pet food: wet food, dry food, and several varieties of pet treats. Pet owners have relied on commercially available pet food to feed animals for over 150 years. The substitutes that can be used for pet food are not very well known due to consumer reliance on what has already been created. One of the most basic substitutes that can be used instead of commercially available pet food is human food. There are a number of websites with facts about dogs and what to feed them. An example of these is the site created by Cesar Millan, the T.V. personality known as “The Dog Whisperer.” One of the articles on this site contains a list of human foods that are ‘dog-approved,’ i.e., they are safe for dogs’ stomachs (Pajer, 2014). This list includes foods such as peanut butter, which is a good source of proteins and healthy fats along with different vitamins. Another food is cooked chicken; dogs can eat cooked chicken that is unseasoned which can also add protein to the dogs’ diets. Some other interesting human foods that dogs are able to eat are: pumpkin, apple slices, oatmeal, yogurt, and green beans. All of these foods have been approved by Millan, to give a dog nutrients and vitamins they don’t get every day from their commercial dog food. While looking at a comparison between human food and normal, dry dog food it is important to think about different components that could affect the decision to feed the dog human food rather than commercially available dog food. The first component to recognize is the set of health benefits for the dog. The list above states just a few foods and their benefits towards the dog and compared to a normal, everyday dog food, the benefits are much higher. The digestibility of foods such as meats is 92% while wheat and corn are 63% and 52%, respectively (Dunn, 2013). Providing a dog with real meat is much more beneficial for their health because they are able to break it down faster and get more from it compared to the wheat, corn, and soy
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