GreenYour.com

Want your pooch to feast on green canine gourmet? Turn to healthier dog food—which includes organic, natural, or vegan brands, or your own homemade green nibbles—to keep Rufus and the planet in optimum health.

Considerations before making your own dog food

While there are numerous natural wet and dry commercial dog foods and treats available to eco-concerned consumers and their canine companions, the advantages of preparing homemade meals for your pooch are numerous. Most notably, you have full control over its quality and content. Before you introduce non-commercial vittles into your dog's diet, a couple of considerations:

• The doggy diet 101. Start with a preliminary visit to your veterinarian to learn about any nutritional deficiencies, allergies, or requirements that your dog might have. Dogs are omnivores, meaning they require both meat and plant-based foods to remain healthiest (including 10 amino acids). The best diet for dogs will contain a high quality protein, a carbohydrate, including a vegetable, as well as vitamins, minerals, and fat.
• Table scraps to avoid. Vary recipes so that your dog gets a full array of required nutrients. However, there are a few foods that are particularly problematic for dogs, and should be avoided altogether. They are: bones, avocados, garlic, onions, chocolate, mushrooms, raisins, grapes, macadamia nuts, and any spicy or greasy foods.
• Hungry for more? Check out Homemade Dog Food Recipes, No Cans, eHow.com, and PetDIETS for more on dog nutrition and DIY dog food pointers. Are you a friend of felines as well? Cats can also be fed natural, homemade goodies with a little forethought and ambition in the kitchen.

Find it! Healthy dog food

Natural, organic, and vegan dog food brands are increasingly common on pet store shelves, but it's important to read and understand the labels. The following companies offer multiple styles and flavors of food and treats for lamb adoring Labs, poultry nibblers of the poodle persuasion, or veggie-loving Vizslas. For more on choosing healthy dog food brands see the Animal Protection Institute's a Commercial Pet Food.

Before you buy

While the term "natural" isn't regulated or specifically defined, it generally refers to foods that are minimally processed and preserved with natural substances. Organic pet food, on the other hand, must adhere to strict, regulated standards set by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) that specify how the ingredients are produced and processed. Organic standards do not allow the use of pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, or genetically engineered materials.

Because dogs are naturally omnivorous, they can adapt well to vegan diets. Vegan brands contain no animal products whatsoever. However, this doesn't say anything else about the ingredients that are present. Vegan ingredients may or may not be organic or natural—check the labels. Dog owners looking to reduce their support of livestock production completely and extend their commitment to their pooch may be interested in vegan options.

Choosing healthier dog food helps you go green because…

• You don't contribute to unsustainable and environmentally damaging livestock production practices.
• Your dog will likely be healthier.

Dog foods often contain ingredients that are unfit for human consumption—mostly waste products (or byproducts) of the conventional agricultural industry. About 50 percent of every food animal is not used after slaughter, parts such as hooves, heads, udders, blood, intestines, lungs, spleens, unborn babies, and more. Some of these parts are allowed to be put into pet food. Although the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) works to maintain a uniform standard of feed, including pet food, each state is in charge of enforcement. State-wide enforcement varies.

Livestock production has been linked to numerous environmental problems: water pollution from manure run-off, high levels of antibiotics and growth hormones that contaminate natural systems, high consumption of land, water, and oil, as well as greenhouse gas production. The livestock sector is estimated to be responsible for 18 percent of CO₂ greenhouse gas emissions, more than what is generated through transportation. Perhaps more significantly, the livestock sector accounts for 37 percent of all human-produced methane, a greenhouse gas that is 23 times as warming as is carbon dioxide.[1]

Many pet foods also contain chemical preservatives such as BHT, BHA, or ethoxyquin. Fillers from oats, wheat, flour, or corn, which have little nutritional value for dogs, may also be used as key ingredients.

The 2007 pet food recall

Many consumers (pet-owning and not) are aware of the widespread pet food recall of March 2007. Menu Foods, Inc. recalled 60 million cans of pet food that were produced at two different plants between Dec 3, 2006 and Mar 6, 2007.[2] Two more pet food companies later recalled some of their products as well. Melamine, a small molecule containing nitrogen and usually used for industrial purposes, was detected in wheat gluten that was traced back to a Chinese supplier. Traces of melamine were also detected in the kidneys and urine of deceased cats, linking the contaminant to their deaths. Cats seem to have been more affected by the melamine than dogs.

Glossary

• BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole): A chemical preservative found in butter, cereals, and beer, among other foods, to prevent fats from becoming rancid.
• BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene): A chemical preservative used to prevent oxidation of foods allowing them to keep their color, odor and taste longer. The US has banned its use in infant foods but it is found in shortening and cereals and also in dog food.
• ethoxyquin: A pesticide and food preservative that is used in small doses to preserve spices for human consumption, but is allowed in much larger doses for livestock feed and dog food.

External links

• Pets For The Environment
• All Natural Pet Food Directory
• Best Friend's Network - Organic vs. Natural Pet Food
• Animal Protection Agency - What's Really in Pet Food
• US Food and Drug Administration - General Information on Pet Food Labels