Thursday, December 15, 2011

Dog Food And Puppy Food Info: A List Of Straightforward Hints

By Colin Fairworthy


Finding the right dog food and puppy food info can be a very tricky process, especially for someone who is new to owning a canine. What is important to remember is that a dog is an omnivore, and therefore thrives when they eat a variety of different types of things in their diet, and not simply meat.

Generally speaking, around half of an adult dog's diet should consist of protein from meat. Of the rest, about a quarter of the animal's consumption should consist of fruit and vegetables and another quarter of grains.

It should always be remembered that a dog is a valued member of a family, and their health and vitality need to be maintained by giving them as good and as varied a diet as possible.

Dogs can actually be fed leftovers and scraps from the plates of humans with little or no risk of harm. Canines have lived alongside human beings for tens of thousands of years, and their evolution had been influenced by their consuming our leftovers.

Dogs can also simply be fed with items from the kitchen which have been cooked, though some argue that feeding an animal raw meat is actually better for them. Whether or not this is true, cooking the meat through before feeding it to a pet does destroy harmful bacteria.

Chicken, lamb, beef and even fish are all good sources of meat proteins for domestic canines. Adding vegetables to their diet will boost an animal's health too, so simply chopping a few carrots or similar into a meat mix is a good thing to do. Bits of pasta or grains like barley also improve the nutritional value of a meal.

Most canines do eat manufactured food on at least some occasions though, often because it has additives which can provide them with extra nutrition at certain times in their lives, or simply down to convenience. When buying this kind of addition to the diet, look for the best quality which is affordable. As with any kind of foodstuff, the better quality tends to be better in terms of healthiness and taste.

This is particularly relevant when to comes to the dietary needs of puppies, who should be eating specific puppy products until they are at least a year old, and two years old in the case of some of the giant breeds of canine. Juvenile dogs usually start eating sold foodstuffs, usually of moistened dry products, when they have reached three to four weeks old.

They will have almost certainly been fully weaned from their mothers at six to eight weeks of age, and it is important that their diet is monitored properly from that point to make sure that there are sufficient quantities of minerals such as calcium and plenty of protein to ensure proper growth. The assertion that too much protein leads to anti-social tendencies is disputed by many people.

When purchasing things to eat then, whether for a puppy or a dog, it is best to look for things with as few chemical additives as possible, with organic produce being best. That is not always practical though, so the best thing to do is to consult an expert or an experienced dog owner who can give dog food and puppy food info which is suited to a specific pet.




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