Posts Tagged ‘Food Supplements’
Dog Food & Supplements: An In Depth Look At Nutrition For Your Pet (2)
Dog Food & Supplements
The nutritional guideline standards for dog food, as set forth by the NRC (National Research Council), state that pet food manufacturers must have the minimum amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.
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Dog Food Secrets You Need To Know!
“In This Shocking FREE Video Report You Discover Why 87% of Dogs Die Too Early & 3 Easy Things You Can Do Today To Stop It Happening to Your Dog”
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They include meat, meat by-products, corn, wheat middlings, barley, oats, rice, brewer’s yeast, vegetable and/or animal fats, fish meal, poultry, bone meal, cereals, soybean meal – all of which are rich in the required nutrients.
To meet the palatability requirement so that dogs would enjoy eating this dog food, manufacturers can add tomato puree, bacon, salt, onion powder, garlic and other ingredients to make the food smell and taste good.
The required ease in consumer handling is accomplished by packing dog food in bags with graduated poundage from one to fifty pounds, in twelve to sixteen ounce cans, and in see-through cellophane packs or cans for individual serving.
After the manufacturers have packed their product in a can, bag or box, they have the added the burden of getting the dog owner’s attention to the pet food shelves. They know the family dog isn’t standing there looking over the dog food – a human is.
To get the human to reach out and select one of the many different brands available, the product must please the eye of the consumer. The dog doesn’t give one care in the world what the dog food looks like. The animal is only interested in how it tastes and smells.
Manufacturers today will exhibit their product to look like fresh ground hamburger, choice steaks, chunks of lean beef, even breakfast cereals. Although dog food comes in a variety of styles, it really comes in only three types:
1) The complete/balanced food (everything the dog needs in one container). This pet food type will list the product as containing all of the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals that a canine should have for good health.
2) The supplementary dog food (to be added to the complete food to increase palatability). Such food items for pets are made to get the dog’s appetite stimulated enough to eat all of his main/complete food.
3) Treats and snacks (for training rewards or just plain pampering) which can range from beef jerky for dogs to small cereal biscuits.
If a dog’s diet consisted solely of a supplementary food, he would be deprived of the vitamins and nutrients he needs. The supplementary food and treats and snacks were not intended to be the sole diet of the dog. Most manufacturers will indicate this point on the label of their dog food.
Dog Food & Supplements – An In Depth Look At Nutrition For Your Pet (1)
Dog Food & Supplements
Big cans, little cans, heavy bags and cute packs, soft foods, dry dog food, semi-moist, candies, biscuits, chewies, people-like crackers and gourmet bon-bons…
Today’s dog owner is confronted with a bewildering array of food for his pet.
Years ago, when such a variety of dog food wasn’t available, dogs were fed foods that were most plentiful in the region. In the arctic, dogs were fed mostly fish and whale blubber; in the southern United States, a dog’s diet consisted mainly of cornbread; in Europe, potatoes were the main fare.
These diets led to diseases such as black tongue (pelegra in humans), rickets, and other less commonly known ailments, many of them fatal.
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Dog Food Secrets You Need To Know!
“In This Shocking FREE Video Report You Discover Why 87% of Dogs Die Too Early & 3 Easy Things You Can Do Today To Stop It Happening to Your Dog”
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In the wild, the canine did not just restrict himself to eating just the meat of his prey. He ate the entire animal, including the contents of the stomach.
Wild dogs were known to kill each other while fighting over the stomach contents of their prey. Thus, nature provided the wild animal with a diet considered nutritionally complete.
Domesticated dogs were not allowed that luxury, and usually were fed table scraps for their dog food. These poor diets resulted in serious nutritional imbalances and severe nutritional deficiencies.
After years of study, it was determined that even though the canine is considered a carnivorous animal, he requires certain carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals to satisfy nutritional requirements just as humans do.
In 1953, the National Research Council compiled and published nutritional requirements for dogs. The NRC is a federally established scientific body whose basic function is gathering research data.
After World War II, the pet food industry in the United States began an enormous expansion. Already a highly competitive business, pet food manufacturers quickly found themselves in neck to neck competition for a piece of this multi-million dollar a year business.
In order to survive and successfully compete in the market, pet food manufacturers knew that they must provide a dog food which was:
A) Nutritionally complete; containing all 26 nutrients that the National Research Council said that does need.
B) Palatable so that the dog would enjoy eating the food.
C) Easy and convenient for the customer to handle.
D) Economically competitive in the market.
Pet food manufacturers have established laboratories and hired nutritionists and dog food technicians to select those ingredients, which, when combined, will provide the sufficient nutrition to meet NRC standards.
Dog Food & Supplements: An In Depth Look At Nutrition And Dog Health (7)
According to the canine nutritional experts, a ninety pound adult German Shepherd can require up to seven cans of dog food per day for proper dog health.
A sixty pound Collie can require five cans per day. For the average household and overall dog health, this can become an expensive choice.
Dry dog foods, on the other hand, contain only about ten percent moisture – the other sixty five percent having been removed intentionally during the dehydration process.
The dog owner is expected to replace the moisture for better dog health either by providing the dog with ample amounts of water alongside the feeding dish, or by adding it directly to the dry food.
Feeding directions on labels of dry dog food are very explicit about this.
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Dog Food Secrets You Need To Know!
“In This Shocking FREE Video Report You Discover Why 87% of Dogs Die Too Early & 3 Easy Things You Can Do Today To Stop It Happening to Your Dog”
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The drawback in feeding dry dog food usually has been caused by the dog owner having allowed the family pooch to enjoy table scraps. Eating people-food accomplishes absolutely nothing for Sparky’s nutritional needs or dog health and simply creates the problem of the finicky eater.
Under the mistaken belief that he’s doing the dog a favor, the dog owner is really robbing the animal of nutrients that are rightfully his – taking food right out of his mouth, so to speak.
In the middle of the scale are the “soft-moist” products which contain more moisture content than dry foods, but considerably less than the canned foods. They are the easiest of all three types to prepare, but are far and away the most expensive. Probably, they are economically most suitable for the small dog.
A compromise solution for the family with the finicky eater as well as the family with a limited dog food budget might be a combination of both canned and dry. Mixing two types – each balanced nutritionally – does nothing to upset the interrelationships of the nutrients.
It’s much easier to control the weight of the family dog when this combination is used. Rather than cut down on the volume intake of the obese dog, a decrease in the amount of dry food, with corresponding increase in canned food will accomplish this without having a constantly hungry dog begging for handouts.
On the other hand, increasing the amount of dry food, with a corresponding decrease in canned, may help to bring the weight up and improve the dog health on the dog that has a tendency to be skinny.
The diet of today’s pet dog has come quite a long way from the old days of being fed whale blubber, potatoes and cornbread. Now if manufacturers would take just as much interest in human foods… but for now, if your dog’s choice between caviar or a commercially prepared, balanced dog food, he’d be wise to select the dog food. Pound for pound – and dollar for dollar – the dog and his owner would be way ahead.
Dog health is important so pay extra attention to what your dog hoovers.
Dog Food & Supplements: An In Depth Look At Nutrition And Dog Health (6)
Pet food manufacturers have made it quite easy for the average dog owner to feed their pets and positively effect dog health without having to be an expert nutritionist.
All of the work has been done by the modern manufacturer for easy and effective measures to ensure proper dog health.
Since it isn’t possible for manufacturers to list all of the nutrients and their required percentages as published by the NRC (National Research Council) on their labels, the terms “complete diet”, “nutritionally complete”, “balanced”, and “balanced diet” are used.
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Dog Health Secrets You Need To Know!
“In This Shocking FREE Video Report You Discover Why 87% of Dogs Die Too Early & 3 Easy Things You Can Do Today To Stop It Happening to Your Dog”
————————————————————–
This tells the consumer that the product inside the can, bag or box, contains all the essential vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats the average dog needs to satisfy his daily requirements.
The nutritional requirement for good dog health puppies, however, is somewhat different than that required for adult dogs. The diet of the adult dog is usually referred to as a “maintenance diet” where a puppy diet is referred to as a “growth diet”.
In 1974 a regulation went into effect that required all dog food manufacturers to specify on their labels whether the product is complete and balanced for the adult dog (maintenance), complete and balanced for puppies (growth), or complete and balanced for growth and maintenance both. Since all manufactures comply with this regulation, the only thing left to the consumers is to read the label.
Among the varieties of canned, bagged, or semi-moist dog foods, there are certain drawbacks, as well as advantages. This is true even though they are nutritionally identical if advertised as “complete” and/or “balanced”.
Because canned dog food may contain up to 78% moisture, a dog necessarily has to eat a larger quantity of a canned product to get the same volume of food that he would get if fed a dry product. It takes three pounds of commercially prepared canned dog food to be equivalent to one pound of dry food.
But manufactures do not fill a can two-thirds of the way with water, then top it off with a little dab of dog food. The moisture content inside the can is there by the very nature of the ingredients. For example, when a human buys a thick juicy steak, he’s buying well over fifty percent moisture. The butcher didn’t inject that moisture into the steak with a hypodermic needle.
The moisture content in canned dog food serves a definite and useful purpose toward dog health, both in processing and in the dog’s digestive system. The drawback to the consumer insofar as canned dog food is concerned, is usually one of economics. It can be very expensive due to the large quantities of canned food most normal to large sized dogs will need to eat to get in their daily caloric and nutritional needs. Keep in mind, proper dog health can be very expensive, but well worth the love and affection!
Dog Food & Supplements: An In Depth Look At Nutrition And Dog Health (5)
Of the twenty six nutrients needed for proper dog health, none can be left out of the ration, or added at inadequate levels, if optimum growth and performance are expected.
Because the nutrients interact with each other, they must be included in precise ratios. If a large excess of one nutrient occurs, then the quantities of other nutrients in the ration must be increased accordingly. Otherwise, a deficiency of certain nutrients exists.
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Dog Health Secrets You Need To Know!
“In This Shocking FREE Video Report You Discover Why 87% of Dogs Die Too Early & 3 Easy Things You Can Do Today To Stop It Happening to Your Dog”
————————————————————–
This can be a dangerous situation regarding dog health.
A good example of this is the relationship between calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D. All effects are interrelated. The ratio of calcium to phosphorus must be maintained at 1.2 or 1. If additional calcium is added, creating an imbalance, there would be an inefficient assimilation of these minerals.
The result could cause a disease known as rickets.
Considering that vitamin D acts as transportation for calcium, one can begin to see how these three elements are connected. While a deficiency of calcium predisposes to rickets, an excess of calcium will do likewise.
In adult dogs, the condition would be referred to as “paper bones”.
A more common example is an excess of fat in the diet. If fat increased to high levels, then fat will satisfy the energy requirements of the dog before the requirements for other nutrients are met. The result would be a nutritional imbalance. An increase of fat requires a corresponding increase in vitamin B12.
Of particular concern are those professional breeders who attempt to bred over-sized, large boned “super dogs”. Nutritional experts state that certain supplements such as oils, enzymes, and minerals should be used only under a veterinarian’s supervision or recommendation. This is especially true of calcium and cod liver oil (vitamin D), both of which are frequently used by breeders during growth. In excess, they can cause serious problems, particularly with bone development.
In this regard toward dog health, it should be added that excess vitamin and mineral supplements may be the aggravating cause of heart problems, hip problems, and lower the all-around health of a dog.
With the hip dysplasia problem being so rampant, and no longer confined to just one or two breeds, professional breeders must become more aware of the dangers up upsetting intricate balances with their “home treatments” and super “bone builders” (genetic inheritance notwithstanding).
Drugs have a very definite place in our society. It is the misuse and abuse of drugs that creates a problem. Likewise, vitamin and mineral supplementation has an important place in the dog world, but misuse and abuse creates a dangerous problem in dog health.