Dog Nutrition & Health

Dog Nutrition
Dog food nutrition is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle for your pet. Dogs, just like everyone else, have specific nutritional needs. Dogs lack the ability to communicate their problems, so it's up to their owners to determine how healthy they are. Diet directly affects your dog's skin and coat, weight, energy level, and gastrointestinal function. Diet, environmental toxins, pharmaceuticals and stress all play a part in the health of companion animals. Dog nutrition influences overall health, including skin and coat condition.

Feeding your dog can be done in three different ways: dog food purchased at the supermarket, dog food made at home or a combination of both. If you do decide to purchase commercial dog food I would suggest doing some reading up about it, in the past few years many commercial dog foods have had to be recalled due to contaminants that are found in dog food. Many dog owners are increasingly choosing holistic dog food, over the commercially available pet food, in a bid to introduce their dogs to a healthier, more balanced diet. Dog food should contain little or no fillers at all, but most of them do so your actually not giving your dog the correct diet it needs to be healthy. Many recipes can be found on the Internet for dog meals you can make from your home.

Aside from what you choose to feed your dog it is important to ensure that your dog is not be given access to food all the time. This can create obesity, which can create a variety of different illness for your dog. Free-feeding is also very unhelpful for the training of meal times in puppies and leaving food out in hot summer months can bring flies, mites and other various rodents out of the woodwork. It is suggested your dog is on a feeding schedule and remember to only give the amount prescribed by your vet, too much food can also create obesity. Remember, dogs are scavengers; an empty bowl is often a trigger for pleading or browsing behaviour and does not mean that your dog is starving.

Feeding your dog table scraps can also be a bad training and nutrition habit. Your dog will beg while you eat your dinner, which can be uncomfortable for guests but also human fats, and foods are not always good for your dog as they are for you. I suggest feeding your family while your dog eats his food in another room. This way he won't feel left out.

Dogs have shorter digestive tracts than humans and larger chunks can upset your dogs' stomach. Your dog needs a meat-based diet, high in protein (which isn't stored as fat) and fat and low in carbohydrate. Nutrition isn't always about diet. Good nutrition leads to good health and so do many other things, such as exercise, keeping its weight down (through good nutrition and regular exercise) keeping its teeth clean (next to obesity, periodontal disease is the one most commonly seen in the vet's office) getting it to the vet for regular check-ups being observant about symptoms that might indicate a health problem and getting prompt and appropriate veterinary attention (information below).

You might also want to consider alternative treatments for any sickness or allergy your dog has. These may include nutrition, herbs, acupuncture, chiropractic, and massage, as well as traditional medicines. These alternatives are all natural and better for your dog's body than chemical drugs and have no side effects at all. As more people understand the importance of nutrition to their own health, they're starting to consider what's in their dog's food bowl as well. Maximum nutrition dog food can do a lot for your dog's well being by improving its appearance, energy level and general state of health.

Learn what you should be feeding your dog at every stage of its life. By understanding what puppies eat in the wild, you will learn valuable clues as to what you should be feeding your domestic pup. The degree to which modern dogs experience ill health reflects the degree to which they are subjected to biologically inappropriate methods of feeding and exercising. If your dog constantly leaves some food in the bowl, you are probably feeding too much food. Maintain your dog's nutrition, food, diet, and eating habits and he/she will live a joyful life with you and your loved ones.

Dog Health
Providing shelter and food for your dog is not your only duty as a dog owner. You need to take care of a whole lot of things to make sure your dog stays hale and hearty and enjoys a long, happy life. Basically, it is all about knowing what is good and what is bad for your dog's health.

The need to know about canine health
As a dog owner, the last thing you want to see is your dog suffering from various health problems. Unfortunately, pet dogs are vulnerable to a lot of health problems - right from bacterial infections to cancer. Given below is a list of things you can do to prevent these health problems and keep your dog healthy for a long time.

Healthy Dog Diet
Feeding your dog a healthy, balanced diet is the simplest way to prevent most dog health problems. Be sure to provide your dog with an AAFCO certified food. According to Consumer Reports, who interviewed many veterinarians, price is less important than certification. If you dog is healthy and doesn't require any sort of dietary restrictions, then a commercial diet from a known company is fine. In general, the average companion dogs need the following nutritional profile per pound of body weight.
Nutrient
Energy 10 kcal
Water 10 ml
Protein 1 gm
Sodium 10 mg
Phosphorus 20 mg

Water
Like people, have a constant supply of clean water to drink is essential. Give your dog the same water you give yourself (filtered etc.). To encourage drinking and urination, consider providing more than one water bowl in the house and take your dog for frequent walks if possible. Urination is natures way of cleansing the urinary tract and for keeping infection and stones from taking hold.

Exercise
Do not let your dog stay dormant all the time. Physical inactivity tends to affect its physical and mental health badly. So, make sure it gets enough physical exercise. There are plenty of good exercises for dogs like walking, swimming, fetching, and stairs climbing. Regular exercise prevents stress, makes your dog active, increases its metabolic rate, strengthens its joints, and improves its overall health. So, if you want to prevent dog health problems, make sure your dog stays active. Activity can be enhanced with a fetch ball or a kong toy that causes your dog to solve the puzzle of how to release food that is hidden inside.

Grooming
Contrary to what most people think, grooming is not just about making your dog look good. It helps prevent bacterial and viral infections that commonly affect dogs. So, make sure you bathe your dog regularly. Clean its ears from dog ear wax and teeth on a regular basis. Brush it at least twice a week and clip its nails regularly.

Cleanliness
According to pet health experts, exposure to harmful chemicals is one of the main causes of canine health problems. So, limit the use of pesticides, herbicides, and weed killers to the extent possible. Second hand smoke is harmful to your dog's health as well. So, make your home a no-smoking zone.

Health supplements
Consider giving your dog a natural health supplement. According to homeopathic veterinarians, these types of products can be a helpful was to strengthen the body's natural immune response to disease. You can give supplements that contain herbs like Huang Qi, Mistletoe, Milk Thistle, and Indian Ginseng that are known for their ability to treat and prevent various dog health problems.

These herbs can boost your dog's immune system, improve the functioning of its vital organs, keep its blood pressure levels under control, increase its energy levels, and support a healthy appetite and vitality. Since these canine health supplements are 100% natural, there are no risks of side effects at all. To get the best results, you can make them a part of your dog's regular diet.

Love and care
You didn't think I was going to finish this article without mentioning this, did you? Dog health does not mean just physical health. It also means mental health. It is about keeping your dog happy. How do you keep your dog happy? It's simple - by loving him. Your dog needs your love and attention more than anything else. Pat your dog. Reward him whenever he does something good. Make him understand that you love him. Pamper him and make him feel good. It is one of the simplest ways to keep your dog happy and active.