A Dog's Daily Diet

When endeavouring to define dog nutrition, it is
essential to have an understanding of the
quality of dog food as it is marketed today.
While dogs have existed for thousands of years,
kibble, or dried pellets, has only been around
as long as our manufacturing processes, and in
fact, only first made it on the scenes in the
late 1800's. The entrepreneurial spirit of a
young James Spratt came up with the first recipe
for cheap, easy-to-serve dog biscuits consisting
of wheat and vegetables - including beet root -
bound together using beef blood, thus giving
birth to the pet food industry.

It has only been in recent times that dog owners
have come to the hard realization that their
dog's nutrition is one that requires particular
care and monitoring, and that what's on the
label of a bag of kibble may not be sufficient
in understanding exactly what Fido is ingesting.
Case in point: The recent recall of Canadian pet
food that was manufactured in China resulting in
the sickness and deaths of numerous unsuspecting
pets. It was later discovered to have contained
melamine in the wheat gluten.

These unfortunate experiences tell us that we
must not only be aware of what our dogs are
eating, but keep an alert eye on what they are
eliminating as well as the potential symptoms of
how improper nutrition will manifest illnesses
and skin conditions. While dogs are subject to
allergies which can be responsible for such
conditions as pruritis, intense itching, or
otitis externa, persistent ear infections, they
may also show symptoms such as increased bowel
movements, diarrhoea and vomiting. allergies can
also develope simply from prolonged exposure to
certain types of proteins, occuring from feeding
the same food without variety periods. While
wheat is substantial in many a dog's diet, some
do not handle it as well as others.

Some would argue: Dogs have been with us for as
long as we have, so what is wrong with
continuing to ffed them our table scraps? When
commercial d foods ogare made up of fillers,
additives, and other non-essentials, and the
poor quality of meats rarely contain any meat
content at all, what is an owner to do to
provide sufficient nutrients for their dog?
Disputes exist over the raw food diet, with
those arguing how it mimics a dog's natural
routine. This creates its own natural difficulty
in the fact that the raw product has a very
limited shelf life and can also lead to cross
contamination.

One needs to realise that a domesticated canine,
does still have teeth to shred meat, they have
become less carnivorous and more omnivorous.
Omnivorous is being they require water, protein,
carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and
fibre. Equally, a dogs diet benefits from
nutritional supplements, such as herbs,
providing useful dietary support for healthy
skin and shiny coats. Avoiding generic brands
will eliminate the risk of feeding your dog meat
from diseased, decaying or dying animals. While
it may be more costly to buy the products that
are clearly produced from better quality
ingredients, it is a far better choice than
risking the content of meat from less desirable
sources

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Dogs can suffer from problems with their food
such as adverse reactions, intolerances and
allergies and this is something that we as
owners are starting to become more aware of.
Chudleys Nutritional Advisor, Nicki Rowe BSc Dip
CNC, looks at how they can affect our dogs
http://www.chudleys.com

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