In a literal sense, whatever you put on your dog’s bowl or plate determines their overall health and well-being. You have full control over your pet’s lifespan through dieting and nutritional care.
With so many food options available in the pet food market, it can be challenging to choose between commercial and homemade dog food. Both have their advantages and disadvantages; hence, it ultimately narrows down to what appropriately fits your dog’s dietary needs.
Achieving the right nutritional balance in your dog’s meals keeps your dog happy and active all day. So, understanding the difference between the dog food categories, with the help of this article, is essential.
What Exactly are Commercial and Homemade Dog Foods?
First things first, dog food is food made specifically for dog’s consumption to meet their nutritional needs. Therefore, no pet in your household apart from dogs can eat dog food.
Commercial dog food is store-bought packed dog meals manufactured by pet food companies and are available in various brand names. They come in three different forms: either dry kibbles, canned food, or semi-moist food, sometimes called dog pouches. It’s up to the pet owner to choose the best food form for their dog.
Homemade dog food, on the other hand, makes up fresh food diet for your dog. It’s made by pet parents in the comfort of their kitchen using fresh ingredients. In this case, the pet parent assumes full responsibility for the dog’s diet. So, for a first-time pet owner, that’s how easily you can tell commercial dog food from homemade dog food when selecting proper meals and nutrients.
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Deeper Comparisons: Commercial Vs. Homemade Dog Foods
By further comparing commercial and homemade food, you’re able to dissect each and make a more well-informed decision. You put yourself in a position to choose the best food options for your dog.
Not necessarily going with either commercial or homemade food as your final individual choice. But you’re able to integrate both into your dog’s daily diet, as you cannot always afford one over the other over time.
This section discusses the elements and factors for deeply discerning homemade and commercial foods.
Nutritional Balance
Commercial pet food manufacturers strive to ensure their products comply with the nutritional standards set by regulatory bodies such as the Association of America Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) and the European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF) in Europe. The commercial dog food, therefore, contains balanced amounts of the essential nutrients, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals, ensuring a complete diet for dogs.
As for homemade dog food, you are the main regulator of the nutritional balance in the dog food. It requires you to consider specific nutritional requirements with the help of a veterinary nutritionist to avoid underfeeding or overfeeding your fur friend.
Dog Food Quality
Most commercial dog foods, especially kibbles and canned foods, are made with feed-grade ingredients in place of human-grade ingredients. Some pet food companies process 4D meats or even food waste from stores and restaurants, which degrades the quality of the dog meal, but details won’t be on the label. And these over-the-counter foods include fillers and artificial preservatives to extend their life.
Dog food cooked at home by yourself gives surety of the inclusion of premium quality fresh ingredients. You have complete control over the ingredients that go into the fresh food diet for your dog. There’s transparency of what’s going into your dog’s stomach.
Convenience and Availability
In terms of convenience and availability, commercial dog foods take the lead. Commercial dog food is ready-made and found easily at pet stores and supermarkets. You open the packaging and direct the food into the dog’s bowl, and voila, your furry friend enjoys its palatable meal.
Homemade dog food requires planning, preparation, and considerable time for the cooking process. This entire ordeal is not feasible for every pet owner, as those with busy schedules are likely to not fully commit to the routine. Even after preparation, large quantities of food may demand storage facilities like freezers, including fresh stock, which is cumbersome.
Shelf Life
With the inclusion of artificial preservatives in commercial dog food, they have a longer shelf life. You can stock up and store them conveniently without worrying they’ll spoil. On the other side, homemade dog food is prone to spoilage any day, any time, if hefty precautions are not taken into consideration. You can incorporate healthy natural ingredients into the recipe, but still, the food will not last as long as commercial dog foods do.
Variety of Diet Options
There is a massive range of food options when it comes to commercial dog food, including dry kibble, wet canned food, and specialized formulations for specific dog breeds and dietary requirements. These products are often available in various flavors and formulas customized to particular health needs, age groups, and dog breeds.
However, homemade dog food provides a more personalized approach, letting owners select ingredients according to their dog’s dietary needs and tastes. Homemade meals offer a wide variety of fresh meats, veggies, and grains to ensure a healthier, varied diet. While homemade delicacies allow one to tailor dog food to specific dietary requirements and dog preferences, commercial options offer specialty nutrition and convenience.
Cost: Expensive or Cheap
Both commercial and homemade dog foods vary in cost and food expenses. Individually, the brand, food type, quality, and location heavily influence the cost of commercial dog foods. Homemade dog foods tend to be more expensive in the long run because the cost of fresh organic ingredients is high unless you source the fresh ingredients from your own backyard garden or livestock farm.
But, generally, the overall homemade food costs depend on how strategic you are and what you put in your dog’s diet. Some days’ expenditures may be less than others. And you can choose to obtain the fresh ingredients in bulk to save on costs.
Avoidance of Allergens: Safety Concerns
Avoiding allergens in commercial dog food is hard since the large-scale manufacture is tailored for mass markets. The ingredients are sourced from many different suppliers to meet the high market demand. So, it poses a big challenge in ensuring the potential allergens don’t get into the food during processing. Commercial foods, thus, contain various additives and preservatives that may trigger sensitivities in dogs.
Since homemade food gives direct control over the selection of ingredients, it’s easy to exclude specific allergens and personalize the recipes to the dog’s diet and nutritional needs, averting allergic reactions.
Bonding Experience
Making dog food yourself allows for quality bonding moments right from preparation to feeding time, more than ready-to-eat commercial brands. When you take full control of your pet’s diet, it gets attached to you more and grows a stronger affection as your companion, aiding in dog training. The aroma and unique taste of the food makes the dog look forward to enjoying its meal and spending quality time with its owner.
Though we often ignore the fact that dogs have feelings like humans, dogs acknowledge and appreciate the time and effort we put into caring for them. Hence, the decision between commercial and homemade dog food should be based primarily on what’s nutritionally best for your pet. Remember, caring for dogs goes beyond dietary concerns, and spending time with them as showing deep love and affection is the most important.
