Feeding a dog should be taken with seriousness and a careful eye in reading ingredients and a strong backing of nutrient knowledge
Feeding a dog should be taken with seriousness and a careful eye in reading ingredients and a strong backing of nutrient knowledge. Whatever food is given to the dog will later on manifest itself either through a healthy response of strength and energy or a downward turn of weakness and poor appearance. As people are concerned with what goes into their bodies, the same should carry to their pets. Probably the very basic rule of feeding a dog is “do not feed your dog something you would not eat yourself.” Although it must be kept in mind that not all human foods are good for dogs.
Scanning or going over the small print of ingredients on canned products may be helpful to a certain point but it would even be better to know what should go into a healthy meal. Experts have come to a consensus that the best ratio of food is 40% meats, 50% veggies and 10% carbohydrates or even grains. Meats found in canned goods have already been pre-cooked and contain the protein needed by dogs. One must take note of what brands are certified by the animal health ministry of what should or should not be in dog food. Some cheaper brands may throw chicken beaks into the mix which is considered to be indigestible. Cheaper foods are known to add fillers to give more weight and volume into the cans but these fillers may consist of other foods that dogs may be allergic to such as corn or wheat. Grains are much more preferred due to its optimum fiber content to meet the digestive needs. Again, careful reading of the ingredients is needed for the first items may be meats but if careless owners just toss it in the trolley, they missed the other items that are more fillers.
How about playing it safe and sticking with veggies since meats may even cost more? A sound idea however dogs need the animal protein to be healthy as well as to enjoy their food. Although a vegetarian diet is possible, dogs may not take to it as well as people do. When introducing new foods to the dog, it is a good move to see how it comes out later on. The feces of the dog should be firm not loose nor should it have blood or mucus.
Preservatives are present in canned foods but it would be wise to avoid chemicals such as BHA, BHT and Ethoxyquin for they may give cancer. Overall, the one of the best advice is to opt for the known brands as well as consulting with the dog’s veterinarian for more additional information that a printed can or media can give.