Pick a Healthy Dog Food for Proper Dog Nutrition

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Good canine nutrition is all about feeding healthy dog food that contains all the energy components and building blocks to help your pups grow, reach their fullest potential, and remain active for the rest of their lives.

Now more than ever, there are already hundreds of diets and feeding methods to choose from. Many pet owners often use canned and dry dog food for cost and convenience purposes.

However, for those fur parents who are more open-minded when it comes to their pup’s diet, you can go beyond the usual canned and dry varieties to ensure better dog nutrition.

Primary Components of Good Canine Nutrition

Here are the key dietary components that you should consider when looking for healthy food for your Fido:

Carbohydrate

The digestive system breaks down carbohydrates and converts them into glucose which will then serve as a good source of energy for your dog. Whole grains are rich in carbohydrates that can provide fiber, iron, minerals, and many other beneficial nutrients.

Fats

Fats in your dog’s diet provide the highest amount of concentrated energy source. These also supply the much-needed fatty acids, which are essential building blocks for critical substances and important to maintain and creating healthy and normal cells.

Minerals

Minerals are the inorganic nutrients that compose less than 1% of the body weight of a dog. However, despite this low number, minerals play a key role in different essential functions including growth, healthy teeth, and strong bones.

Proteins

Proteins are a form of complex molecules consisting of amino acids, which are the main building blocks of the growth, repair, and maintenance of cells. When it comes to companion animals such as dogs, protein is necessary for the maintenance of healthy hair and fur which often uses up to 30% of the daily protein intake of your pooch.

Good canine nutrition is all about feeding healthy dog food that contains all the energy components and building blocks to help your pups grow, reach their fullest potential, and remain active for the rest of their lives.

Vitamins

Vitamins are organic substances or synthetic derivatives that are necessary for the normal and proper functioning of the body. These are also essential to help convert calories into energy, boost your dog’s immunity, and assist with other processes in the body.

The amounts and combinations of all these components are entirely based on the weight, age, lifestyle, and physical or medical conditions of a dog. This explains why there are many types of food for healthy dog nutrition for every phase and stage of life of your fur baby.

Healthy Dog Nutrition for Puppies

Quality food for puppies is specifically formulated while considering the nutritional requirements of a dog that is still growing to adulthood. Puppies require approximately twice as many calories for every pound of body weight as adult dogs of a similar breed.

Puppies should be given scientifically formulated and nutritious food at around four weeks of age when the milk of the mother starts to become scarce.

Puppy food should be given in several well-spaced meals two to three times per day. All puppies that are less than 10 pounds should generally eat thrice a day. You can wean puppies that are over 10 pounds little by little to two feedings per day.

Sticking to a regular feeding schedule can make puppies get their bodies used to a routine that can come in handy with house training. Certain breeds may also overeat if you give them too many calories. This is why healthy dog nutrition also requires close monitoring of their weight gain.

dry dog food two to three times per day for a puppy — Puppy dry dog food should be given in several well-spaced meals two to three times per day. All puppies that are less than 10 pounds should generally eat thrice a day.

You can also consult your veterinarian to know if your puppy is going through the right growth rate or is gaining excessive weight or growing faster than normal. It is recommended to let your puppy eat food that contains 25% to 30% protein. Take note that a dog’s adult size is determined according to genetics and not by how fast they grow. Never overfeed your puppy just to try to speed up its growth rate.

Dog breeds have significant differences in terms of overeating tendencies, growth rate, size, and others. There are numerous variables to help you make the right choices in terms of the caloric and nutritional needs of your puppy. This is why it is highly recommended to always set a vet’s advice.

Best Dog Food for Adult Dogs

Every dog is different and unique, which means no single dog food can support healthy dog nutrition for all canines. Generally speaking, feeding premium dog food brands is a safe option for most dogs. These premium brands offer different types of diets, either canned or dry dog food, as well as protein choices. You can now find different premium dog food brands that are great options for your pup.

For your adult dog, make sure you choose healthy dog food that has been specially balanced to provide the necessary nutritional and caloric needs required for health, wellness, and happiness.

For your adult dog, make sure you choose food that has been specially balanced to provide the necessary nutritional and caloric needs required for health, wellness, and happiness. It is also essential at this point in the life of your dog to ensure that you use and observe proper portion control, whether you are using free choice or timed feeding methods.

Free-choice feeding

With free-choice feeding, dog food can be available all the time when and how much your pup wants. However, it is rarely a good option for feeding methods since most dogs tend to overeat and gain excessive weight.

Meal feeding

Meal feeding is all about feeding your dog a specific amount of food twice daily. Sadly, many dogs still overeat if allowed free-choice feeding or timed feeding. This is why meal feeding is often recommended most of the time for the majority of dogs.

Timed feeding

When timed feeding your pooch, you prepare a food portion available for a certain period. You can place food in your pet’s bowl for 20 minutes, for example. After this period, if your dog still didn’t eat the food, you will take the food away. It is a common method used for feeding different breeds that are not inclined to gorge themselves.

Many of the guidelines indicated in wet and dry dog food labels when it comes to feeding amounts are excessively high in calories. However, it is important to remember that middle-aged dogs tend to gain more excess weight compared to puppies.

Everything You Need to Know About Healthy Dog Food

This is why to achieve healthy dog nutrition, you have to choose nutritious and balanced dog food. At the same time, you also need to implement and observe responsible feeding protocols to reduce the adverse health effects that are the result of overconsumption and poor nutrition.