Dog Nutrition Guide

Could feeding dogs table scraps and other human food be harmful?

You may know….

9 million people in the UK suffer from joint problems*
44% of men and **35% of women in the UK are overweight**
But did you know….

40% of the UK's large breed dogs live with joint problems too
Similar to the human population, up to 50% of the UK's pets are overweight
To a dog, one human biscuit has the same calorie equivalent as a whole packet (more…)

Here at Dog Nutrition, we often receive enquiries from people who are keen to understand what exactly 'proper dog nutrition' means.

The dog is not a true carnivore in the same sense as, for example, a cat. This means a dog's diet can be more varied and still produce positive health. Whereas a cat MUST eat meat in order to be truly healthy and for proper nutrition to serve its goal.

So what does proper nutrition mean for dogs?

Proper Dog Nutrition: Fats in the Dog's Diet

An important nutrient that all dogs need and one that is responsible for furnishing energy in their body are fats. Fats supply energy for the body to use. It also has a small role in building strong cells and promoting the absorption of nutrients. However, similar to the essential amino acids, a dog's body isn't able to produce these essential fatty acids, and therefore has to come from an outside source, from the food they eat.

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In this article we look at some brief, simple advice on selecting a quality diet for your dog.

Just as we perform better when we eat the best foods, your dog will also be healthier if you feed it premium high quality pet food.

The top brands of dog food, while often a little more expensive also have higher quality ingredients that will give your dog better all round nutrition.

The best foods have a complex range of vitamins and minerals that have been designed to give your dog all the elements that they need in their diet. This applies to their canned foods and also the dry food such as biscuits and nibbles.

These foods also contain a lot less additives and we have shown in a previous newsletter how these additives in the form of preservative, colouring and fillers are detrimental to your dog's health and fitness.

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How much food does a dog really need?

It seems not many a day goes by where we're not hearing more about the rise and rise of obesity. Sadly, our pets are also widening around the girth.

It is of course easy to control the amount of food your dog is eating and it is essential that you gauge its weight on a regular basis to ensure that it doesn't get obese.

Health Problems from Overfeeding

There are an increasing number of dogs suffering from this disease and in most cases this could have been avoided through the correct nutrition and monitoring the amount of food the dog has been eating.

Having a dog with diabetes will necessitate the injection of insulin or in some cases taking of pills to assist in the maintenance of the correct sugar levels in their blood.

Obviously this involves additional expense and inconvenience and there is also a danger that should the insulin level be incorrect your pet could die. All of this from simply giving them too much food? You bet! (more…)

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has welcomed the European Parliament vote to improve the labelling of food, including new country of origin labelling and a requirement to label meat from animals slaughtered without stunning (according to certain religious traditions).

The European Parliament has voted in favour of labelling for meat from slaughter without stunning. The BVA believes that all animals should be effectively stunned before slaughter to improve the welfare of these animals at slaughter.

However, as long as slaughter without stunning is permitted the BVA has argued for any meat from this source to be clearly labelled to enable all consumers to fully understand the choice they are making when purchasing such products. (more…)