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If you are one of the growing number of dog owners considering a holistic approach to your dog’s health and wellness, you may have some questions. For example, what are the best kinds of dog foods? Is there really a benefit in a holistic diet over a traditional diet? Will a holistic diet and wellness plan cost a lot of money? Does a holistic diet only involve food?
Here, we will try to touch on these points and more. You will see that a holistic approach to your dog’s health is a good way to keep your dog happy and healthy.
What does holistic mean?
When someone talks about a holistic diet or a holistic remedy to a health issue, what they are really talking about is a diet or remedy that takes into account the the overall health of the dog. A holistic approach is one that focuses on the dog as a whole instead of a skin issue or a paw issue. In other words, instead of focusing on just one part of the dog, it accounts for the overall wellness of the dog.
It is very common to associate the term holistic with organic or home remedy. Each of these terms tend to focus on natural products and as little processing as possible.
Holistic dog foods promote non processed meat as a main ingredient with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables followed closely behind.
Benefits of choosing holistic
There are quite a few benefits of choosing a holistic diet for your dog. An extreme way to think about the difference between a low grade “economy” brand dog food and a holistic dog food brand is with an analogy. An economy dog food brand is like a bag of potato chips to humans. Even the healthiest potato chips are not a nutritional snack for humans.
Only high quality ingredients will provide your dog with the proper balanced diet. Holistic dog food brands only contain whole meats, grains, fruits, and veggies with no fillers, artificial coloring, or flavoring so they provide much better nutrition than other brands.
A dog’s diet is the most important factor for maintaining good overall health. A well balanced diet can prevent all types of ailments from allergies to broken bones.
How to choose a holistic dog food
It can be overwhelming to try to choose a dog food brand. This is especially true at larger pet store chains that have aisles and aisles of dog food to choose from. In order to find the right dog food for your pet, start by going to a reputable dog food store. Many smaller pet stores carry holistic brands of dog food and will be less confusing to start with.
After you found a store, find the holistic dog food brands. The packages are usually marked HOLISTIC in large letters to get your attention. You can also ask a store clerk to point out some high quality brands.
Look at the ingredients list. This is the number one most important step. Here is what you should be looking for:
1. Chicken, lamb, turkey, duck, or fish should be the first ingredient. Make sure to read anything in parentheses if applicable. Sometimes dog food brands will hide the real source of the meat here. If you see chicken byproduct or chemically separated meat in the description, this indicates a lower quality product with more unhealthy filler.
2. Look for words that you know such as carrots, blueberries, tomatoes, potatoes, rolled oats, and other real food. Scientific sounding words signal chemicals and processed ingredients.
3. A good rule of thumb is 50% meat, 50% fruits and vegetables. If you read through an ingredients list and see a ratio close to this, it means it is well balanced.
Stick to these tips and learn some more about holistic dog diets:
What are the Differences Between Holistic, Raw, and Homemade Pet Food?
Green Pet 101 - Difference Between Natural, Organic, Eco- Friendly, and Holistic?
Holistic Veterinary Medicine
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About the author:
Kayleigh has always loved animals and has spent time volunteering at the local dog shelter. The love of her life is her four year old Rottweiler, Lizzie. She enjoys writing for YeePet.com since it combines her love of animals with one of her favor...
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