Ruby the Corgi Pup is thriving on the "Real Food" (as I like to call it) that she's been getting since recovering from her UTI and subsequent spate of projectile doggyrhea. Her growth has resumed, her shiny coat practically glows in the dark, and she's full of ginger. She and Cassie have learned to play tug o'war together with some very silly-looking toys recently acquired at Costco, and for the past hour they've been sharing a frenzy over Ball.

Cassie has had Real Food ever since alighting at my house, at the age of two. She's now seven, pushing eight, and is healthy, energetic, ridiculously active, and maintaining her weight at exactly 23 pounds. Vets effervesce over her, on the occasions that they see her.

I first subscribed to the nonconformist idea of feeding my dogs actual, cooked whole foods from the grocery store during the late, great melamine scare, when brand after brand after brand of dog food, from Walmart's cheapest to the fanciest brands on the market, were recalled as contaminated food sickened and killed American pets. At that time, we learned most commercial dog foods are made in China, where quality control is a foreign word and consumer safety an afterthought. Every time I'd switch to a new brand, it would be yanked off the market within days.The situation remains unchanged: China is still America's largest supplier of pet food ingredients. 

I had a greyhound and a German shepherd at the time, both of them entering their dotage.

The shepherd had suffered every ailment known to German shepherdom, and by this time she was pretty crippled up. It was all she could do to haul herself to her feet, and she no longer could chase her beloved Ball across the yard or walk all the way around the block. I did a lot of research into dogs' nutritional needs and started feeding them a mix of meat, dog-friendly vegetables, and starches.

Within ten days after the two were switched to a diet of Real Food, the shepherd dog started to revive. She was moving around more comfortably, getting to her feet more easily, and, then, amazingly, hobbling across the yard after the once-retired Ball. She hadn't shown any interest in Ball for months, and now she was chasing it. Apparently the food agreed with her.

So, how to create this miraculous manna from doggy heaven? It's pretty easy, though it does consume some time.

To summarize what I learned over some pretty wide-ranging research in peer-reviewed journals and conservation websites: dogs, unlike cats, are not "obligatory carnivores." They are, obviously, primarily carnivorous -- check out the teeth, and the obsession with chasing down tasty small animals. However, they also are adapted to eat a certain amount of vegetable matter. In the wild, a canid is likely to eat the contents of its prey's stomach, and since these are often ruminants or other vegetarians, they get partially predigested leaves and grains from this source. Wolves have been observed eating berries, and foxes will eat fruits, tubers, acorns, and sedges. Coyotes, which are related closely enough to dogs to breed with them, are omnivores.

It's important to note that dogs are not wolves. Dogs, like wild canids, are largely carnivorous, but over the 14,000+ years they have dwelt with humans, they have adapted to eat much the same food as humans eat. Contrary to popular belief, they can digest grain. However, unlike wolves, they don't do well with bones, probably because when wild canids eat bones, they consume them with hide and hair, which wrap around the splintered bones and provide some protection from punctured bowels. This is not the case with a domestic dog's diet, nor is it unknown for wild canids to die from injuries caused by eating bones.

Overall, I concluded that a balanced diet for dogs would consist of about 50% animal protein (meat, eggs, even occasional cottage cheese or yogurt), 25% varied vegetables and certain fruits, and 25% starches such as sweet potato, oatmeal, rice, whole-wheat products, or quinoa. Veggies should be cooked -- although occasionally I'll give a piece of carrot, cabbage, or apple as a treat. And of course, the starch products also must be cooked. None of these things should be processed or restaurant-type foods: start with unadulterated meat, vegetables, and starch products.

If you use frozen vegetables, use only unadorned, plain veggies -- no sauces or extra flavorings, and avoid corn, which can be difficult for some dogs to digest. I like Costco's "Normandy"-style frozen vegetable mix, which contains broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Plain frozen peas are good. Use spinach in moderation, since it contains oxylates that could aggravate bladder and kidney stones. Frozen vegetables are blanched before freezing, and so they're already partly cooked. All you need to do is defrost and warm in the microwave and then chop them in a blender or food processor.

Butternut squash, acorn squash, or pumpkin are also good. I count these among the starches, because they're high in carbohydrates and fiber, but they also contain many other vitamins and minerals.

A little banana is good -- provides potassium and fiber -- as are fruits such as apples and blueberries. I would not feed strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries because their many small seeds could irritate the dog's innards. A spoonful of yogurt or cottage cheese adds calcium, but be aware that cottage cheese is very high in salt. Another way to get a little calcium into the dog is to use pieces of hard cheese as treats -- but any cheese will have a high sodium content.

Dogs, especially growing pups, haves amazingly high calcium requirements, which may not be adequately met with commercial dog vitamins or by dairy products; one good source of calcium is finely ground eggshells. You also can buy calcium supplements designed specifically for dogs. For puppies, apparently bone meal is considered an ideal way to add the required amounts of calcium and phosphorus.

For meats, you can use beef, boneless chicken, turkey, pork, lamb if you can afford it, boneless fish, various organ meats. Cook well: it is not true that dogs are magically immune from food poisoning caused by the many microbes that exist in raw meats. Dogs can carry salmonella without much ill effect, but they can transmit the pathogen to humans, causing serious illness in said primates.

Check the labels for added water and salt. Cheaper meats are often processed with saline solution. This is no better for your dog than it is for you. Actually, salt is said to be toxic for dogs, and so meat pumped up with salty water, such as certain turkeys and chicken, should be avoided.

I like Costco's so-called "country ribs," hefty strips of pork. You also can buy large packages of boned chicken thighs there for an OK price, although these can often be found on sale at ordinary grocery stores for better prices. Hamburger is most convenient to cook, but Costco's price is hardly a bargain; check at groceries and even Walmart for better prices.

An inexpensive kitchen scale, available at stores such as Target, is useful. And as mentioned, you'll also need a food processor or blender.

So: Cook the meat through. Add some egg near the end, so as not to overcook egg. Defrost frozen vegetables or cook fresh vegetables. Cook whatever starch you're going to use.

Grind the cooked meat in a food processor. Do the same with the vegetables. Pulverize eggshells finely. Combine the meat with the other ingredients in 2:1:1 proportions: half meat protein, 1/4 vegetables, 1/4 starches.

To help insure the dog gets enough vitamins and minerals, give the pooch a canine (not human) vitamin pill as a treat once a day.

How much to feed depends on the dog's size and age. Puppies need about twice as many calories as adult dogs, and adult dogs' caloric needs drop as they reach old age. I feed Cassie 4 ounces (1/4 pound) twice a day, for a total of 1/2 pound/day. Ruby gets a third meal of 1/4 pound, plus a few dog treats containing high-quality ingredients.

What NOT to feed includes a number of common foods, including garlic and onion. Ordinary human food -- the processed stuff that comes out of boxes, bags, and cans -- often contains these ingredients, and it's usually oversalted and sugared. This is a good reason to prepare foods specially for your dogs and not imagine you can slip them leftovers from your table.

Onion is very toxic to dogs -- it causes a type of anemia that can kill them. Also avoid macadamia nuts, grapes, raisins, chocolate (highly toxic), anything containing caffeine, anything containing alcohol. Xylitol, a type of diet sweetener used in low-sugar baked goods, sugarless chewing gum, and toothpaste, is also highly toxic to dogs.

Raw bread dough is also said to be dangerous for dogs, because of the difference between the canine and the human digestive system: avoid!