Let’s face it. Our canine buddies love to eat, and we love feeding them. There is a palpable sense of delight that comes from watching your pup gobble up their food, tail wagging excitedly and slurping and sloshing every bite of it.

While being a good feeder is great, it’s important to keep your eye on nutritional needs to ensure they are met by what you serve your furry friend. Let’s explore canine nutrition, food presentation, ingredients and other tips that will make your canine say, “Oh my dog!”

Canine Nutrition

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Your dog needs six essential nutrients:

• Water
• Protein
• Fats
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Carbohydrates

There are numerous online sources where you can get healthy dog food recipes as well as those with foods that you can prepare and enjoy together, which is quite convenient. Take a look at these recipes and start slow. Don’t get too excited and make several different meals a day. Start with one recipe at a time, gauging what meals your dog will lick off their plate versus the meals they leave untouched. This will form the basis of your go-to meals in terms of preference as well as tolerance. Ensure that you always use quality ingredients for all the meals you make.

Now that you know what his or her nutritional requirements are and have some recipes to boot, here comes an important component to mesh it all together: presentation.

Presentation of Dog Food

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If you really want to take your dog's dining to the next level, keep in mind that part of a good presentation is the plate that the food is on. Whether you have bought ready-to-eat food for your pup or have labored over the stove to make him something, you don’t want to serve it in the brown, cracked bowl at the corner of the room.

What are the other, more appetizing ways of serving your dog his meal? If he doesn’t already have a nice, shiny or colored bowl or has a chipped one, it’s time to upgrade to a more appetizing one. Your dog will notice.

To spruce up a regular bowl, how about tying a bow around its base? A bow will immediately make the food more appetizing, even if what you are serving is a plain, dry pack of dog food.

For a fine dining experience on those special days, how about using a plate you would use for your own food? Make sure to pack it away after use and only use it for your dog’s food. If you take this route, however, ensure that the plate has some grooves and is not entirely flat. A flat plate might make it hard to eat your dog’s food, which will ruin the entire dining experience you’re trying to create.

If you want to go all out, place a non-breakable vase of flowers near your dog’s eating corner. The flowers will probably end up on the floor in no time, but they will enjoy them while they last.

Breath Freshening Herbs for Your Pup

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You can never run away from, or resist, cuddle time with your dog. But, there will be those days when your dog will jump on you for a cuddle and his breath is not close to likable. You want to turn your head away, but still, hurting his feelings is not an option, so you brace yourself for a pleasant, though rather smelly, cuddle.

Great news! You do not have to live with smelly dog breath. With the inclusion of a few herbs we are about to let you in on, cuddle time can change for the better. While looking up some recipes that you would like to start with, you can also keep the following herbs in mind. As you go about looking for herbs, look for ways to incorporate them in your dishes. That way, your dog will get fed and groomed at the same time.

Mint and Parsley

If these two are not already a staple in your kitchen, you are missing out. Parsley has immense health benefits, from detoxifying your body to relaxing your digestive tract. It is also an antioxidant with many benefits. Mint, on the other hand, helps relieve indigestion, improves brain function and helps ease cold symptoms.

These two herbs are quite impressive. Aside from this, they contain chlorophyll, and chewing these two herbs helps scrape odor-causing bacteria away from teeth and gums. To top it off, mint will leave its distinct fresh, minty taste and smell in your dog’s mouth. Both you and your dog can benefit from fresh breath.

Sage

If your dog lets you, rubbing sage over their teeth will quickly freshen up their breath. Sage has antiseptic properties that help reduce oral bacteria. You can also add fresh sage to your dog’s home-cooked meals.

Cilantro and Coriander

Another natural way to clear up the stink is by using cilantro and coriander. These are excellent at freshening breath and stimulating your dog’s gums.

Cinnamon

Dogs love cinnamon, so it should not be too hard to incorporate it into your furry friend’s diet. Cinnamon helps dissolve food particles, thus helping with tartar buildup. You can easily sprinkle it on your dog’s food or add some ground cinnamon to their water bowl. This will leave a heavenly ‘cinnamony’ smell in their mouth.

Dog Cuisine Instagram Accounts

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Once you have a well-fed, fresh-breathed dog, what next, apart from enjoying their company and cuddles? The new puppy on the block is dog cuisine Instagram accounts. Search for and follow these accounts, and you’ll have something to smile about. Once you have perfected a few homemade signature dishes of your own, maybe it’s time to show off to the world with a few Instagram posts of your own as well.

We know your dog adores you already, but borrow and implement a few tips on feeding them, and see just how much more they will love you. This time with the added bonus of fresh breath and cringe-free cuddles.