Like humans, our furry friends also need a well-balanced diet. They should be fed food rich in nutrients that will keep them strong and healthy.
Us fur parents need to give our dogs a diet that follows the three fundamental principles of proper dog nutrition: moderation, variety, and balance.
Moderation is all about feeding the right amount of food to dogs to ensure that they maintain a healthy weight throughout their lives.
Our dogs need a variety of nutrients to ensure that they get all the nutritional benefits without having to resort to vitamin and mineral supplements. How they will get these nutrients depends on your choice of dog food – fresh and refrigerated (you can get the full scoop on Freshpet), raw, canned, or homemade.
Balance, on the other hand, is focused on getting the correct proportions or amounts of the nutrient requirements. This is what it means to provide your dog with a well-balanced diet.
The Six Nutrient Requirements for Dogs
There are six nutrient requirements for dogs; each one is essential if you want to achieve optimum health for your furry friend.
- Dogs need 13 vitamins for overall good health and well-being. This includes Vitamins A, D, E, K, B1, and B2.
- The right amount of minerals is essential for the proper functioning of dogs’ biological systems.
- Water is essential in ensuring that dogs can continue performing major functions.
- Dogs need fats in their diet for improved energy and healthy cells, for EFAs (essential fatty acids) that keep their coat quality and skin healthy, and for preventing inflammation.
- Dogs need the right amount of protein for the proper growth of their ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. With enough protein, dogs will have strong, shiny, and healthy hair and fur.
- Carbohydrates keep dogs active and energized, generate body heat, and convert to glucose. Glucose is essential for the nervous system to function normally.
Health Problems Resulting in Nutrient Deficiency
If your dog’s diet lacks the essential nutrients, you may have to deal with several health issues.
For example, a Vitamin B6-deficient dog diet can experience weight loss, stunted growth, anorexia, and certain kidney problems. You wouldn’t want your dog to get sick, would you? Imagine what it would feel like to have your dog suffer from kidney issues just because they weren’t fed a nutrient-rich diet. Although there are non-prescription options for kidney problems, wouldn’t it be better if your furry companion stays 100% healthy?
Other health complications that may arise from nutrient deficiency include skin allergies, blindness, osteoporosis, and bone problems, heart-related issues, weak immune system, and in some cases, death.
So, What Nutritional Diet Should You Feed Your Dog?
Commercial dog foods are now required to include the ingredients and nutritional value in the product label. As such, you can check for the ingredient and nutrient quality whenever you buy one. If a commercial dog food has a ‘complete and balanced’ label, it passed the standards set by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials).
However, many dog owners have been transitioning to raw dog food, homemade dog food, or fresh and refrigerated dog food.
Raw dog food can be ordered online or bought from your favorite pet store. Those who prefer this option believe that natural feeding has more nutrients than other commercial dog food types because they are minimally processed.
Homemade dog food is also popular because aside from being fresh, it is also minimally processed. The downside, however, is that most of these do not contain enough nutrients.
Fresh and refrigerated dog food does not have a lot of preservatives and most varieties have complete and balanced nutrients. The majority of these follow AAFCO standards, so you have the guarantee that they are safe.
However, before you decide on anything, talk to your vet so you’ll have the correct portioning and serving frequency details (i.e. how many times a day your dog should eat). Your vet should also be able to tell you what kind of food is ideal for your dog if they have pre-existing conditions or allergies. For example, if your dog is allergic to chicken, you have to make sure that you avoid preparing a chicken-based diet for them.
These are things that you need to consider before choosing your dog’s diet.
Conclusion
Giving your dog a safe and healthy diet does not rely on what you want to give them; rather, it depends on what they need. And what they need is a diet that’s filled with all the nutrients they need to stay healthy and strong and to live comfortably for years.
