Dog Nutrition – 4 Common Questions about Dog Diets

One big issue when it comes to taking care of your dog is figuring out what to feed it. People have many questions about the right diet for their dogs and often have a difficult time choosing which type of dog food to get. This is an important decision to make, as giving them the right type of food will help keep illnesses away, such as arthritis, diabetes, and degenerative myelopathy. Below are commonly asked questions about dog nutrition and what pet owners should know about their dog’s diet.

Should I give my dogs a diet that matches their age?

It’s important that you give your dog the right food for its age. Puppies and young dogs will need a lot of protein, while mature and older dogs need less since they have a hard time metabolizing it. Fortunately, many dog food brands offer products designed for the different stages of a dog’s life, making it easy to know what to buy for your dog.

Will raw meat for dog food work?
Many breeders recommend raw meat combined with bones, which experts is better for the overall health of dogs. However, you need to be careful with this. In the wild, wild dogs hunt down animals and eat raw meat but the meat we are serving our pets may have undergone processing and exposure to different. Salmonella and E. Coli bacteria could be present in the meat and could cause your dog to get sick. If you are planning to give your pet an all meat diet, half-cooked meat is preferred.

How do you help dogs lose weight?

An overweight dog is prone to illnesses such as diabetes, heart problems and can even trigger genetic illnesses such as degenerative myelopathy. Older dogs typically have a harder time losing weight because of their metabolism rate that’s naturally getting slower. Talk to your veterinarian and ask if he, or she, can prescribe you dog with a special diet and exercise routine.

Should we depend on pet food alone or give our dogs supplements?

This depends on what you feed your dog. If you are preparing the food on your own then it’s best to give them some kind of food supplement. However, if you are giving them processed dog food, food supplements won’t be needed. Processed dog food food should already contain all the nutrients your pet needs.