Dogs will eat just about anything they can lay their paws, er teeth on. So switching from a commercial brand of dog food to a healthier, raw food diet usually goes smoothly. Sometimes, however, owners are reluctant to believe they are capable of providing a healthy alternative for their canine buddies. They hedge their bets by mixing in commercial food or by adding multiple supplements.

Continuing to feed your dog commercial food along with raw can upset the gastrointestinal tract of some dogs resulting in diarrhea. Chemical additives in the commercial food is never eliminated so the true benefits of a natural diet are never really experienced. The dog is short changed. On the other hand, going raw but insisting on adding a truck load of supplements into your dog's diet such as herbs, oils and vitamins can also backfire. So many foreign ingredients can cause the dog to refuse the new food or, if they do eat it, can also cause gastrointestinal issues.

Using a variety of meaty bone and vegetable sources means your dog's diet will naturally balance over time. The quality of the meats and vegetables you select will be affected by their respective growing conditions. Animals raised in factory farming conditions are not allowed to eat what they have been naturally designed to eat, i.e. grass, but instead are force fed grain. This results in a lack of omega 3 essential fatty acids in their bodies. Crops grown on depleted but chemically fertilized soil have been shown to contain fewer nutrients than those grown in naturally rich soil. Two more reasons to select organic or small farm sources of food for yourself and your dog.

If you are unable to locate good quality food sources you may decide to supplement. But do not supplement indiscriminately. Bones are rich in minerals. Unless the meaty bones you are buying are from a factory farm, adding minerals to a raw, meaty bones diet is likely unnecessary and possibly even dangerous. Excessive calcium, for example, can cause joint problems.

The best approach is to focus on variety. You're going for balance over time and not in every meal. A dog in the wild would not pass up a dinner of fresh rabbit just because he happened to have eaten one for breakfast. He takes advantage of what's available and in season. More eggs from nesting birds in spring, more berries in the summer. You get the idea.

If you really feel your food sources are not as good as they could be consider adding real food items such as eggs, cottage cheese, cod liver oil, kelp and alfalfa to your dog's menu. And continue to look for better, organic if possible, sources. Naturally derived vitamins and nutrients in raw whole foods will always be more satisfying and healthier for you and your dog.

By C. A. Clarke