Since the dog has become a domesticated animal, there have always been differences in opinions regarding what is best to feed your dog.

In the beginning, dogs were fed the table scraps of their masters, which consisted of bread, various cooked meats, the ends and skins of vegetables and basically anything the family would not eat or couldn’t finish.

They have not become extinct nor wild, like their ancestors the wolf - so who is to say that one brand of kibble is healthier then another or that wet food should be given instead of kibble, or that dogs should be fed the newer trend of food: raw meat?

Your Veterinarian will be able to point you in the correct direction of diet for your dog’s specific needs, but ultimately you will choose which path you prefer. Most owners will opt for the kibble or dry food diet.

Today, there is a large variety of kibble dog food one could choose to feed to their dog. Ranging from the dry food your Vet will have in his office, to food you can buy in a specialty pet store and the dog food that is sold at your local grocery store.

Obviously the grade of ingredients indicates which dry food will be healthier for your dog but some owners believe that feeding a completely raw food diet is much healthier for their carnivorous pet.

The Dog evolved from the wolf, which eat and thrive in the wild. Living off smaller animals such as rabbits and fox, it is commonly thought that since dogs literally are wolves at heart, they would in theory, eat like them.

Raw food intended for dogs to consume is usually raw turkey, beef, venison, fish, duck or lamb. Any of these can be given every day, but it is best if the meat is varied throughout the week. Oats, various fruit juices and even plain yogurt can be added for extra proteins and nutrients.

For the most part, raw food should be fed to the dog completely raw. Some people prefer to cook the meat until it becomes more “well done” but cooking will only take away some of the vital nutrients inherent to meat.

The safety of feeding raw meat to your dog is not an uncommon concern, as types of meats will carry different genres of bacteria that could be dangerous if consumed by humans.

Although dogs have a different digestive system then we do, they are able to safely eat raw meat without any problems. Bones with the meat still attached to them is also a great meal idea to feed as they will not only intake vital nutrients, such as marrow and antioxidants, but they are excellent for scraping tartar away from the teeth leaving the dog with a cleaner, healthier mouth.

Feeding your dog raw meat can be an alternative to kibble if your dog has allergies. Many owners switch to raw meat when skin allergies appear or develop. It is common for many dogs, especially those in the Retriever family, to contract dermatitis or a type of skin ailment due to their diets.

The canine species was never intended to be fed grains or wheat, their diet consisted primarily of meat and protein but as dogs became more domesticated, so did their food. Today’s kibble, for the most part, does consist of some type of grain. Even those that are said to be low-grain or contain wheat ingredients will still have a percentage of grains in them.

Feeding raw meat completely takes this element out of the equation and many dogs have seen excellent results and have made complete recoveries from their skin allergies when switched to raw food.

The dogs of today have come a long way from those of 5 or even 10 years ago. Not only can you book your dog in for a few hours at the local Doggy Daycare, but you can buy them jackets or outfits that will bring out the color of their eyes, pamper them with a day at the Dog Spa where they can get a “Pawdicure” done with just about any shade of Nail Polish, and feed them a large array of diets varying from kibble to wet food to even raw meat.

With the major advancements in canine health it is hard to believe that even though so many pets today are spoiled beyond belief, that there are millions that go everyday without anything to eat, or a place to sleep or even an owner to take care of them. In today’s society there are puppy mills running steadily and selling their “products” to pet stores, backyard breeders selling accidental litters for large profits and that the issue of spaying and neutering dogs is still not quite considered serious or necessary.

So many people wish to breed their dog “at least once” in their lifetime just for the sake of having puppies that will either be sold to the first person interested or perhaps to the highest bidder. Shelters and municipal pounds are overcome by the amount of homeless dogs in their care. Its overwhelming to say the least and is extremely difficult to open an abundance of these facilities.

Sadly even though most shelters have a packed house, there are still millions of dogs (and cats) that are homeless throughout the nation. Spaying and neutering is a very necessary procedure for today’s animals. Although raising dogs from puppyhood can be a fulfilling achievement, it is more important to be able to grasp a hold of the problem that has been created.

From the view of a veterinarian, spaying or neutering your dog will bring many potential health problems to an end. In females alone, there will be no risk of Pyometra, and no possible risk of cancers of the uterus, ovaries, or mammary glands. In neutered males, there will be no potential risk of testicular cancer, they will present much less aggression towards other dogs or animals, and will reduce the urge and even the act of marking. From the medical view of sterilizing (spaying or neutering) your dog, there are many more pros then there are cons.

The negatives of sterilizing your dog would be that they cannot reproduce. An obvious con but crucial nonetheless. Nowadays it is not uncommon to have litters upon litters of puppies being born in shelters. Although this is a sad yet very real occurrence, the staff at these shelters take it upon themselves to see to it that the lives of these puppies will not end up like their mother. Spaying or neutering puppies can be done as young as 2-3 months of age as long as the dogs are healthy.

There has been much controversy over this action as some have protested that this will have a negative affect on their development or that this will deny them their fullest growth potential, which is not true. If anything, sterilizing a puppy at a younger age is as safe and will enable them to recover from the surgery quicker than they would if the procedure was done at an older age.

Spaying or neutering, although done daily in a veterinarians office, may seem like a scary surgery to a new dog owner. This procedure is a quick, safe, efficient and a very necessary surgery that will normally take under 25-35 minutes. This is done completely under anesthetic so the dog has absolutely no recollection of the surgery and will go home the same day. Either dissolvable or regular stitches will be used to suture the surgical site and a cone or Elizabethan Collar (E-Collar) will be issued so the dog does not try to lick or tend to the site. There is no pain medication to go home and recovery is usually between 14-21 days. Suture removal will be done between the 7-14 day mark after the surgery, and from then onwards, the dog will be at no risk of becoming impregnated or will not be able to reproduce.