I've recently been experimenting with various types of home made dog food as I no longer use commercially manufactured ones. The reason is simple I have heard some horror stories about some of the things that go into the foods even the premium varieties and I just care too much for my dogs to put them at risk. Natural homemade dog food is the way to go.

Creating your own food is very easy and it actually works out cheaper in the long run. I've created a site where i am going to publish all the best recipes we find. You can find it at the Healthy Food Section of Healthy Pets are Happy Pets

There are certain things you need to be aware of before you start changing your dogs diet. Their digestive systems are not a adaptable as our human digestive systems so it is important to make changes slowly. Start to add new foods gradually while reducing the old food. Once you find a recipe your dogs like then stick with it.

When feeding your dog make sure that they always have a bowl of water and always feed them at the same time every day.

Small dogs will only need to eat once a day while larger dogs might need to be fed twice.

Speak to you local butcher or supermarket manager and ask them if you can have any meat or vegetables that are going out of date, if it''s been kept cool it will be fine for your dogs (it's actually fine for human consumption as well)

As soon as possible either freeze the meat or cook it and then freeze it.

The following is a simple recipe that will ensure that you dog stays healthy, why not try it for a few weeks and see the change in him/her.

Mix Together 2 cups of cooked brown rice with a few tablespoons of lard or vegetable oil, add 2/3rds of a cup of either cooked or raw minced beef. Finally mix in a quarter of a cup of grated vegetables.

If you make the rice the day before or even at the weekend and keep it in a fridge the whole meal can be made in a few minutes. This recipe is quick, simple and healthy and if you can get the ingredients cheaply it will be cheaper than manufactured foods.

There are certain foods that you shouldn't feed your dog for example Onions of large quantities of garlic as they contain thiosulphate which is dangerous.other foods that you shouldn't feed them are chocolate or macadamea nuts. Chocolate will stimulate a dogs heart rate and can lead to heart attacks It is also a diuretic which can lead to dehydration.