Holistic dog food is often a desirable alternative to dog owners who are concerned about the quality of the ingredients in popular commercial dog food. The holistic dog food alternatives include manufactured natural dog food and homemade dog food.

Dog food manufacturers that make dog food with only natural, high-quality ingredients sometimes promote the dog food as holistic dog food. The quality of the ingredients is a common claim that differentiates the holistic dog food from the most popular commercial dog foods.

Animal byproducts are typically not included in holistic dog food. Animal byproducts are pieces of meat that are considered substandard for human consumption. Some manufacturers of holistic dog food use only human-grade animal protein instead of animal byproducts. Holistic dog foods may have added minerals, vitamins, and anti-oxidants.

Holistic dog food can also be homemade dog food. Collections of natural dog food recipes can be found on the Internet. Dog owners should be warned that some dog food recipes on the Internet contain ingredients that can be toxic to dogs. A dog owner needs to make sure that the dog food recipe does not contain avocado, garlic, onions, grapes, raisins, or any other food that can be toxic to dogs.

One basic meat and rice dinner gives the dog owner flexibility in the ingredients that are included. One and a half cup of brown rice, two teaspoons of vegetable oil, one half cup of cubed meat, and one-fourth to one half cup of cooked vegetables are the four basic ingredients in this meat and rice dinner dog food recipe.

The meat can be beef, chicken, turkey, veal, ham, or liver. Ground beef or ground turkey can be used if cooked thoroughly. The meat should be cooked in the vegetable oil until well done.

The cooked vegetables used in this dog food recipe can be celery, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, diced potatoes, or other dog-safe vegetable. Some basic dog food recipes like this one include a half a cup of plain yogurt. Before the dog food is given to the dog, the prepared ingredients should be blended and cooled.

A variety of ingredients should be used to make sure the dog is getting a variety of vitamins and minerals. The dog owner should avoid using the same meat or vegetable choices. Ingredients such as liver are not healthy if fed to the dog every day.