Dogs Need Different Diets at Different Ages
Dogs need different diets at different ages. For example, puppies need their mother’s milk as their major food source, while an growing dog may need more protein such as beef or chicken or an additional egg and milk. So depending on the age of the dog, the diet schedule will vary as the dog grows like any other species.
Puppies need greater amounts of protein, fat and carbohydrates than an a fully grown adult dog. Puppies also need more frequent feeding schedules in a day, unlike an adult dog. Since younger dogs are more active than older dogs they require more fuel to feed that energy.
Older dogs need less protein but the protein needs to be easily digestible and easily assimilated in the body. The diet schedule should have ample supply of water for them. Feeding aged dogs too much protein may also lead to an over burden of the renal structures and ultimately, the dog may end up damaging filters in the kidney.
This is true especially when the immune system of these dogs is compromised due to many different reasons. Similarly, elderly dogs need less food because they are less active that the average adult dog so spend a limited amount of energy.
Pregnant female dogs should not be fed until over full since it may cause some discomforts to the animal. However, the pregnant animal and the nursing animal need special types of food that will deliver a balanced type of nutrition with proper supplementation of vitamins and minerals.
The nursing animal with puppies needs to be fed extra amounts of calcium so that there won’t be any calcium deficiency in her or her puppies. This will also ensure strong healthy bones in the puppies, preventing the tendency to bend or curve from the lack of calcium.
High Quality Dog Food vs. Poor Quality Dog Food
High quality dog foods should contain the following:
Sources of protein, that are either whole fresh meats or single source meat meal such as chicken meal rather than poultry meal. I know they sound the same but they are not. Be wary of generic terms for meat.
On packaged dog foods, a whole-meat source should be the first two ingredients, such as beef, lamb or chicken.
Whole, unprocessed grains, vegetables, and other foods, such as brown rice and not fillers such as brown rice hulls. See the difference?
Very little nutrients and enzymes, if any at all, can be found in processed dog foods. To find out exactly what nutrients your dog needs read Healthy Dog Food Diet.
Poor quality dog foods will contain the following:
Corn is the number one ingredient in most low quality dog food. Corn is a low cost filler and nothing more. Dogs have a very difficult time digesting corn and there is no nutrition value in it for your dog.
Meat by products are not whole meats. They are a boiled down goop of animal body parts that are processed into soft dog food or dried and turned into kibble. To learn more about the processing cycle read Are You Poisoning Your Dog? Any food that contains meat by-products as the MAIN source of protein is indicative of a low-quality product, that can be the cause of disease in your animals.
Dogs do need some fat in their diets, but you should avoid feeding them any food that contain fats or proteins that are named generically such as animal fat or poultry fat instead of beef, chicken or lamb fat. Again, the specific name of the type of animal fat is the key here. Avoid the generic terms of animal or poultry meal or by-products.
Artificial preservatives such as BHA, BHT, and ethioxyquin are found in most low cost dog foods to preserve the shelf life. If your dog food can be left on a shelf for several years without turning rancid, then it contains these chemicals. In animals, ethioxyquin (EQ) has been linked to immune deficiency syndrome; spleen, stomach, and liver cancers; and a host of skin allergies
Artificial colors are added to dog food to appease you, the human owner, not the dog. Dogs are color blind and could careless what color their food is. Artificial colors are not good for you or your dog.
Sugars such as corn syrup, sucrose, fructose, cane syrup, or ammoniated glycyrrhizin, to name only a few of the names to disguise sugar, are added to improve unappealing food. Obesity and tooth decay are only two of the problems that too much sugar causes.
Propylene glycol is a toxic substance, when consumed in large amounts like daily feedings, and is added into the goop at the processing plants to give a moist appearance and texture to the “chewy” dog foods.
I can never stress enough to research and learn what the ingredients in your dog food mean and to read your dog food labels. By educating yourself, you may find out what the causes of your dogs illnesses are and be able to cure you pup yourself without the help of the medicines from the vet.
Just by the simple action on your part, of changing you dogs food from an over processed, full of chemicals food, to the nutritious food he needs can eliminate many of the disease, allergies and common ailments that dogs face in todays over processed world.
Do You Have A Big Fat Dog?
My fat dog is so fat that….
“How fat is he? My fat dog is so fat he makes Free Willy look like a tic tac.”
Do you have a fat dog? Don’t feel like you are all alone. Dog obesity has become as big a problem (no pun intended) in the United States, as obesity has become a problem with their owners. Duh! Go figure. The majority of Americans have absolutely no clue as to what a balanced healthy diet is for themselves, let alone what a healthy diet should be for their dogs.
Holy Christmas, people still drink soda pop in this country and think it’s healthy when it is one of the worst things to put in your body and is one of the leading causes of tooth decay, diabetes and obesity.
What is the ending result? You get to tell everyone, “Hey, look at my fat dog!”
All kidding aside, obesity is a huge problem, and if you don’t curb the diet of your fat dog, it could lead to your beloved friends death.
Answer To “Do You Have A Big Fat Dog?”
