Homemade Dog Food vs Store-Bought: Pros & Cons

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VET APPROVED

REVIEWED & FACT-CHECKED BY

Dr. Paola Cuevas

Veterinarian, MVZ

The information is current and up-to-date in accordance with the latest veterinarian research.

Dog owners want to give their dogs the best food possible, which may lead some people to wonder which is better for them: homemade or store-bought food? In this article, we compare both in detail.

In almost all aspects, store-bought wins over homemade dog food. It’s certainly the more popular option and has more benefits for dogs and their owners. If you’re looking to save money, time, and effort while making sure your dog is getting quality nutrition, store-bought dog food is the way to go.

Homemade dog food requires meticulous planning. Gathering the ingredients to use can cost more than a bag of dog food from the store, and busy dog owners may not have the time necessary to dedicate to cooking. If you run out of time, your dog has no food.

While some dog owners choose homemade food because they believe that it’s healthier than store-bought, this isn’t always the case either. Read on for more information about both options to see which one is right for you.

At a Glance

Homemade Dog Food

• You can see and know all the ingredients in the food
• Appeases picky eaters with fresh flavors
• No filler ingredients
• No preservatives
• Can be a healthy option
• You can tailor recipes for dogs with health issues

Store-Bought Dog Food

• Convenient
• Vast array of options
• Formulated with correct nutrients
• Approved for safety
• Affordable
• Lasts for a long time

Overview of Homemade Dog Food

Cooking for your dog enables you to give them various flavors each day so they don’t get bored of the same thing. You can also feed them fresh food for every meal, which some dog owners feel is healthier. Homemade dog food includes no preservatives because it isn’t made to last for weeks on a shelf. If your dog is allergic to certain ingredients, you can make sure these foods aren’t included. Recipes can also be customized for weight loss and other health concerns.

However, homemade dog food has to have the right balance of nutrients in it, or the results can be devastating. You can’t just cook chicken and vegetables for your dog and call it a day. You may need to use supplements to fill nutritional gaps, and these can be expensive.

Before you begin, you need the right advice from a veterinary nutrition expert who can offer scientifically backed recipes that will give your dog the correct nutrients. Homemade diets often lack iron, calcium, riboflavin, and vitamins E and B12. These are all necessary for a dog’s health. To prevent this, you can purchase a DIY homemade food package like the one offered by The Farmer’s Dog.

Making homemade food can also be time-consuming, and if you run out of time, you won’t have any food for your dog. Keeping store-bought food on hand in case of this circumstance might seem like a solution, but dogs can get stomach issues and diarrhea from switching foods too quickly.

Pros

• Ingredients are always fresh
• You know what’s in the food
• Recipes don’t include preservatives
• Dogs won’t get bored of the flavor

Cons

• Time-consuming
• May lack necessary nutrients
• Ingredients need to always be kept on-hand
• Nutritional supplements can be costly
• Requires a great deal of work
• Education on dog nutrition is needed before starting

Overview of Store-Bought Dog Food

Store-bought dog food offers the right amount of nutrition for dogs of all breeds, sizes, and life stages. If you look for a food that meets the requirements of the Association of American Feed Control Officials, you can trust that the manufacturers followed the proper nutritional guidelines for the food’s targeted dogs. Senior dogs need different nutrition than puppies, which is another advantage that store-bought food has over homemade food. The life stages are already balanced appropriately to provide dogs of all ages with everything that they need.

Store-bought dog food is convenient. Unopened dry and wet food can stay on a shelf for a long time. It’s best to check the expiration date printed on the label to see how long this period is, but the fact that it’s shelf-stable enables you to buy it in bulk or stock up when the food is on sale. No preparation is involved. You can just open it and feed your dog.

One major issue with dog food, though, is that it can have recalls. Companies can discover that their manufacturing process may have resulted in food contamination. In these cases, the food should stop being offered to your dog immediately and be returned to the place of purchase for a refund.

If your dog suffers from allergies, reading through countless ingredient lists can be time-consuming. Dogs with specific health issues need certain types of food, which can be hard to locate even among the seemingly endless number of options.

Pros

• Nutritionally balanced and complete
• Shelf stable
• Cost-effective
• Available for all life stages, breeds, sizes, and ages
• Convenient

Cons

• Occasional recalls
• May be difficult to narrow down a selection
• May go stale before it’s used once opened

What Are the Differences Between Them?

Health Benefits

• Edge: Homemade

Both homemade and store-bought dog food have health benefits. Homemade dog food contains only the ingredients that you choose to add, and you know everything that your dog is consuming. The nutrition is controlled by you. However, sometimes it can be impossible to include every nutrient that is essential for your dog’s health in a homemade recipe if it is not properly supplemented.

Store-bought dog food is required by law to meet nutritional and safety standards in production. The food is nutritionally complete and balanced. Learning how to make homemade recipes requires a great deal of time, dedication, and education to be sure that you’re not eliminating anything essential from your dog’s diet.

Nutrition

• Edge: Both

Store-bought food provides an easy solution to offer a complete and balanced diet to your dog. Homemade food also offers benefits: If you make a nutritionally complete recipe for your dog, they will get the proper amount of nutrition. But this is difficult to do, you need balanced, approved recipes and supplementation to guarantee that they are receiving the right number of vitamins and minerals.

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Safety

• Edge: Homemade

In a homemade dog food recipe, you can see everything that’s included. While that doesn’t mean the food is never at risk of contamination, even in your own kitchen, the risk is reduced when you can control the food and how it’s prepared.

Store-bought dog food can always be recalled if there is an issue in the production, so we give the edge to homemade dog food when it comes to safety but only slightly.

Price

• Edge: Store-Bought

Store-bought food is an easy way to offer a complete and balanced diet to your dog. Homemade food also offers benefits: if you make a nutritionally complete recipe for your dog, they will get the proper amount of nutrition. However, this is difficult to do, as you need balanced, vet-approved recipes and supplementation to guarantee that your dog is receiving the right amount of vitamins and minerals.

Keeping up with these ingredients can be expensive. You also want to make sure you’re adding the correct number of vitamins and minerals to the food, which means you likely need to purchase supplements. If you’re making two or three meals every day for your dog, the costs of the meat, produce, and supplements can add up quickly.

Conclusion

When it comes to homemade dog food vs store-bought dog food, there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Store-bought food stands out as the better choice in terms of price and convenience.

Homemade dog food requires a great deal of work, both in learning how to make it correctly and then preparing the recipes. That doesn’t mean you should be discouraged from trying it, just that you should do it the right way. If done correctly, you will know exactly what you are feeding your dog and mix in some love, too. We recommend that you get advice from a veterinary nutritionist and speak to your vet before switching your dog to a homemade diet.

We hope that this article was informative and helped you decide which type of food is best for your dog.

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To me, the thought of feeding my dog table scraps is not offensive in the least, but the debate is out there and people come down very strongly on both sides. I can understand some of the arguments against feedings dogs human food; however, I think that they can each be countered with a remedy, and I will discuss those below. Lastly, consider feeding your dogs human-grade food! And shop those products below. But first, here are some pros and cons:

Pros

Good Source of Nutrition

I enjoy feeding my dogs the tops of carrots and the bottoms of celery stalks as I am prepping food for a meal in the kitchen. All three of my dogs really enjoy eating them. They actually mistake veggies for treats! These vegetable scraps are a good source of vitamins for people and for dogs. Other human foods that are safe for your dog include lean meats, cheeses in moderation, and most fresh fruit and veggies. Processed lunch meats, chips, candy, and other pre-packaged and processed foods are not great for dogs just like they’re not great for humans.

Waste Not

No food scraps go to waste in my house! If I have enough to make a stock, I will feed vegetable scraps to my dogs. If I feel full when there is still a bite or two of dinner on my plate, I share with my dogs instead of throwing it away. In this case, feeding dogs human food helps to not waste food. Those calories will be put to use to give my dogs energy instead of being thrown away to rot. Just make sure that you adjust your dog’s next feeding to account for the calories you have fed him in people food!

Less Cleaning

When food is spilled on the floor in my house, I never have to clean it up. That can be very helpful.

Bonding Experience

I find that sharing my food with my dogs brings us closer together, and the dogs are very excited when they are given this treat. I understand how some people may find begging while at the dinner table annoying, but to me, it can be a good way to teach patience to your dog. Don’t reward your dog with table scraps when he is pushy at the table. Reward him for sitting or lying quietly nearby, or even in another room, and being patient through your meal.

Cons

Weight Gain

One of the main concerns and arguments against feeding table scraps that I can truly support is that it can easily lead to obesity in dogs. Many people will let their dogs finish half of their plate of food at every meal and think of it as a treat while still serving that dog his full daily allotment of calories in kibble as well. This will obviously lead to weight gain. Your dog needs to be burning as many calories as he consumes each day to maintain his current weight just like we humans do!

This is why very active dogs can eat and should be fed a lot more food than lazy dogs who like to sleep all day. It is your job to keep track of this for your dog, as he will most likely eat whatever is put in front of him. Responsible pet owners can walk this line by monitoring their pets’ overall health daily, keeping track of what their pets are eating (by not free-feeding), and keeping lazy dogs active by making them go on walks and get up and play. It is not the act of feeding table scraps in itself that leads to obesity, but instead consuming way too many calories! Don’t be a sucker and over-feed your dog.

It is bad for his health and quality of life, it reduces his life span, and it costs you more money in food and medical expenses, not to mention lost quality time with your pet.

Feeding Dogs Human Food Can Be Harmful

Another legitimate concern when feeding dogs human food is the concern that it may cause him some kind of harm. For example, did you know that cooked chicken bones can be very harmful to your dog while raw ones are usually fine? Did you know that most fruits and vegetables are very healthy for your dog to eat while grapes (and raisins) and onions can be harmful? Did you know that fatty meats can cause digestive upset while lean meats are usually okay? Too much sodium from processed foods can also be harmful to pets. If pet owners arms themselves with knowledge and research (the internet is at our fingertips after all) then we can safely decide what we can feed to our dogs!

Read our blog, “Frequently Asked Questions: What Fruits Can My Dogs Eat?” to learn more about what fruits are or aren’t okay to eat for your dogs.

I Hate Begging

Some people feel very strongly about their dogs begging for food while they are eating dinner. I can understand this. And it is, of course, your right to not feed your dog table scraps! But teach your dog to wait patiently until the end of the meal for a small reward, and begging really isn’t so bad.

Refusing Kibble

Dogs can also learn to refuse to eat their kibble and instead hold out for you to feed them the rest of your dinner. Don’t get bullied by your dog! If this happens, stop feeding your dogs human food COMPLETELY. Offer your dog his regular serving of kibble twice a day and take it back up if he hasn’t eaten it in 5 minutes. Dogs are NOT likely to starve themselves and may be able to hold out more than a couple of days without getting too hungry before gobbling up a bowl of food. If your dog already has some (ahem!) extra fat reserves, then he can probably go longer without eating and will burn some fat for energy instead.

I think the main thing to keep in mind when feeding table scraps – as in all parts of life – is that moderation and quality are key! If you give small amounts of table scraps to your  dog occasionally is not a problem. Giving healthy human foods to dogs is no problem. Giving unhealthy junk food to dogs for every meal is a problem!

Do you feed your dog table scraps? Let us know how you feel in the comment section below!

Try Pet Food That’s Made with Ingredients You Can Recognize

Instead of feeding your dogs human food, try feeding them pet food that’s human grade! The products below are all human-grade pet food, meaning its legally suitable and approved for consumption by a person¹. There are less fillers, chemicals, and products in the human-grade pet food. Try them out and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Related blogs: Pet First Aid Necessities, 7 Easy Ways to Pamper Our Pets, 10 Ways to Exercise with Your Dog, 7 Spring Cleaning Tips for Pet Owners

¹ Postins, Lucy. “What is Human Grade Pet Food, Really?”. The Honest Kitchen. 11 March 2013. https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/blogs/pet-food-ingredients/human-grade-pet-food-really

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