degree of board certified nutritionist, and most of them work for, or are affiliated with, the pet food industry.

Claim:
"Scientific nutritional analysis has yet to be conducted in the same way it has with commercial pet food."
Fact:
The National Research Council has researched the nutrient requirements of dogs and cats very thoroughly and in fact just released updated guidelines in 2006. Contrary to AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials), the NRC is an independent body with no affiliation to the pet food industry.

Claim:
"Feeding a well-balanced and safe home prepared diet is complicated."
Fact:
Armed with detailed information and properly formulated feeding guidelines it's actually very simple. I'll even provide a weekly shopping list.

Claim:
"It takes a lot of work to make a well-balanced meal because every species has different nutrient requirements."
Fact:
I'm concentrating my efforts on providing personalized feeding plans individually designed and balanced for each dog's needs.

Claim:
"Devising a healthy diet for your pet is possible, but time-consuming and cooking properly for your pets is a full-time job."
Fact:
I'll take the burden of designing a properly balanced diet off your shoulders. All you need to do is assemble the ingredients in the appropriate amounts.

Claim:
"Most veterinarians can provide the information needed to devise proper recipes and diet plans."
Fact:
With all due respect to the highly trained professionals in the veterinary field - when it comes to nutrition, only very few of them are actually capable of doing anything but recommending commercial foods made by certain well known national pet food companies - many of which have been affected by the recent recall.

Claim:
"Pet owners can cause some nutritional problems and health problems when feeding a homemade diet."
Fact:
As opposed to the health problems caused by poor quality and tainted commercial pet foods? If you can follow the simple instructions of one of my feeding plans, you will not cause any nutritional or health problems, since they are based on sound research.


If you are interested in this service, please check out http://www.betterdogcare.com/ and contact me for a consultation.