These days, many of us realize that we should be eating a more healthy diet, and those of us who have pets, also wonder how we can do the same thing for our best friend. A good start is to provide a natural, organic food for your dog. Have you even taken the time to compare dog foods? How does the food that you feed to your dog stack up?

What does your dog need to be healthy? Not surprisingly, many of the foods that are good for people are good for dogs, as well. We need lots of lean, healthy protein, the kind found in lean beef, chicken, and organ meats. So do our dogs. We need lots of vitamins, particularly E and C and lots of antioxidents to bond with the free radicals in our systems that can cause cancer. Guess what? The Western Veterinary Conference stated at its meeting in 1994 that our dogs need the same thing.

We eat too many excessively processed foods that are full of chemical preservatives. Unless you are buying natural organic dog food, your best friend is probably eating too many of the same things. Read the label on your brand of dog food and ask yourself, \”How does your dog food brand compare?\” While you may agree that your dog should have a healthy, balanced diet, it is difficult to find what you are looking for among commercial brands, as you know if you have done a dog food comparison.

So how do you solve the problem? One way is to serve you best friend the same foods that you eat. When you cook a healthy, balanced meal for your family, simply prepare one additional serving for your pet. Do you have a dog that turns up its nose at carrots or turnips? Do the same thing I did when my child was small: put them in the blender and then mix them in with the meat loaf before you cook it. Your child or your pet never knows that he has eaten a healthy, balanced meal.

It will be easy for you to know you are giving your dog everything he needs in his diet if you follow this simple break down. Two thirds of your dogAaas meal should be made up of healthy, meaty proteins, such as lean beef and chicken. The remaining one third should contain equal parts of vegetables and starches (rice or pasta.)

You may be wondering how much you should feed your dog of this new, healthy diet. It is simple feed your dog the same amount of food that you always have and monitor his weight for the next few weeks. If you dog seems like he is still really hungry after he eats, you can offer him a little more food. ItAaas perfectly normal for your dog, just like with people, to lose a little weight when starting on a healthy diet plan; however, you do not want your dog to lose too much or drop those pounds too quickly. You can easily adjust the amount of food that you are feeding him to keep him at his ideal weight and body condition.

With all of the horrible news about dog food in the last few years and the terrible tragedies that have befallen many pet owners and their best friends, there is no better time to consider a switch in diet for your pet.

Most of us know by now, how unhealthy our own diets can be, especially when we are consuming processed foods, and more and more pet owners are becoming more conscious of how healthy their dogAaas diets are. Dogs should be a member of the family, and thus should be loved, cared for, and kept healthy. In order to do this, take a look at the label on your bag of dog food and question AaAhow does it compare?AaA This should leave you striving to provide a healthier, more natural diet for your dog.