The basic principle to be understood in the feeding of dogs is that, with only minor variations, they have the same nutritive requirements as man. A dog apparently has less need for starches, and its digestive juices do not handle fatty foods well. Thus, the dog’s meat should always be quite lean, otherwise it will commonly cause a stomach upset with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
The best foods for the dog are milk, meat, and vegetables. Most dogs will enjoy milk and digest it readily. Some breeds, however, such as the Boston Terrier, often do not seem to be able to handle milk and will vomit it. Where this occurs, milk should naturally be avoided.
But with most breeds this difficulty will not be encountered. With a little experience the individual dog owner can determine what the situation is with his particular animal.
In regard to meat: beef, lamb, or horsemeat are generally considered best, while pork is usually not recommended. Lamb or horsemeat are best served cooked, while beef may be fed either cooked or raw.
Whether meat is fed cooked or raw depends both on convenience to the owner and on the preference of the animal. It will make no difference, however, to the health of the dog which way the food is fed.
As far as vegetables are concerned, most dogs generally handle them quite well. However, as with milk, the owner will have to determine on the basis of actual experience which vegetables the animal prefers or which it can properly digest.
In most cases, diced lettuce and tomatoes will be found to be the most readily accepted.
Dog owners often raise the question of the egg requirements for their dogs, mentioning that they have heard somewhere that the feeding of eggs will encourage a glossy coat.
This belief is incorrect. Vigorous dogs that are properly cleaned and groomed will have glossy coats whether or not they have ever been fed eggs. Unhealthy dogs, or those that are improperly cleaned or groomed, will not have a good, shiny coat no matter how often eggs are fed.
Eggs, however, are a perfectly wholesome food for dogs and are an excellent source of protein. But, since meat and milk are equally rich in this nutrient and are generally cheaper, eggs are usually considered to be a good, though uneconomical, supplementary food for dogs.
As for the tremendous variety of dry or canned commercial dog foods, most animals will get along perfectly well on them, though it is often suggested by the most competent authorities that the best results will be obtained if dog foods are fed only in combination with fresh foods.
Great strides have been made in the improvement of commercial dog foods in recent years. Their formulae are specially prepared by trained scientists to meet all of the dog’s needs, and all nationally known brands are guaranteed by the federal government, on the basis of careful experiment, to furnish normal maintenance diets.
This means that the dog can live its entire life without eating anything but dog food. For those owners within the low income brackets, or those with the very large breeds, the feeding of dog food exclusively would certainly be the most economical method and, as far as the dog is concerned, such a diet is quite adequate.
Jimmy Cox
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/feeding-your-new-puppy-120629.html
Tags: Boston Terrier
What is the difference in feeding your puppy wet or dry food?
She is 4 months old and the vet told me to mix 1/2 cup dry with wet. I would assume that this is easier for her until her teeth are completely grown. But once she is past the puppy stage, is it just a preference dogs have for one type over the other? Or is it simply to provide variety?
+All dog foods are not created equal. There is a huge difference in ingredients, quality of ingredients and company standards. When wondering what to get or comparing your current food it is best to do as much research as possible.
Your options are a raw diet, which is one of the greatest diets for dogs. To learn more go to http://www.barfworld.com. Raw really means nothing cooked; meat, bones and organs. This is not to be confused with allowing your dog to eat cooked bones, cooked bones are harmful, raw bones are not. This is the dog’s ancestral diet. If you think a dog should not be eating raw meat, go back and study wolves. Ask yourself what year was dog food made and then how long have dogs been around without our help of over processed dog food and gravy.
Another option is kibble and wet food. You can do both or just Kibble, but avoid doing just wet food. Feeding Kibble 2x a day 12 hours apart and wet food 2x a week in place of 1 feeding of equal calories is a good balance. DO NOT OVER DUE WET FOOD> When you are looking for a healthy dog food it is important that not only the kibble be high quality but the wet food, treats and chews be high quality as well.
Foods to avoid: Pedigree, Beneful, Purina, Iams, Nutro, Alpo, Ol Roy, Mighty Dog, Ceser, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Purina, Royal Canin, Eagle Pack (not to be confused with Eagle Pack Holistic) and of course all grocery store brands of dog food!
These foods have low quality ingredients that can cause allergies, diabetes, bloat, overweight, oily skin, excessive and or runny stool and a myriad of other problems.
Most of these brands are owned by companies like Del Monte, Proctor and Gamble, Mars and Nestle. Do you really believe that a company like Proctor and Gamble who makes beauty products, household cleaning supplies, baby items,prescription drugs and many others is the best suited company to make quality products for dogs? 50% of Mars is pet food, 45% is unhealthy snacks like candy bars. Science Diet is promoted by vets who in return make a profit on every bag they sell. Hill's is the largest employer of veterinarians outside of academia. They sponsor many pet nutrition related veterinary school programs and hold seminars and training sessions on the subject of pet nutrition for practicing veterinarians. So of course Hill's is going to say they are the best, they are teaching the vets pet nutrition, they want to make a profit, not healthy cat and dog food. Does this sound like the best company to make dog food? All of these companies have one thing in common, they have the advertising to make you believe pictures of meat and veggies and healthy dogs running around on the commercials is what you will get. Knowing the truth about what is in these foods is devastating.
Quality dog foods: Innova, California Natural, EVO, Karma, Wellness, Wellness Core, Orijen, Canidae, Merricks, Artemis, Taste of the Wild, Nature's Variety, Solid Gold-Barking at the Moon, Go!, Now! and Timberwolf.
Here are several websites to do your own research, which I highly suggest. A lot of questions here about dog’s health problems are a direct result of the food you are feeding. Read the ingredients label on the back, go to the website and see who owns the dog food, look up the ingredients and learn why it is used and what the pros and cons are. Changing to a healthy low grain, no grain dog food will relieve most of your dog aliments and give you a healthier and happier dog.
http://www.naturapet.com
http://www.dogfoodproject.com
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com
http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1
http://www.feedmypet.com/dog-food-comparison.html
http://www.canidae.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill's_Pet_Nutrition
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After the puppy stage, dry is best. It helps clean their teeth and it is better for their gums to chew dry food rather than just swallow wet food whole.
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Dry food is cheaper and less bulky than wet. The lack of water in dry food is not a problem, because dogs will drink more water to make up for it.
Some picky eaters want some wet food mixed in with the dry to make the dry more palatable. Dogs need regular dental care no matter what they eat.
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She doesn't need the wet food – it will only give her diarrhea, and stick to her teeth. It will also get her spoiled into not wanting the kibble.
Crunching on dry kibble is good for their teeth, and sticks to them far less. Once puppies are weaned, they can eat kibble just fine. Just be sure to add some water, so it doesn't form a mass in her tummy – and you can soak it occasionally, if she is having a problem with teething.
But she does not need any canned food, and variety is not a good thing for a dog, or they will decide they won't eat what is good for them. Then you have a dog that won't eat a balanced diet.
Just kibble, kibble and more kibble.
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i would say hard food after the puppy stage if you let the can food out for a period of time (if she don't eat it for some reason bacteria can set in it) so switch over to hard cz you don't want her getting that bacteria in her tummy
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well wet or soft food is better cuz the puppy wall or should still have its babyteeth and they have somewhat sensitive mouths. wet food is soft so it wont be so hard on her mouth. i would provide variety when she does get older so she doesnt get bored or tired of her normal food, then she may not eat.
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research and animal shows and training
I give my 3 one is at 16 1/2yrs an excellent dry kibble mixed with a big tablespoon of good wet food, i put it in a plastic container in the fridge. and nuke it for about 10sec. to get it to room temp. now you adjust yours for the size of your dog my smallest is 75 lbs also as she gets older it healthy & low cal to add cooked carrots & string beans, but wait on that she young and you might give her diarreha, mine would get bored with the same kibble all the time, the wet gives is a different taste
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Dry food is better because it helps keep their teeth clean.
Here is a site that will show you which dog foods are the best and the worst. I suggest that you get any one of the dog foods that are top rated.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
Most of grocery store dog food formulas, like IAMS, Pedigree, Science Diet, Purina,and etc contain "meat and bone meal" which has been known to contain dead dogs and cats that were euthanized in animal shelters. Their bodies are picked up and bought by the truck load by "rendering plants" , that also pick up road kill, dead live stock, and etc. They are shredded, and boiled. They skim off the fat on the top of the "soup" and collected it and sell it to pet food companies as "animal fat", the rest of the animals' remains are crushed up, dried and sold to dog and cat food companies as meat and bone meal.
You can read more about it here.
http://earthislandprojects.org/eijournal/fall97/fe_fall97petfood.html
Here is an article where the owner of a rendering plant talks about it. He says that cremating the dead shelter animals would cause pollution, and that rendering them is good.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_12_26/ai_115041999
Here is further information on what you shouldn't see in the ingredients list in your puppy's food.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients
Top rated dog foods like Canidae contain good healthy ingredients.
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