Come On Boy, Eat Your Veggies
Have you ever had to deal with a picky eater? No, I’m not talking about childrenI’m talking about dogs! A well-balanced diet is necessary to keeping your dog healthy and strong. A well-balanced diet for your canine can’t always be found in off-the-shelf dog food; you may have better luck mixing several brands to maximize nutrition.
What’s the best way for a pet owner to learn the nutritional needs of his four-legged friends? To start, remember that dogs are carnivorous by nature, and therefore should have meals based primarily on meat. Meat provides canines not only with proteins, but also with fat for calories and vitamins which help build and maintain health.
Fish is another very good source of nutrition. Since fish contains less fat than meat, it also contains fewer caloriesa bonus for overweight dogs. When feeding your dogs fish, cook it thoroughly and remove all fish bones since these can get stuck in the animal’s throat.
Proteins may also come from eggs. The eggs white must be cooked, the yolk is fine uncooked and is rich with fat and vitamins.
Milk is also rich in fat, suggar, minerals and vitamins. Dogs love it and it is digested easily, it can be a problem only if your he is lactose intollerant.
Just like a balanced human diet, a balanced canine diet includes vegetables. You may find that your dogsjust like many humansmay not be terribly fond of their veggies. However, the fiber that vegetables contain is essential to regulating his intestinal processes. You should cook their veggies for ease of digestion, even if you have to cook them to the point where much of the vitamin content has been destroyed.
You can include cereals in your dogs’ diet, but only in conjunction with other food types. These will provide them with sugars, which provide an energy source and regulate intestinal bacteria. Rice will give them the proper amount of sugars, and is best digested if well cooked.
Another thing you must not forget is a regular dose vegetable fat, that can be found in vegetable oil or olive oil. Remember that the total number of fats should not go over 10%, excess leads toward obesity and towards a predisposition to illness.
As you examine your dog’s diet, try to keep the daily protein intake below 20%. You can boost this amount during pregnancy, but generally the amount of protein a dog needs tends to drop with age. As you can see, a sizable percentage of a canine diet should consist of something other than meat. So if you want your dog to be healthy, don’t forget those veggies.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Thanks for the informative post.. and thanks for adding our comment to the blog. I am subscribing to your feed so I don\’t miss the next post!