Do dogs need vegetables in their diet?
Hell yeah! Vegetables are an important part of your dog's diet. Actually they're essential to include in your dog's diet because they provide a wide array of phytonutrients (think fibre, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals).
Dogs have always eaten vegetables. Yep, right back to their original ancestor - the wolf. Mostly, they consume vegetables by eating the gut contents of their prey animals. Think about what a rabbit or a chicken eats... grains, fruits, vegies. Wolves also consume grasses and berries.
To give your dog the best chance of optimum wellness, it's essential to include vegetables in their diet. But, it's important to feed them in a way that they can absorb those super health-promoting phytonutrients.
How should you prepare your dog's veg?
Your dog's veg should be prepared in a way that resembles how they would naturally eat them.
Take a chicken for example. A chicken would eat the vegies and then the vegies would travel through the chicken's digestive system to her stomach. The dog eats the chicken, including her stomach which contains the vegies that have been partially digested by the chicken.
And so, the correct way to feed vegies to your dog to replicate how they would eat them naturally, and so they can absorb those phytonutrients I mentioned, is to feed them in a pre-digested state. The best way to do that is by pulsing them in a food processor.
Ok, but how can I be sure that my dog eats the vegies?
Aha! That's where I come in.
I'm a pet nutritionist and animal naturopath and I have created for you a vegetable recipe that is going to be your dog's best veg. Not only will he eat the vegies, he'll actually enjoy them. And he'll be getting those super phytonutrients I mentioned before in a way that he can actually digest them.
This is the exact recipe that I use to make my dog's vegies every week. So I can honestly say that it is tried, tested and dog approved!
Want more support for feeding your dog an optimum diet? Check out The Real Food Diet for Dogs eBook. It covers all aspects of a dog's diet and includes this recipe plus others.
Ruth Hatten is a qualified and experienced pet nutritionist and animal naturopath. She is dedicated to helping animals live happy and healthy lives using the principles of nature. Using a holistic approach to wellness, Ruth helps animals achieve optimal health and to heal at a deep level. Find out more about Ruth here.
