Feeding Your Dog

A dog is a man's best friend. You do everything you can to maintain your optimum health. Doesn't your best friend deserve the same? Your dog is an active (probably the most active!) member of your family and needs the same, if not more attention to health and nutrition as you do, to stay healthy and live longer. Feeding your dog correctly doesn't need to be a full time job for you. All you need to do is use a little commonsense and have correct information about the breed and age of your dog. Let's divide dogs into two categories - small & adult. Small Dogs & Puppies It has long been established and proven that small dogs have a different metabolism in comparison to large dogs, due to the physiological effect of their body mass. For example, a great Dane weighing 100 pounds needs to consume about 23 calories per pound of body weight. A Pomeranian weighing 6 pounds needs to consume 47 calories per pound of body weight every day - more than twice as much! As the owner of a small dog, you need to be certain that your dog's energy needs are being satisfied. Be sure to choose a diet that's been formulated properly with an optimal balance of highly digestible nutrients. Digestibility determines how much your dog can actually utilize of each nutrient in a diet. Puppies require almost twice or thrice as much food as adult dogs per pound of weight. To keep up their energy levels, they have to be fed as frequently as three to four times a day until they are six months of age. Diet is always the key to raising your puppies. The diet should be balanced, nutrient rich, should contain high levels of phosphorous and calcium and be highly digestible. It should also contain high-quality proteins and should adhere to the Association of American Feed Control Officials' (AFFCO) procedures. This ensures that the puppy develops strong bones, muscle and tissue. For Adult Dogs Your dog needs a combination of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water in a balanced diet to meet their daily needs. A lot of dog food bags claim they are a complete food. This means nothing if the nutrients cannot be absorbed by your dog's system. Major companies take great care in this respect by trying to provide the nutrients in an absorbable form. Dog foods must also consist of mineral and vitamin supplements in a balanced form. The proportions should be accurate so that they do not interfere with each other in your dog's system. This provides the maximum benefit to you dog. If the food consists of one ingredient in overdose and the other in a lower dose, it could have an adverse affect on your dog's health. Given below are some feeding tips to make chow time more pleasant: - Always keep the food dish clean. - Feed adult dogs twice a day to prevent hogging at one single meal. This also lessens the chance of your deep chested dog developing bloat or stomach torsion. - Feeding Schedule should be relaxed so that your dog knows the approximate meal time but will not bother you if you are a little late. - Keep people and other pets away from your dog while feeding, so that he does not get insecure and feel a need to defend his food. - Never let your dog have free access to food, otherwise they have constant activity in their digestive systems. - Make sure your dog sits to have his food, so there is less chance of food spilling all over the floor. - Never let your dog play with his dish, teach him manners instead. - Leave the dish for 15 minutes so that he licks it clean.