Dog nutrition – the basics

Important smell, not taste

However, when choosing food, a dog is guided by its smell, not its taste. The more intense and attractive the smell of a meal, the faster the dog eats it. The taste of food for a dog is secondary, but we cannot forget that the taste buds in our pet receive all flavours – sweet, bitter, salty, sour. Proper dog nutrition should primarily consist of providing him with the necessary nutrients, thanks to which our four-legged friend will be able to develop properly. Dog nutrition is different at each stage of his life and depends on the breed we choose, his age, the amount of exercise, his health status and our pet's temperament. A dog showing considerable physical activity will have different nutritional requirements than a little dog who likes to lie on the sofa all day. Therefore, each of us must adjust the diet for our own dog, which will meet his individual needs. For our four-legged friend to be healthy, his daily diet should not lack good animal protein, fat, vegetables or fruit. The more varied the diet, the better. Especially in the first developmental stage, we must remember that meals should be well balanced. People who decided to feed their dog with dry food have no problem, as the manufacturer of ready-made dry food has done it for them. However, more and more people are applying the Barf diet and balancing meals themselves. At first it may seem difficult, but from meal to meal it gets much better. Especially since there is a lot of information about this diet on the market. A dog is a carnivore and would most prefer food in raw form.

Dry food

Dry food is convenient to serve, and we can easily take it on a trip. It should be well balanced in terms of the content of all necessary nutrients, macro and microelements and vitamins. By using it, we should be sure that we are giving the dog a complete food. Is that the case? Not quite. The drawback of such food is its high degree of processing and very high carbohydrate content, which can lead to digestive system problems. They can also contribute to the appearance of skin allergies and lead to overweight and obesity in our dog. Therefore, manufacturers place tables on the packaging with information on how much food per day the dog should receive. This is also not entirely obvious, as dogs are different and one may need only one cup of food for the whole day, while another may not. The amount of carbohydrates in dry food can be easily calculated by subtracting from 100% the amount of individual values. For example, if the composition is as follows: 25% protein, 15% fat, 7.5% fibre, 8% ash and 10% moisture, then carbohydrates in the wet mass is 34.5%. This in the dry mass, i.e. in the food we give to the dog, will be 38.3% carbohydrates. To obtain the % carbohydrate content already in dry food (i.e. the above result), simply divide the carbohydrate result we obtained in the wet mass by the result – subtracting the moisture level given in the food composition from 100% (in our example it will be 90%). Therefore, we, by observing our dog, should adjust the amount of food to his needs.

Read the dog food composition

Currently, there is a very large selection of so-called ready-made foods on the market. Every manufacturer boasts that it is their food that will meet your dog's nutritional needs. To choose good ready-made food from among many colourful packages on the shelf, you must read their COMPOSITION. When reading the composition, pay attention to what is in the first places, as these ingredients are always most abundant in such a product. It is ideal if we clearly have in the composition that the food contains: dried meat e.g. from turkey, dehydrated lamb meat, fresh goat meat, meat meal from chicken, and only later other nutritional ingredients. Good food should have about 60–80% meat, but the price of such food will also be very high. If dry food will have over 30% meat, it will not be so bad. It is important that it does not contain cereals and a significant amount of carbohydrates. You should avoid foods that have information such as: animal origin products, by-products, bone meal from e.g. chicken, or it says chicken or fish. Why? Because these are ground various types of animal parts with minimal amounts of meat. Similarly, if the label says "turkey". It does not entirely mean that it is turkey meat, it could simply be by-products from that animal. Dry food manufacturers use a marketing trick that most of us fall for when buying food that says "60% fresh turkey meat". So we think: "excellent food for our dog, it has that much meat" and we buy it. I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, because that amount of meat is not in the food, because it has not been dehydrated and in reality there will be much less of it in the finished product. Fresh meat contains 80% water. From 1 kg of fresh meat, after dehydration we will have only 200g left. Let us pay attention to this when reaching for a package of dry food on the shelf.

What to avoid?

Preservatives are also in dry food and are not harmless to our dog's body. BHA, BHT, propyl gallate and tocopherol derivatives are permitted. All these compounds accumulate in the body, and consumption of them for a long time can lead to various diseases. Let us choose foods that contain natural antioxidants, rosemary extracts, vitamin E. Choose foods that have fewer ingredients. For this reason, if our dog starts to scratch, hot spots appear or diarrhoea occurs, it will then be easier for us to eliminate the ingredient responsible for it. It is also important not to buy very large packages for our four-legged friends. We should adjust the amount in kilograms to our dog's needs and size. Food that has been open for a long time also loses its properties.