What a dog eats - Dog food

If you've ever had a dog as a pet, we're sure you know what its basic needs are. In order to grow well and have a healthy metabolism, dogs need to have protein, fat, carbohydrates, water and vitamins in different proportions in their diet. Too much or too little of these nutrients can cause health problems for the animal, which is why you must be careful with everything you feed him.

If you have never had a dog in your home and want to know what your dog's diet is based on, feel free to continue reading this new article What a dog eats - Dog food from The Pretty Pets, in which we will tell you everything you need to know about feeding your dog.

 

1-Nutritional needs of the dog

A dog's diet should include a variety of ingredients such as protein, grains, fruits, vegetables and fatty acids. In addition, you should avoid the use of preservatives and dyes as much as possible, as these additives can end up causing health problems. The necessary percentage of each nutrient is different, as we will see in the following:

- Protein: this is the main ingredient in a dog's diet, which is why you should always find more of it. It can be protein from chicken, beef, salmon, etc... However, you should not give him too much either, because in the long run it can end up causing kidney problems. In home diets, protein should not represent more than 70% of the total. In kibbles, the percentage should be close to 50%.

- Cereals: The main cereal included in the kibbles or home diets of dogs is rice, as it is easy to digest and causes fewer allergies or intolerances than other ingredients. It should not represent more than 10% of the total.

- Fruits and vegetables: they provide a large amount of carbohydrates and support the function of the intestinal tract by providing it with all the necessary fiber. Thus, the dog's diet can include apple, pear, carrot, spinach, etc... You should always include them in the right proportion (around 10-15% of his total daily diet). Discover all the fruits and vegetables recommended for dogs.

- Fatty acids: they are provided by oils and fats that offer the animal a better functioning of the immune system, a good regulation of inflammatory processes and a good repair of blood vessels.

- Vitamins: in this group it is possible to find vitamin C, D, B3, B6 or B12, all of which are necessary and vital to the proper functioning as well as the development and formation of the animal's tissues. Dogs should consume around 0.3% per day. Vitamins are essential nutrients because the dog's body cannot synthesize them on its own and must obtain them from another source. However, administering large amounts of vitamins can eventually lead to hypervitaminosis, a condition that is very toxic for the animal.

- Minerals: their needs are not very high either (3% of the diet), but they are very important for the organism because their main functions are to be part of the cell structure and to help regulate the acid-base balance. They are also very important for the construction of bone structures, in the case, for example, of phosphorus and calcium. Unlike the consumption of vitamins, an excess of minerals does not generally lead to toxicity since the body eliminates them in most cases.

2-What a dog eats - Dog's diet

At present, the dog's diet can be very varied and you have many different types of food at your disposal. Generally speaking, there are three ways to feed a dog: with dry food, homemade food or mixed feeding.

Kibbles

It is possible to feed a dog with commercial kibbles that will cover all the nutritional needs of the dog. Thus, on the market it is possible to find kibbles for puppies, pregnant bitches, neutered dogs, geriatric dogs or dogs suffering from any pathology. Their composition will vary because the needs of a puppy are not the same as those of an old dog. Thus, puppy kibbles will include a higher percentage of protein because it is necessary to promote good growth. Similarly, geriatric kibbles will have fewer calories because the energy needs of older dogs decrease significantly.

However, you should always pay attention to the composition of the kibble to ensure that you are giving your pet the best. On the market you can find low range, medium range or high range kibbles. Low range kibbles are different from high range kibbles because, in addition to being more expensive, they always have a fixed composition, meaning that their ingredients will not vary according to cost and that they are of better quality. Keep in mind that constantly changing ingredients or always changing brands of kibbles can end up causing intestinal problems. This doesn't take away the possibility of changing from time to time, but you should always do it gradually so that the animal gets used to the new ingredients and can enjoy a more varied diet. The advantage of feeding your dog with kibbles is in the comfort of the process, because by giving him the right amount you will be able to cover all the nutritional needs of the animal.

Now, very well, if you are wondering which is the best brand of kibble, the answer is those made with natural ingredients, suitable for human consumption and whose composition is close to the percentages mentioned above. Discover the best natural kibbles for dogs!

Homemade food

Another option is to give him homemade and varied food, although in these cases you will have to be careful because you will always have to know what percentage of nutrients you are offering him to make sure that the animal has neither a deficiency nor an excess of them. Among all the advantages of offering homemade food, we find a greater palatability of the food as well as a better control of what your dog eats. By delving deeper into this topic, we are sure you have heard about BARF food, which is based on a combination of raw foods (fleshy bones, different varieties of meat, fish, viscera, fruits and vegetables) because these are the foods that a dog would eat in the wild, which are beneficial for several reasons :

- They make stools smaller

- They bring shine and thickness to the coat

- It allows a reduction of the tartar of the teeth.

- Do not lose nutrients when you cook the food

- It reduces their water consumption

However, as a drawback, it is important to mention that if you do not know where the food comes from or if it has not been frozen beforehand, you could run the risk of offering the animal products in poor condition, with bacteria or worms. That's why it's always best to freeze or semi-cook the product before feeding it to your dog, i.e. cook it outside while keeping it raw inside.

Mixed feeding

It is also worth talking about the option of offering a mixed diet, combining the commercial kibble with the homemade diet so that your dog doesn't get tired of always eating the same thing. This type of feeding should not be done by mixing the kibbles with the homemade food because these products rely on different digestive processes and could produce intestinal problems. This is why it is most recommended to offer kibbles for a few days and homemade food for a few days. This way, you will not have to cook every day and the animal will also be able to enjoy the benefits of homemade food.

3-Which dog food to choose?

Now, between all these different options, how do you feed a dog? The answer lies in the animal's needs and in your own economic situation. Natural food will always be better, but it can also be more expensive if, for example, you have a giant breed dog at home. Therefore, a mixed diet is a good option for people who want to feed their dogs with homemade food but do not have enough time or cannot buy all the ingredients, because there are also quality kibbles, made with natural ingredients that are not too expensive.

However, you should always consult a veterinarian about the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of food so that you know which one best suits your dog's needs.

4-How to feed a dog?

There are two techniques for feeding your dog: rationed or ad libitum. The first is more recommended because it will allow you to control the amount of food you give your dog. However, if you leave the bowl always full (ad libitum) so that your dog can eat when he feels like it, there is the possibility that he will spend his day eating if he is stressed or obsessed with food. So even though there are hundreds of exceptions, it is best to feed your dog in a rationed manner.

Obesity problems in dogs

Nutrition is very important for dogs because it helps control and delay the onset of many diseases, such as obesity, which we have just talked about. Excessive or incorrect feeding can cause these types of problems which, even if they seem insignificant to you, can affect the dog's life expectancy. In addition, there are other factors that can influence the onset of obesity, such as castration. That is why you will always need to supplement a good diet with a good dose of exercise.

An animal is considered obese when its ribs cannot be easily palpated or when its weight is more than 15% of its optimum weight, regularly producing cardiac, respiratory, osteoarthritis, etc... problems. The consequences of obesity in dogs can be devastating, which is why it is better to rely on a good diet to avoid it.

5-What does a wild dog eat?

Wild dogs that live in the wild eat fruit, meat, viscera and bones from other animals they hunt (reptiles, birds, rabbits, hares and other mammals). Since they are not domesticated, their instinct is to consume almost any food available in the wild, which can sometimes lead them to attack humans. In fact, they are equipped with large canines with which they can easily tear their prey apart.

Nowadays, there are more domestic dogs than wild dogs and many people wonder what dogs eat and how they live in the wild in order to provide their best friend with a diet as similar as possible to what they would get in the wild. Nevertheless, when we just said that, wild dogs hunt for food and