Feeding dogs is like feeding babies in that neither has much say in what they are offered. They depend on us to make the right decisions. Compared to us, dogs have relatively few taste buds. They are also competitive feeders. They evolved to eat whatever is available and to eat it quickly. Watch any puppy at a food bowl. Eat first. Eat fast. Eat most. This is an excellent gambit when food is scarce but for dogs fed by us, this brain-driven need to eat is why so many dogs we see at York Street are overweight.
Energy comes from the protein, fat and carbohydrate your dog eats. Inside your dog’s intestines is a dynamic ecosystem, with bacteria vying with each other and ultimately striking a balance amongst themselves necessary for optimum digestion. The components of food and the good gut bacteria help build an efficient immune system that protects your dog from illness and infection.
Your dog will tell all the other dogs in the park that you’re simply the greatest if you cook fresh food daily for it. There is information on home cooking on the internet, for example at abcd
Dogs are omnivores. They eat a variety of foods. Here is an example of a balanced home-made diet for an adult dog.
Cook the rice, bone meal, salt and sunflower oil in twice the volume of water. Simmer for 20 minutes then add the chicken and liver, simmering for another 10 minutes. Cool before feeding.
This recipe produces about 800 kcal of energy, enough to feed an active 22 pound (10kg) dog for a day.
If you want someone else to do the cooking visit butternutbox.com. We suggest feeding freshly cooked meals for your dog, supplemented with high quality dry food and bones as training aids and treats.
A dog is able to survive on a well-balanced vegetarian diet but this is a path no dog willingly follows. Dogs are designed to eat best as carnivores. Vegetarianism is a human ethical decision. If you think it is important that your dog shares your ethical principles about meat- eating make sure you get excellent nutritional advice on how to create a balanced vegetarian diet for your dog.
Plan diet changes to occur over a five day period. Sudden diet changes affect the living environment of microorganisms in your dog’s intestines and the demands on digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes need time to adjust to new food. Begin by adding a little of the new food to your dog’s existing diet. Gradually increase the proportion of new food over the following days.
Finicky eaters are made, not born. Don’t turn your kitchen into a canine restaurant with your customer choosing from a varied menu. From early in life offer your dog a fresh, tasty and nutritious diet. As time moves on, modify that diet according to your dog’s unique demands. Provide more nutrients when they are obviously needed, for example as the weather gets colder. Weigh your dog routinely. Steady weight is just about as good a simple sign of good health as there is. Weight increases or losses mean that the natural balance has been upset. Almost certainly something is wrong and central to resolving the problem may be changing nutrition.
Weight gain after neutering is simple to prevent. When your male or female dog is neutered make sure you know his or her exact weight and arbitrarily reduce food consumption by 20 percent. Chances are your dog will retain its pre-surgical weight. If it is losing pounds, return to the former meal size.
Keep a record of exactly what your dog eats, including all the titbits. This makes you more conscious of all the extras it receives. Cut out titbits but if this is not possible replace them with bits of fruit and vegetable. Feed low fat, good quality carbohydrate foods. Carbohydrates such as barley and sorghum in the diet lead to a more gradual energy release into the blood stream than other carbohydrates such as rice. And it’s sugar in the blood that affects the “satiety” centre in the brain, calming down the desire to eat. Fibre or water added to food also ‘dilutes’ the calories in it. Feed and exercise your dog frequently. This might accelerate its basic metabolic rate. Avoid crash diets. They upset your dog and only drive its metabolism to be more efficient and fat-storing in the future. If you’re being laser-beamed by mournfully melting brown eyes, discuss the problem with her or with us. In these circumstances we make fine, understanding and tough counsellors.
A food allergy occurs when a dog’s immune system reacts to a component of its food. Food allergy usually causes itchy skin or diarrhea. Food intolerance is a reaction that does not involve the immune system but may cause vomiting, diarrhoea or other clinical signs. Food intolerance is very common in dogs.
Food allergy is diagnosed by feeding a novel and unique diet for at least a month (and preferably for six weeks to three months) that the dog has not eaten before. If skin disease resolves then returns when the former food is fed this confirms true food allergy.
Feed a home cooked or commercial diet consisting of nutrients known not to cause allergy. The processing procedures used to produce commercial dog food may somehow increase the antigenicity of some foods. This may lead to processed food triggering an allergic response while fresh food using the same ingredients does not. Some dog food manufacturers produce hypoallergenic foods with altered antigen size. We will give you specific advise for your dog and may suggest an “exclusion diet” formulated from foods your dog is unlikely to have eaten previously. For example, Butternut Box produces a venison, lentils and quinoa “exclusion diet”.
A variety of health problems from obesity to kidney disease to bladder stones to diabetes can be partly treated through diet.
Good dog food makers formulate diets to treat or control a variety of health problems. We often use special diets provided by the French pharmaceutical company.
VETERINARY HPM® – Advanced Nutrition for Dogs & Cats – Virbac UK
We can advise you whether a special diet may be beneficial for your dog.