The Dog Diet Disaster: Why ‘Homemade’ Food Might Be Harming Your Pet 🥴
👋 Introduction
As Indian pet parents, feeding our dogs ghar ka khana (home-cooked food) feels like the most natural way to show love. After all, if we eat fresh and clean, shouldn’t our dogs too?
Unfortunately, that love often comes with hidden nutritional gaps. While home-cooked meals feel wholesome, they’re rarely complete when it comes to what dogs actually need — and over time, those gaps can lead to serious health problems.
Let’s break down what’s missing, what’s risky, and how you can improve your dog’s diet without giving up the “home-cooked” vibe.👇
🍲 What’s Missing in Homemade Dog Diets?
Many homemade diets — even those made with lean meats and vegetables — fall short in key areas:
🦴 Calcium & Phosphorus: Crucial for strong bones and teeth. Most home-cooked meals (especially rice and chicken) are severely calcium-deficient.
🐟 Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Important for brain function, coat quality, and joint health. Rarely found in typical Indian diets unless supplemented.
🧬 Essential Amino Acids: Dogs require specific amino acid profiles for growth and maintenance. Even high-protein meals can fall short.
🥦 Vitamins A, D, E, B12: Hard to meet without a properly balanced supplement.
❌ Toxic Human Foods: Ingredients like garlic, onions, grapes, certain spices, and excess salt — all common in Indian cooking — can be harmful or even fatal to dogs.
🔗 AVMA: People Foods Pets Shouldn’t Eat
🛑 Common Homemade Diet Mistakes
Despite best intentions, these are some common nutritional red flags in DIY dog meals:
- Relying only on rice + chicken (lacks fiber, calcium, fats, and micronutrients)
- Adding table scraps or leftovers with oil, spices, or onions
- Feeding cooked bones (can splinter and cause internal damage)
- Assuming that human superfoods like ghee or turmeric automatically work for dogs
- Skipping gut health basics like prebiotics or probiotics
Many of these aren’t “bad” in moderation — but without structure, they can quietly chip away at your dog’s well-being.
🧠 Learn more soon on our blog:
🔗 Why Gut Health Matters for Indian Dogs
✅ What You Can Do (Without Giving Up Homemade Meals)
You don’t need to stop cooking for your dog — you just need to upgrade the method.
Here are a few science-backed adjustments:
🥕 Add safe vegetables like pumpkin, carrot, bottle gourd, and spinach (lightly steamed)
💧 Use bone broth (unsalted) or diluted curd to aid digestion
🐶 Rotate between proteins: chicken, eggs, fish, paneer — not just one
🛑 Avoid salt, sugar, oil, onion, garlic, and processed masalas
📋 Use supplements or a structured plan based on your dog’s age, breed, and issues
🧠 Consult a qualified vet or canine nutritionist for long-term guidance
🧭 A Better Way Is Coming — Meet ho.pe.
At ho.pe. — The Honest Pet Company, we're building a new kind of pet wellness brand — made for Indian dogs, their real diets, and their real issues.
We’re launching soon with a line of clean-label, vet-formulated, cold-pressed daily supplement chews — designed to help bridge the gap between homemade love and scientific health.
What we stand for:
🧪 Science over shortcuts
🌿 Clean, transparent ingredients
❄️ Cold-pressed, air-dried, human-grade chews
🇮🇳 Formulated for Indian dogs & diets
😋 Daily supplementation that’s actually chewable
We're not another mass-produced pet brand. We're here to make daily dog care easier, more honest, and more modern.
💌 Join our waitlist to be notified when we launch:
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📊 Not Sure What Your Dog Needs?
Every dog is different — and their age, breed, lifestyle, and habits matter.
That’s why we’re also building a free vet-designed quiz to help you get a customised supplement and wellness plan for your dog (without needing to read 14 blogs or guess your way through Instagram advice).
👉 Take the ho.pe. quiz — it’s free, and takes under 2 minutes.
❤️ Final Woof
Feeding homemade food shows care. But feeding only homemade food — without guidance, structure, or supplementation — can lead to silent health issues that build up over time.
The good news? You don’t need to give up your love-filled kitchen routine. A few smart upgrades + honest support = a healthier, shinier, calmer dog.
At ho.pe., we’re here to help you make that shift.
- 📸 Tag us on Instagram: @honest.pet.co
- 🗣️ Use #MyHopeStory to join the conversation 💚
- 💬 Join our whatsapp group
Because your dog doesn’t need perfection.
Just care — made honest. 🐾