Canine Nutrition

Guide to Good Canine Nutrition

Dog Food and Feeding Resources

• Fundmental Dog Nutrients - Protein, Carbs, Fats, Fiber & Vitamins
• Dog Food Guide to Ingredients
• Holistic Dog Health and Feeding

For more information on poisonous foods and chemicals, visit the Quick Reference Guide to Dog Poisons.

• Quick Reference guide to Dog Poisons

Dog Feeding and Nutrition - Introduction

Good nutrition is essential to a happy healthy dog and your feeding methods, schedules, and choices in food will directly effect your dogs health. In general, good nutrition helps to fight disease,

"If a dog's prayers were answered, bones would rain from the sky." - Old Proverb

helps them to grow properly, and produces happiness as well, but on an individual level, different breeds (even different personalities) will have different needs and requirements. On that level, one must consider the age of a dog, the breed, it’s size, allergies, coat type, digestive problems and more. Feeding dogs is different for everyone and every dog, as there are hundreds of options and methods to go about it.

What Should I Be Feeding My Dog?

Many ask the question “What do I feed my dog?” and for good reason. When it comes to feeding dogs, there are many commercial dog foods on the market all claiming to feed a particular kind of dog; large breed puppy formulas, small breed, obese, natural, etc add to that the different diet plans available for special needs puppies and dogs. Propaganda of natural feeders will tell you to steer clear of it all together and feed holistic dog food and other still, advocate raw meat and vegetables.

Often times your breeder will believe strongly in a certain brand of dog food but your veterinarian will admonish their decision. Then you’ll have your support group, family or friends familiar with dogs telling you to do something different.

Dog Food and Feeding Options

Some of the options available today can be staggering to a new dog owner, from traditional bagged dry food and kibble and canned wet food, to raw meat and other holistic formulas. Deciding what kind of dog food to feed your puppy isn’t easy, but with a little reading and research, we’re sure you’ll make a good choice. Many people make the mistake of listening to the dog food companies and what they say on television or in radio advertisements. Some dog food companies can and will actually harm your pet but others have years and years of research by doctors and scientists working tirelessly to improve the food.

Your best weapon is knowledge and you need to understand dog food to make any kind of informed decision. It’s also helpful to understand that no matter how passionate one is about their choice of dog food, even if it is your vet with years of research, what is good for one dog is not necessarily good for another. In other words, all of these people telling you what’s best for your dog has not a clue, as they don’t own your dog – you do. And only you will learn what is best for him or her.

Dog Food and Basic Canine Nutrition

Most owners of any kind of animal simply buy their dogs food at the grocery store while out shopping for the family’s food, and go home and follow a loose schedule of 3 or 4 cups of food a day. Some dogs live long health lives this way, other do not. Some need special supplements added to their diet, others are on a diet. Regardless, it is important to give yourself some knowledge so that you can have some kind of guide, even through trial and error, and design a plan that is just perfect for your dog. We’ll talk about some of the consequences of poor nutrition and the fundamentals of good nutrition in feeding your dog below.

Consequences of Poor Nutrition

Poor nutrition in your dogs food can lead to a number of problems, including obesity, allergies, malnutrition, skin and coat problems, stomach and digestive track diseases, and other illnesses and are not prone to any one type of breed or dog.

Some dogs have complicated allergies making it more difficult in feeding as they might be allergic to many ingredients in the food itself, from the meats and grains to dairy products and additives. Food preservatives, one argument for feeding a natural based dog food, as well as grains seem to cause the most trouble in dogs and a simple switch or removal of these ingredients can clear up skin problems in just a couple of days. Other dogs develop allergies to carbohydrate and protein sources such as beef and corn, or have soft stools on these sources, and again a simple switch to a lamb and rice based food will do the trick. Sometimes, its more complicated.

Obesity in Dogs

The most troublesome problem dogs manifest related to their feeding and diets is obesity. Dog obesity is caused by far too many calories and a serious lack of exercise, similar to human obesity. Some estimates have said that up to 40 percent of dogs in the U.S. are overweight; because this number is similar in humans it suggests that the failure lies in the dog owner rather than Rex himself. Many dogs can be lazy and would rather lay out on the couch all day but those are few as most dogs will jump at the chance to go on a walk with their people. It is important to keep your dogs activity levels moderately high and constant. Obesity also leads to other problems; overweight dogs suffer from liver disease as their organs are being taxed. Chronic pain and mobility problems will also result, creating a vicious circle encouraging their weigh problem.

People food

Many have debated on feeding table scraps to dogs and its effects on the dogs health. Some dogs will develop pancreaitis in just hours after eating some turkey leftover from thanksgiving. Others get an unusual sprout of energy in their step. One argument will tell you that high quality dog foods usually have a complete balance of nutrition developed by years of research and feeding table scraps will throw off that perfect balance. The other side to that argument suggests that processing food in to kibble kills the essential enzymes and nutrients required to metabolize other nutrients and or digest the food and that only unprocessed table scraps will provide that.

Only you can make the choice of what your dog eats but one solution to the debate is to feed your dog with a little of each method. Give him or her a good quality dog food and supplement it with healthy people food like fish and vegetables. Occasional snacks are ok for your dog but too much will too throw off a balanced nutrition plan for your dog. A general rule of thumb is to feed your dog no more than 10 percent of it’s diet in treats.

Be sure to stay away from certain table scraps. Chocolate is first of all a big no-no as it is pure poison to a dog. Raisins and grapes, fed as treats just years ago is now known to develop acute renal kidney failures which can lead to death quickly. Raw salmon has been reported to have ill effects and turkey skin can also be toxic. Broccoli, garlic and onions can also be poisonous to dogs, but can also be nutritional as well. These foods can be given to them and is also encouraged by many as broccoli contains nutritional bioflavonoids that help prevent cancer and garlic, in dogs in particular, act as a natural flea repellant.

• Fundmental Dog Nutrients - Protein, Carbs, Fats, Fiber & Vitamins
  A guide to understanding good canine nutrition, provides information on protein, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals and how they affect the health of your dog or puppy.
• Dog Food Guide to Ingredients
  A guide to understanding the ingredients on dog food labels by providing definitions that are regulated by the AAFCO. Information also discusses ingredients by weight, and some tricks of manufacturers to watch out for.
• Holistic Dog Health and Feeding
  Explains holistic health for happy health dogs using nutrition and welness options and alternatives to food, vaccines, and therapies. Options include nosodes, herbal therapy, raw feeding, chiropractic therapy, accupuncture and more.

For more information on poisonous foods and chemicals, visit the Quick Reference Guide to Dog Poisons.

• Quick Reference guide to Dog Poisons
  Additional information on poisonous foods and chemicals for dogs. Click here to visit article.