The commercial pet food industry is a multi-million dollar industry.
Commercial food is most likely convenient for you, but it might be costing your dog its health and you a fortune.
You might even be feeding your dog a prescription diet recommended by your vet, believing you are doing the best thing.
Dogs have descended from omnivores, (flesh and vegetable eating).
Our domesticated dogs don't have the choice of hunting for their food and fossicking for particular plants and herbs to keep them in top shape.
Your dog relies on you to do the hunting for him and to get it right.
Here's what you need to hunt for: Protein and Amino Acids Your dog cannot survive without protein.
It can come from animal or plant sources.
My preference is to base the diet on animal protein.
When you feed your dog animal protein he will thrive rather than survive.
Animal protein is found in good supply in any flesh - beef, chicken, turkey, fish, lamb, venison.
Another good animal source is raw eggs, which should be an occasional addition to the diet.
I say occasional because raw egg whites contain an enzyme that destroys biotin, a necessary nutrient in her diet.
There's also a place for some yoghurt in her diet, particularly at times of special need like recovering from illness or surgery and pregnancy and lactation.
I'm not keen about milk because dogs lacks an enzyme which breaks down the protein in milk.
Yoghurt is great because the protein has been pre-digested and your dog's digestive system will love the good bacteria in yoghurt.
It's particularly good after a course of antibiotics or surgery, to replace the intestinal flora.
So, your best hunting will bring back:
I'm not going to go there, it's horrible.
If you're feeding your dog a diet based exclusively on plant protein you'll need to be sure he's getting the 10 essential amino acids that he cannot make in his gut.
The other tricky thing about using plant sources for protein is that you can exceed the calorie (kilojoule) requirements very easily which will make him fat not fit.
This is one of the problems with commercial dry foods based on grain products as most are.
Plant sources of protein are:
I discuss their importance and place in the next article.
As a guide, a normal adult dog should get at least 10% of their total calories from protein.
Older dogs will often need more, as will pregnant and lactating bitches.
That's the protein bit of the hunt covered.
You'll find what to forage for next in the second part of this article where I share some of the scary truths about additives in commercial dog foods and where you'll get the info you need about Fats and Fatty Acids, Minerals and Vitamins and Energy Needs.
Commercial food is most likely convenient for you, but it might be costing your dog its health and you a fortune.
You might even be feeding your dog a prescription diet recommended by your vet, believing you are doing the best thing.
Dogs have descended from omnivores, (flesh and vegetable eating).
Our domesticated dogs don't have the choice of hunting for their food and fossicking for particular plants and herbs to keep them in top shape.
Your dog relies on you to do the hunting for him and to get it right.
Here's what you need to hunt for: Protein and Amino Acids Your dog cannot survive without protein.
It can come from animal or plant sources.
My preference is to base the diet on animal protein.
When you feed your dog animal protein he will thrive rather than survive.
Animal protein is found in good supply in any flesh - beef, chicken, turkey, fish, lamb, venison.
Another good animal source is raw eggs, which should be an occasional addition to the diet.
I say occasional because raw egg whites contain an enzyme that destroys biotin, a necessary nutrient in her diet.
There's also a place for some yoghurt in her diet, particularly at times of special need like recovering from illness or surgery and pregnancy and lactation.
I'm not keen about milk because dogs lacks an enzyme which breaks down the protein in milk.
Yoghurt is great because the protein has been pre-digested and your dog's digestive system will love the good bacteria in yoghurt.
It's particularly good after a course of antibiotics or surgery, to replace the intestinal flora.
So, your best hunting will bring back:
- meats, the offal meats heart, spleen and liver are particularly nutrient rich
- eggs
- yoghurt
I'm not going to go there, it's horrible.
If you're feeding your dog a diet based exclusively on plant protein you'll need to be sure he's getting the 10 essential amino acids that he cannot make in his gut.
The other tricky thing about using plant sources for protein is that you can exceed the calorie (kilojoule) requirements very easily which will make him fat not fit.
This is one of the problems with commercial dry foods based on grain products as most are.
Plant sources of protein are:
- grains like rice, barley, corn, wheat, soybeans and oatmeal
- nuts and seeds
- legumes
- vegetables
- fruits
I discuss their importance and place in the next article.
As a guide, a normal adult dog should get at least 10% of their total calories from protein.
Older dogs will often need more, as will pregnant and lactating bitches.
That's the protein bit of the hunt covered.
You'll find what to forage for next in the second part of this article where I share some of the scary truths about additives in commercial dog foods and where you'll get the info you need about Fats and Fatty Acids, Minerals and Vitamins and Energy Needs.