Dog Diets: An Overview
The importance of feeding your dog a nutritious diet cannot be underlined enough.
Diet is the underlying factor in keeping your dog healthy and strong.
A good diet is needed for growth and maintenance, to provide energy for metabolic processes and to repair injured tissue.
Dogs require a balanced diet that will provide adequate rations of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals.
These nutrients are important to drive the various processes in the body.
A deficiency in any of these nutrients will result in disease and below optimum functioning.
Nutritional requirements of dogs are different and these differences must be considered when formulating the diet.
Growing pups will need food that has higher amounts of protein to promote muscle deposition and development.
Working dogs need a diet that has high energy to meet their increased requirements for energy.
Different companies have different feed formulations to target the various classes of dogs.
These foods will differ in ingredients but are still nutritionally balanced.
Some manufacturers may use more of one ingredient than is required to make up the changes that may occur in the amount of that nutrient during processing and packaging of the food.
It should be noted that just because a dog prefers one food over another doesn't necessarily mean that the food is good for your dog.
Pregnant bitches will need a well formulated diet during the gestation period.
This is important to ensure that the puppies develop well especially during the stage of organogenesis when most organs are formed.
Poorly formulated diets may cause the bitch to abort the puppies and if she is able to carry the pregnancy to term, puppies are born deformed, sickly and some may even die in the uterus and be delivered dead.
Bitches fed on good diet are likely to be mated successfully and have a larger litter of puppies.
A well fed bitch will also produce enough milk for her puppies without any problems.
Over fed females are likely to have problems during delivery.
Establish good eating habits for your dog.
Obesity is increasingly becoming common in dogs; this will increase the risk of other diseases such as diabetes and joint problems.
Dogs should be fed on schedule; adult dogs should be fed once a day while younger dogs may need more frequent feeding.
Most dogs cannot handle free feeding, they will gulp up the food in no time and this will lead to overweight dogs.
Eating too much food can also lead to digestive problems.
Do not allow your dog to beg for food from the table, neither should you feed table scraps as they may not be good for the dog and will encourage begging.
If you are making homemade meals for your dog you should consult properly to know how to formulate a well balanced diet for the dog.
Read guidelines and if you have more than one dog remember that dogs are different and you should regard each of your dogs as an individual.
A good diet will save you a lot in terms of veterinary costs and will ensure your dog lives a long and happy life.
Diet is the underlying factor in keeping your dog healthy and strong.
A good diet is needed for growth and maintenance, to provide energy for metabolic processes and to repair injured tissue.
Dogs require a balanced diet that will provide adequate rations of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals.
These nutrients are important to drive the various processes in the body.
A deficiency in any of these nutrients will result in disease and below optimum functioning.
Nutritional requirements of dogs are different and these differences must be considered when formulating the diet.
Growing pups will need food that has higher amounts of protein to promote muscle deposition and development.
Working dogs need a diet that has high energy to meet their increased requirements for energy.
Different companies have different feed formulations to target the various classes of dogs.
These foods will differ in ingredients but are still nutritionally balanced.
Some manufacturers may use more of one ingredient than is required to make up the changes that may occur in the amount of that nutrient during processing and packaging of the food.
It should be noted that just because a dog prefers one food over another doesn't necessarily mean that the food is good for your dog.
Pregnant bitches will need a well formulated diet during the gestation period.
This is important to ensure that the puppies develop well especially during the stage of organogenesis when most organs are formed.
Poorly formulated diets may cause the bitch to abort the puppies and if she is able to carry the pregnancy to term, puppies are born deformed, sickly and some may even die in the uterus and be delivered dead.
Bitches fed on good diet are likely to be mated successfully and have a larger litter of puppies.
A well fed bitch will also produce enough milk for her puppies without any problems.
Over fed females are likely to have problems during delivery.
Establish good eating habits for your dog.
Obesity is increasingly becoming common in dogs; this will increase the risk of other diseases such as diabetes and joint problems.
Dogs should be fed on schedule; adult dogs should be fed once a day while younger dogs may need more frequent feeding.
Most dogs cannot handle free feeding, they will gulp up the food in no time and this will lead to overweight dogs.
Eating too much food can also lead to digestive problems.
Do not allow your dog to beg for food from the table, neither should you feed table scraps as they may not be good for the dog and will encourage begging.
If you are making homemade meals for your dog you should consult properly to know how to formulate a well balanced diet for the dog.
Read guidelines and if you have more than one dog remember that dogs are different and you should regard each of your dogs as an individual.
A good diet will save you a lot in terms of veterinary costs and will ensure your dog lives a long and happy life.