What and how to feed the dogs?

Determining the type of feeding a dog is an important and crucial moment. After all, it is on how correctly it will be chosen and balanced that the health, well-being, appearance and life expectancy of a pet will directly depend. At present, it is possible to feed animals both with ready-made feed, in a mostly dry form, and with natural, cooked with your own hands. Here with the features of each type of food, their examples, pros and cons will be discussed in this article.

Recently, an increasing number of dog breeders believe that if an animal eats natural food, that is, prepared by its owner at home, then it grows strong, powerful and healthy. Such a statement is quite controversial. However, it has been accurately proved that a properly balanced, natural food allows you to grow a really healthy pet. But for this it is necessary to know exactly what products, useful substances and trace elements the dog needs.

All foods of these animals are divided into several groups, depending on the specific substances and vitamins they contain in the highest concentration.

This is the main battery, it is responsible for the normal growth and division of cells, and, consequently, for normal growth, the development of the dog and its muscle tissue. In this case, protein is the only substance that does not have a cumulative effect. That is, it must be present in the diet of the animal constantly.

Several substances are the main suppliers of protein.

• Dairy and dairy products. It is not only a source of protein, but also useful food bacteria. At the same time, the sour milk must be present in the pet's ration from the moment it is 6 months old until the very last days of life. Whole milk is used for cooking cereals, intended for feeding puppies up to two months of age, as well as pregnant and lactating bitches.

• Powdered milk It is acceptable to use no more than 2 times in 10 days and in small quantities. And you should also know that in one meal it is forbidden to feed the dog at the same time with dairy and meat products (we are talking only about whole milk). The fat content of whole milk products should not be lower than 7 and higher than 12%. If home products are used, then they must pass a veterinary examination. Otherwise, instead of the benefits of natural nutrition, the animal will be brought one harm.

• Eggs This product is not only a storehouse of protein, but also nourishes the body with such vitamins as E, B2, B12, D. And they also contain a large amount of useful polysaturated amino acids. But per week, adult dogs are recommended to include them in the diet no more than two times. The maximum daily amount is 3 eggs. Lactating dogs, puppies, animals after diseases or surgery chicken eggs in the diet should be replaced with quail. Give them fresh or boiled.

• Meat, fish and offal. They are the main source of protein for dogs, their mass fraction in the pet's diet can reach 50%.Fish can be given 2 times a week, the calculation is simple - 5 g of this product should fall to 1 kg of animal weight. Sea species of fish can be given raw, river - only after a long and mandatory heat treatment. Fish bones should be removed whenever possible, especially if the food is prepared for puppies. But the broth or the juice remaining after cooking, you should easily add to the other products that make up the porridge.

• Offal usually included on the menu once a week. This group includes the heart, trachea, liver, kidneys, lungs, scar. They are given both in raw finely ground form, and after passing through heat treatment. The main source of protein is meat. Preference should be given to beef, lean pork, rabbit and poultry. It is permissible to use bone or meat and bone meat mince, but only after heat treatment.

• Bones, only moslaki are allowed (for cleaning the dog's teeth), as well as spongy or porous. Tubular and rib bones are potentially highly dangerous for the animal, they can not be included in the diet even in baked or boiled form. It is permissible to use them for boiling broth for porridge. But for normal growth and development of a dog's body does not need any protein, but also other nutrients.

They are the main source of energy of the animal, as well as saturate its body with fiber, necessary for normal intestinal peristalsis. As their main source are cereals. The exact list of cereals should determine the veterinarian, depending on the age, breed and state of health of the animal. However, barley, millet and corn grits should be absent.

The bulk of carbohydrates should come from cereals such as buckwheat, unpolished rice, wheat or barley porridge. They are boiled mainly in water. In cases of feeding puppies or pregnant and lactating females, cooking them in milk is allowed.

They should be regularly present in the diet of dogs. Some of them enter the body in the form of vegetables and fruits, raw or boiled (these products are also a source of beneficial carbohydrates). But to get the daily rate of vitamins and minerals from them is quite difficult, therefore in addition, it is necessary to acquire special complexes of these substances if the animal is on a completely natural diet.

Here it is important to understand that everything should be in moderation, so the feed should not be very fat, not dietary. On average, one dog's meal requires 10 g of fat. Their source is fish oil, vegetable oil of all kinds, and sometimes you can use good quality butter in small quantities.

In addition to the list of necessary ingredients, there is a list of prohibited foods.

• Pasta and white bread. These products do not carry any benefit and, in fact, are a source of fast carbohydrates, which lead to the difficulty of the intestines, as well as the rapid collection of excess weight by the dog.
• Fatty pork, lamb and lard are also banned. These types of meat are difficult to digest by animals, and fat is generally pure fat.
• Spice and salt. Spices are foreign to the dog's body and often cause allergies. Salt is a dubious product, recently veterinarians have been recommending that it be completely abandoned.
• Sweets - These are carbohydrates that carry absolutely no benefit. In addition, they harm the teeth of the animal and upset the work of his digestive tract.

These foods make digestion difficult and cause bloating in dogs. In addition, they simply do not digest and are not digested by the body of pets.

Cooking a full-fledged dog food with your own hands is a difficult, troublesome and time-consuming business. It is much easier to buy ready-to-use special formula for feeding your pet. But here it is necessary to observe the following nuances:

• it is worth choosing feed only from proven manufacturers; from the budgetary food options should be abandoned;
• feed should be used in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations;
• for each breed of dog, its size and state of health should choose a special diet;
• it is necessary to carefully study the composition of the feed; it should not contain ingredients such as flour, feathers, offal, preservatives and dyes.

If it is decided to feed the animal with a dry industrial feed, then first of all Attention should be paid to products from several manufacturers.

• Wolfsblut - These are products of the German brand, belonging to the category of holistic. The range includes products with a variety of meat and fish tastes. There are also feeds intended for the diet of animals. The percentage of meat - not less than 30 units. In the composition there are no harmful additives and preservatives, the size of the granules is average. All ingredients passed the most severe quality control.

• Brit Care Adult Large Breed - This is a food designed specifically for large animals. The composition is balanced, a wide choice of food with different tastes. Food belongs to the category of hypoallergenic, has not only fruits and vegetables, but also special additives that help protect the pet from joint diseases.

• Treatment balance - This is a domestic brand. A big plus feed is the presence in the composition of natural meat, not meat meal. Reasonable price, composition natural and safe. A big plus lies in the availability of enhanced vitamin complex in the composition.

• Acana - This is a wide selection of various dry and even wet dog food of various sizes and breeds. The visiting card of the manufacturer is the presence of meat in the amount of 50% of the total weight of the product. There are no flavors or preservatives. Feed consumption is economical, but the animal receives absolutely all the necessary substances.

• Almo nature - This is an Italian manufacturer. In his line of feed, he presents products for dogs of all ages and sizes. The composition is perfectly balanced, natural and safe. The food is classified as a premium class, although some breeders have already attributed it to the holistics.

• Happy Dog. In the line of this manufacturer are not only standard feed, but also medical, diet, and also suitable for animals of all ages and sizes. As with previous manufacturers, the feed from this manufacturer is balanced, having proved its high quality and natural ingredients in practice.

The first thing you should definitely pay attention to is the feeding mode. Manufacturers of dry dog ​​food indicate the frequency of feeding and the amount of servings on the package.

On average, healthy adult dogs are fed as follows:

• feeding frequency - twice a day at the same time;
• portion size on average is 5-7% of the total weight of the animal;
• food intake should take at least one hour before walking and at least two hours before bedtime;
• if one of the meals was skipped, then the next time the portion volume cannot be increased.

If the dog is old, the conditions and diet will change slightly, namely:

• dry food should be specially designed for older dogs; in it, the granules have a more suitable size and level of hardness, the composition is slightly different than that of the food for young dogs;
• if the food is natural, then the volume of croup should be reduced in it, as well as bones; on the contrary, the share of cooked vegetables and meat that has been heat-treated increases;
• the frequency of food intake can be increased up to three times a day, while the volume of a single portion reduces to 3% of the weight of the dog itself.

In addition, the old dogs natural food should be quite liquid and include a large percentage of water, and the food itself should be as crushed as possible, almost ground into a uniform puree.

If before the operation the animal was fed with ordinary dry food, then after sterilization and castration it must be transferred to a special food for such dogs. The best option is the products of the same manufacturer, whose feed the dog consumed before. The frequency of feeding is still 2-3 times a day.. The serving volume must be specified directly by the manufacturer on the packaging, depending on the age, size and weight of the animal.

If the animal before the abdominal surgery was on a natural diet, then after surgery it can be left unchanged. True, something will have to change in the menu itself.

Such dogs are strictly forbidden to give boiled meat of any kind, sweets (even fruits with a high sugar content) and white bread. These products must disappear forever from the menu of the animal and not appear in it in the form of even extremely rare exceptions.

About once a week, the usual evening ration should be changed to a portion of any fermented milk product. It can be kefir or ryazhenka. And for more satiety dogs they should be pre-mixed with a small amount of low-fat cottage cheese. Such a change will help facilitate the work of the gastrointestinal tract and normalize its activity in general.

Even if other kinds of cereals were included in the diet of the bitch before the operation, now the veterinarian should determine the appropriateness of their use. Therefore, the owner of the animal must necessarily clarify this issue with him.

But on male dogs, castration has a far greater impact, since their hormonal levels change quite strongly. Therefore, to preserve the health of a pet, it is necessary to make the following significant changes to its diet:

• in the first few weeks after the operation, food should be as soft, chopped and with a high content of liquid;
• feeding frequency can be increased up to three times per day;
• the average caloric intake is reduced by 25%, especially with regard to the use of fat;
• the main source of carbohydrates is oatmeal, boiled in water, but not of instant preparation;
• in the role of fats it is allowed to use sunflower olive or pumpkin oil;
• the source of protein is finely ground raw meat, once in 10 days it is allowed to give raw offal, every 7 days one of the meals can consist of raw sea fish;
• vegetables are allowed to use carrots, zucchini and zucchini; fruit can only be apples of savory varieties and not more than 1 time per week.

In the past few years, veterinarians and experienced breeders have said that sterilized dogs are easier to maintain on natural nutrition than neutered males.

From the right diet for newly born pups directly depends on their health in the future. If it is planned to feed the dog only with dry food, then first use semi-liquid ready-made mixtures with pieces of solid food as feeding. Within 1-3 weeks puppies are completely transferred to dry food. Feed them additionally naturalka strictly prohibited.

In such mixtures, the manufacturer has foreseen all the needs of the pet's body.

If you plan to breastfeed, then you should pay particular attention to the following:

• The density of servings and their caloric content directly depend on such factors as weather conditions - in the cold most of the energy goes to heating the animal, therefore the fat content of food should be slightly higher than normal; in the heat, on the contrary, food should be less calorie and more liquid;
• feeding frequency of puppies is 3-5 times per day; the older an animal becomes, the less often it is fed and the larger portion is put on one meal; if within 20 minutes the bowl with food does not become empty, it is removed until the next feeding;
• Puppies under the age of 4 months should definitely be fed within 45 minutes after the walk, which will help them to rest and recover faster.

During the first months of life, puppies form the basis of their diet milk porridge, boiled and raw meat, offal in large quantities. The older the animal becomes, the greater the share of the menu is occupied by vegetables and protein sources, the smaller - fats and simple carbohydrates. There is no colossal difference between the results of the natural feeding of dogs and the use of industrial feed, but on the condition that all the subtleties and recommendations are followed, as well as proper preparation of the diet.

On what to feed the dog, see below.