Dog Nutrition Articles
Creating Healthy Eating Habits
Give Your Dog Healthy Eating Habits
There are times when your dog might surprise you by eating far less dog food than expected or by wanting far more. Learn what to watch out for to make sure your dog has healthy eating habits.
Feeding a Finicky Dog
If your pet sniffs her bowl then rejects all but a few bites, analyze her behavior. Here are some questions to ask to gauge her finicky behavior.
Is your dog getting treats throughout the day that suppress her appetite?
If so, talk frankly with those handing out the treats about the adverse impact of their good intentions. Assure them that your dog’s food provides all the nutrition she needs.
Is your dog sick?
You can tell if she’s sick by watching to see if she is avoiding regular play and seems disengaged from what normally interests her. Write down the details to help your veterinarian diagnose the problem.
Are you overfeeding your dog?
Your dog might be eating all she needs and leaving the rest alone. Check to make sure your portions are on target.
Does your dog dislike her dog food?
Some dog foods are made with lesser-quality ingredients that might not suit her palate–or her body. She might not like the taste or may have difficulty digesting the food. In contrast, we use only high-quality ingredients.
Feeding a Dog That Always Wants More
If your dog still seems hungry after she has eaten the proper serving size, it’s important to understand why. Some questions to consider are:
Is your dog getting the right kind of nutrition to satisfy her appetite?
Lesser-quality dog foods may be lacking in nutrients and might not provide what she needs to be healthy and satisfied.
Are you feeding her enough?
If, for example, you've taken up running and your dog joins you, she may need more calories. Review the feeding guidelines on the dog food package or consult your vet to determine how much extra food you should serve.
Does she get fresh, clean water?
Dogs sometimes eat when they’re actually thirsty. Make sure your dog’s bowl is clean and contains fresh water at all times to prevent this from occurring.
Find the Best Feeding Method for Your Dog
The best method for feeding your dog depends on her size and personality. If you set a big bowl of food in front of her, would she stop eating when she’s full? Or would she eat until the food is gone, regardless of hunger? Consider these two methods:
Free-Choice Feeding
Fill her bowl with dry food in the morning and allow her to eat throughout the day whenever she’s hungry. This method allows her to eat more or less as her appetite fluctuates. If her morning walk is extended, she'll likely respond by eating more food; when she’s less active, she'll take in less. This is a great plan for laid-back eaters.
Timed Feeding
Provide rations on a twice-daily schedule, allowing her to eat for 20 minutes before removing her bowl. This establishes routine and perfectly proportions her calories. This feeding method is ideal for overeaters, large breeds, and obese dogs.
By understanding the real reasons for your dog’s behavior before, during, and after feeding time, you’ll be able build healthy eating habits for a lifetime.
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Healthy Dog Food Ingredients
In a world of ordinary dog foods, there is an alternative…
For health
For performance
For life stage
For lifestyle
Protein
Chicken By-Product Meal
The chicken-protein sources contained in chicken-based dog foods undergo an extra refining process to further improve the protein quality. Chicken, chicken meal, and chicken by-product meal are excellent and complete sources of protein. These sources naturally contain the amino acids that are essential to dogs.
We utilize chicken by-product meal in our chicken-based formulas. This meal contains internal organs, which are rich sources of protein, fats, and minerals such as iron that are essential to dog health and add to the palatability of the pet food. Including some ground bone provides a good source of minerals such as calcium, and cartilage provides a natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate. Some dog-food manufacturers formulate their products without ingredients like chicken by-product meal to appeal to owners, even though chicken by-product meal provides excellent nutrition to dogs. We take great effort to educate the pet owner and focus wholly on the nutritional needs of the pet.
Why Chicken By-Product Meal?
Highly concentrated protein source
Rich source of fats and minerals, such as iron
Helps maintain muscle mass
Enhances metabolic processes
Provides the 10 essential amino acids
Promotes healthy skin and coat
Natural sources of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate formulated to help support healthy joints
Fiber
Beet Pulp
We’ve conducted extensive research on many types of fibers. The results of this research: Beet pulp, a moderately fermentable fiber, promotes a healthy intestine and works with other nutrients to provide optimal nutrition in formulas.
Beet pulp is the material which remains after sugar is extracted from sugar beets—not red beets. Beet pulp is a source of fiber in dog and cat diets.
Moderately Fermentable Fiber
Fiber can be classified as non-fermentable or fermentable. Non-fermentable fiber remains undigested as it passes through the intestines, thereby providing bulk to move wastes out. Cellulose is a non-fermentable fiber. Fermentable fiber is broken down in the intestines into short-chain fatty acids that provide energy for cells lining the intestine.
A moderately fermentable fiber such as beet pulp does both, providing bulk to move waste and energy for cells lining the intestine.
Why Beet Pulp?
Moderately fermentable fiber
Promotes the production of short-chain fatty acids
Provides energy to cells lining the intestines
Aids in nutrient absorption and digestion, which lead to solid fecal consistency
Carbohydrates
Sorghum, Barley, Brewers Rice, and Corn Meal
Research has shown that some products are best formulated using a combination of carbohydrate sources. Such a combination offers carbohydrate digestibility and helps maintain energy levels.
Dog foods contain a variety of carbohydrate ingredients.
Sorghum: Grain Sorghum, also called milo, is cracked, finely ground, and cooked before it is added to dry dog foods. This carbohydrate provides essential amino acids and sustained energy.
Some dog food uses whole-grain barley that is cooked at high temperatures and finely ground in our dry dog food formulas. Barley provides a slow blood-glucose response for more sustained energy.
Brewers Rice: Small kernels of white rice—separated from the larger kernels of milled rice—are ground and cooked at high temperatures to optimize digestibility. Brewers rice provides an excellent source of quick energy.
Why a Carbohydrate Blend?
The slow, even breakdown of the carbohydrate sources results in moderate, stable blood-glucose levels after a meal.
Provides energy when needed (instant and sustained)
Highly digestible
Provides essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals
Excellent source of dietary fiber
Carbohydrates
Corn (Meal or Grits)
Only the highest-quality corn is used in our dry dog foods. Corn kernels are not used whole, but are ground into a fine meal, which ensures increased digestibility. Because of this processing, it’s more than appropriate to associate the corn meal used in our dry dog foods with that used to make corn bread, rather than with corn on the cob.
Scientific research shows that ground corn is 98% digestible, with less than 2% of the ground corn being fiber. This means more nutrition remains in a dog’s digestive system, providing high-quality carbohydrates for essential energy. In some dog food formulas, corn grits and corn meal are both used to promote optimal digestibility.
Corn grits: The hard, coarse portions of ground corn, which contain little or no fiber or protein, are used in some formulas to provide an excellent source of energy.
Corn meal: some dog food uses high-quality corn meal—corn kernels that have been finely ground to break up the outside covering of each kernel, which then are cooked at high temperatures to increase digestibility. Corn meal provides a sustained level of energy and important amino acids.
Why Corn Meal or Corn Grits?
Lower glycemic and insulin response than rice
Essential nutrients delivered more efficiently; less waste
Minimized swings in blood glucose
Sustained supply of energy
Digestive System
Fructooligosaccharides (FOS)
Maintaining the balance of beneficial and potentially pathogenic bacteria in the digestive tract is critical for good health. Studies show that feeding dogs a diet with prebiotics helps promote a good bacterial balance. Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth and activity of digestive-system bacteria that are beneficial to your dog’s health. Some dog food include . the natural prebiotic fiber FOS in their dog food.
We believe good health for a dog starts from the inside out. The key function of the digestive tract is to absorb nutrients. What a dog eats is processed through the digestive tract; during this process, the digestive tract acts as a guardian for the rest of the dog’s body. By helping strike the right balance between beneficial and potentially pathogenic bacteria, the prebiotic FOS helps to promote a healthy GI system and strong defenses.
Why FOS?
Helps a dog’s digestion
A natural fiber
Produces short-chain fatty acids that provide energy for cells
Oral Health
Sodium Hexametaphosphate (HMP)
Adult dry dog foods provide oral health benefits through the mechanical crunching action of dry kibble. Additionally, adult dry dog foods contain sodium hexametaphosphate (HMP), a source of phosphorus that helps reduce tartar buildup with every meal.
Teeth play an important role in the digestive process. However, as they grind up food, debris accumulates on the tooth surface and attracts bacteria. This accumulation of debris and bacteria is called plaque. Plaque is easily removed from teeth by brushing—that is, when teeth are brushed frequently.
If the plaque isn’t brushed away, mineral deposits cause it to harden on the teeth. This is called tartar. Dark yellow or brown accumulations on the teeth are indicators of tartar, which is difficult to remove. If left untreated, plaque can lead to damage of the gums (gingivitis) or the jawbones and teeth (periodontitis).
Why Sodium Hexametaphosphate?
Helps reduce tartar buildup between cleanings
Does not affect the nutrient content of the food or the size of the kibble, and also has a cleaning effect on all teeth
Works throughout the whole mouth, not just on the chewing surface, during and after meals
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Pet Food and Feeding Myths
Like any science, pet nutrition is associated with folklore about the feeding of dogs and cats. Some of these ideas have their origins in science, but the facts have been exaggerated, obscured, or misapplied. Other feeding practices are ones that owners enjoy for emotional reasons but which have potential health risks for their pets. Let’s review a few common nutritional myths and separate fact from fiction!
Diet Causes “Red Coat”
The “red coat” problem refers to an unexpected change in coat color from almost any normal base color to a red or reddish brown. Reports of “red coat” have occurred for a number of years, but cases are infrequent and inconsistent, making the condition difficult to study. Diet, among other factors, has been identified by some owners as a potential underlying cause of “red coat.” Here are the facts:
Nutrient deficiency:
It is true that a dietary deficiency of certain essential nutrients can adversely affect coat quality and color. A deficiency of the minerals copper or zinc and of the essential amino acid phenylalanine all can lead to changes in coat quality and color. However, essential nutrient deficiencies also cause serious health problems along with these coat changes. Copper deficiency leads to anemia, skin lesions, and impaired growth; zinc deficiency causes skin lesions and impairs the immune system; and phenylalanine deficiency can cause neurological problems. In addition, reputable pet-food companies have formulated their diets to ensure that they contain optimal levels of copper, zinc, and phenylalanine so that a deficiency in these nutrients is not the cause of reported red-coat problems in dogs and cats.
Beet pulp:
Beet pulp is often targeted as a potential cause of “red coat” in dogs, because of the perception that this ingredient is the color of beets—red. However, the beet pulp that is included in pet foods is not red in color. It is derived from sugar beets (not red beets) from which the sugar has been extracted and is actually light gray in color. Moreover, there is no evidence suggesting a connection between the consumption of beet pulp and a change in coat color in dogs or cats.
Actual causes:
So, what might cause a dog or cat’s coat to change color and take on a red hue? We know that red coat can be caused by a number of environmental factors. These include:
- Exposure to sunlight
- Spending time outdoors can have a bleaching effect on a pet’s coat, typically imparting a red hue to black hairs.
- Porphyrin staining: Porphyrin is secreted in saliva and tears and is responsible for the reddish staining that is seen around the eyes of some dog breeds with white or light-colored coats. Dogs that self-groom or lick excessively can deposit porphyrin on their coats, causing these areas to stain red.
- Grooming procedures: Coat products that contain insecticides can impart a red color to hairs. This effect is most commonly observed in white or light-colored pets. Frequent blow-drying also can cause a dilution or fading of black coat color.
- Age: Black hair naturally fades as it ages and typically turns reddish to reddish brown when it is ready to be shed.
Coprophagy (Stool-Eating) Is Caused by a Nutrient Deficiency
Coprophagy (stool eating) is relatively common in dogs but rare in cats. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of dogs who coprophagize are not consuming a diet that is deficient in one or more essential nutrients, nor do they have gastrointestinal disease. Here are the facts:
- Stool-eating is not unusual: Although it may be hard for some owners to understand, stool eating is actually a relatively common behavior in dogs. This is because they are scavengers by nature and readily consume a wide variety of items that are unappealing to people. Most dogs will consume the feces of other species such as horses, cattle, deer, or rabbits. Many dogs that live with cats will eat cat feces if allowed access to the litter box. Some dogs also consume canine feces—this is most common among dogs that live in multiple-dog homes or kennels.
- Possible cause: Female dogs routinely consume the feces of their puppies as a way to keep the whelping area and their puppies clean. Coprophagy is also readily learned among dogs within the same household or kennel. In some cases, boredom or confinement in an unclean kennel or cage may be an underlying cause.
- Prevention and training: The best way to prevent stool eating is to limit access to fecal matter by monitoring walks, restrict the dog’s access to the feces of wild animals such as rabbits and deer, and keep the yard picked up. In addition, training techniques such as teaching dogs to “leave it” and to reliably come when called are helpful. Providing regular walks, exercise, and mentally-stimulating activities for your dog is also essential for preventing all types of boredom-induced behavior problems!
Feeding Brewer’s Yeast, Garlic, or Onions Repels Fleas
The use of either brewer’s yeast or the B vitamin thiamine (one of the yeast’s components) as a repellent for external parasites has a long history as a nutritional myth. However, there is no evidence to indicate that feeding brewer’s yeast or any other supplement such as garlic or onion has a repellent effect on fleas or any other external parasite. Here are the facts:
- Brewer’s yeast: Two well-controlled feeding studies with dogs reported that neither brewer’s yeast nor thiamine effectively repelled fleas in dogs. Although supplementing pets’ diets with brewer’s yeast is probably not harmful, it is not effective as a way to prevent flea infestations.
- Onion and garlic: Neither of these foods has any effect at all upon external parasite infestations in dogs or cats. Moreover, feeding large amounts of onion or garlic to dogs or cats (which they do love) can be toxic! Excess consumption of onions can cause a type of hemolytic anemia that may be life threatening. Similarly, the ingestion of excessive amounts of garlic can cause damage to red blood cells and may lead to anemia. Signs of toxicity may include diarrhea, vomiting, depression, fever, and dark-colored urine. If onion or garlic toxicity is suspected in your dog, veterinary care should be sought immediately.
- Use proper flea prevention: If your pet has a flea problem, talk to your veterinarian about methods for prevention and treatment. Many effective and safe flea-control products are available today for dogs and cats.
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