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www.wwnorton.com 978-1-58157-288-9 (pbk.) 978-1-58157-612-2 (e-book) TO RALEIGHOne Quarter Dog, One Quarter Girl, One Quarter Boy, One Quarter Squirrel.
CONTENTS
As pet owners, we are fortunate to be in charge of the refrigerator and pantry.
Every day we can choose from hundreds of favorite foods; sometimes those food choices are healthy and other times they fulfill a hankering for something tasty. Down on the floor, our four-legged family members salivate and wait for a share and we say, No, this isnt for you. Instead our dogs eat the same food day after day because were told to never give dogs people food. Thousands of years ago, dogs began walking beside us because we offered a source of food, shelter, adventure, and friendship. Today we provide our dogs with daily walks or a day at dog day care, comfortable beds (or couches) to sleep on, and, in some cases, jackets and sweaters to keep them warm and dry. Unfortunately, when it comes to food, weve outsourced our responsibility in caring for our pets.
In exchange for convenience, our pets are living shorter lives, requiring more medical care, and carrying excess weight. With half of our dogs developing cancer today, the question has to be asked, What are we doing wrong? Its not that commercial foods are necessarily causing cancer; they simply cannot do enough to prevent it. Whats missing? Fresh food filled with enzymes, antioxidants, wholesome protein, less carbohydrates, and natural vitamins and minerals rather than synthetic versions. Just as weve opened our hearts to dogs, its time we opened our refrigerators as well. Weve all been warned by the pet food industry and our veterinarians to never alter our dogs diet and to beware of upsetting the balance of nutrition in commercial pet foods. But there is room in the bowl for fresh foods.
This book will make it easy for you, with simple, quick recipes using the foods you already incorporate into your own meals. Each food in this book has multiple reasons to share it with your dog; collectively they aim to provide variety, nutrition unrepresented in the commercial foods, and convenience for you while lengthening the years you spend with your faithful companion. The bonus for your dog is new flavors, real nutrition to protect your pets health, and generous serving sizes. Real food makes the best CHOW! Fresh foods contain around nine times the moisture of dry foods. The water content is calorie-free volume, allowing a larger portion size and lower calorie count than calorie-dense commercial dry foods. Dont be afraid of the portion sizes; the recipes include serving sizes that you can match to both the weight and energy level of your pet.
Most active dogs fall right smack dab in the middle of the serving size listed which covers the range of inactive to extra active dogs.
FILLING THE EMPTY BOWL
As part of my effort to better understand canine nutrition, I went out to pet food companies and asked them for detailed nutritional breakdowns of their foods. Being a former dog food manufacturer myself, I was already familiar with the nutritional minimums from the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO)a.k.a. the pet food industrybut knew there was another standard set by the independent National Research Council (NRC) that includes not just minimums, but recommended daily allowances. The NRCs standard defines not what your pet can survive on, but what your pet can thrive on. The NRCs recommendations are what I follow, and I wanted to see how other manufacturers measured up. I surveyed 200 foods and compared them to the NRC standard.
Its a lot of math, but Im a nerd. The results were surprising and led me to believe that the complete and balanced formula referred to so often by pet food companies and veterinarians is often incomplete. The most surprising discovery was that there is no reason to fear fresh food; theres more than enough room in the bowl for natural sources of proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. For pet foods to be truly complete, they should represent everything that your dog needs to be healthy. The absence of an omega-3 fatty acids requirement is only the beginning. The NRCs research clearly explains how these fats help with neurological development, improve overall health, and reduce inflammation.
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