A proper and nutritious diet is what it takes to keep your dog healthy and fine. By eating some fresh and nutritious food in their diet, your dog can live a happier and longer life. Whether raw or lightly cooked, a mostly fresh food diet yields outstanding results, with clear eyes, beautiful coats, great teeth, sweet breath, calm dispositions, and dogs who are rarely sick.
Dry food or kibble is easy and convenient to use, and you can boost its nutritional value by adding several fresh foods. It’s not compulsory to switch to a 100% raw diet, but you can replace even 50% of your dog’s kibble with fresh food.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to enhance your dog’s kibble and supplement your kibble with fresh food.
How to enhance your dog’s kibble – Supplementing kibble with fresh food
Eggs
Eggs are not only widely available; they are one of the most nutritious items you can add to your dog’s food. Not only nutritious and dense, but eggs are also super easy to digest. The fatty acids in eggs are very beneficial for your dog’s skin and coat health.
Eggs are again very beneficial as they are high on the amino acid profile, which is essential for your dog as some of the amino acids in kibble get denatured when cooked and processed.
If you’re going to feed eggs to your dog, make sure you give it the whole egg, i.e., both white and yolk, and in moderation. It’s because they are rich, and if your dog isn’t habitual to having new things in the diet, excessive eggs can cause problems like gas and diarrhea.
Meat
You can add raw or lightly cooked meat to your dog’s kibble. This comes with many benefits as your dog gets an adequate amount of protein which otherwise can’t be fulfilled by kibble.
However, there are some myths regarding whether you should feed your dog with kibble and raw meat together in the same meal. Some people say that both of these things can’t be fed together as they have different digestive rates, and the meat can increase the chances of bacterial overgrowth in your dog. Another claim was that both meat and kibble need different stomach pH to digest. That’s why they can’t be fed together.
There’s absolutely no truth in such myths as a dog’s digestive system is capable of handling different food items that require different pH levels to digest. Also, some dog food companies offer kibble and dried raw meat together in the same meal. That’s why there is no harm in adding some raw meat to your dog’s food.
Veggies and Fruits
Though kibble has plant matter included, and it would be best if you focus on meat, adding some fresh fruits and veggies is always a great idea.
Fruits and veggies act as a great source of antioxidants, phytonutrients, and fiber for your dog. Phytonutrients are great for your dog as they are anti-aging, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-worms. What else could be more beneficial, right?
However, while feeding your dogs with fruits and veggies, make sure you don’t give them raw chunks of them as dogs can’t break down the cellulose inside the veggies, which means they won’t make the most out of the nutrients. The best way to give veggies to your dogs is to give them in a pureed form.
You can make your own fruit and veggie mix for your dog in the food processor, then freeze it in a mini muffin tin or ice cube molds for easy feeding.
