How to Select Which Food is Best For Dog :
No one is in a better position
than you are to decide which food you should feed your dog. That may not be
what you wanted to hear. You may have been hoping that someone would reveal to
you the name of the world’s healthiest food, so you could just buy that and
have it done with.
But dogs, just like people, are
individuals. What works for this dog won’t work for that one. A Pointer who
goes jogging with his marathon-running owner every day needs a lot more calories
than the Golden Retriever who watches TV all day. The diet that contains enough
fat to keep that sled dog warm through an Alaskan winter would kill that
Miniature Poodle who suffers from pancreatitis. The commercial kibble that
stopped my Border Collie’s itching and scratching in its tracks may cause your
Bedlington Terrier to develop copper storage disease.
Should you set up blind taste
tests for your dog? Ask your vet what to feed your dog? Go with what yourdog-walker suggests? Choose whichever product WDJ says to feed? The answer to
every one of these questions is NO!
Every food on the market contains
different ingredients, and each one has the potential to cause symptoms of
allergy or intolerance in some dogs. Every food contains a different ratio of
macronutrients – protein, fat, and carbohydrates – and you have to learn by
trial and error which ratio works best for your dog. Each product contains
varying amounts of vitamins and minerals, and though most fall within the
ranges considered acceptable by the Association of American Feed Control
Officials (AAFCO), some may be in excess of, or deficient to your dog’s needs.
So how do you choose?
The starting place
Well, you have to start
somewhere, and you undoubtedly have. Your dog is eating something already. We
hope it’s a food that meets WDJ’s selection criteria, which is outlined
annually in the February issue. We highlight a number of foods on our
“approved” list, but consider any food that meets our selection criteria to be
as good as the ones on our list. Our goal is to help you identify the foods
with the best-quality ingredients – whole meats, vegetables, fruits, and
grains, and high-quality sources of dietary fat – to get you into the right
“ballpark” in terms of quality. Then you have to start individualized feeding
trials on your dog.
Start by assessing your dog’shealth. Take a sheet of paper and make a list with two columns: one for health
problems, and one for health assets. Any conditions for which she receives
veterinary care or medications go in the “problems” column. Other conditions
that should be listed here include bad breath; teeth that are prone to tartar
buildup; chronically goopy eyes; infection-prone or stinky ears; a smelly,
greasy, flaky, or thinning coat; itchy paws; excessive gas; recurrent diarrhea,
constipation, or incontinence; repeated infestations of worms or fleas; low orexcessive energy; and a sudden onset of antisocial or aggressive behavior.
In the health assets column, list
all the health characteristics that your dog has in her favor, such as fresh
breath, clean teeth, bright eyes, clean ears, a lack of itching, a glossy coat,
problem-free elimination, a normal appetite and energy level, and a good
attitude.
If there are a lot more assets on
your list than problems, and the problems are very minor, you may have already
found a diet that works well for your dog. But if your list reveals a lot more
problems than assets, your dog is a good candidate for a change of diet – in
addition to an examination and some guidance from a good holistic veterinarian!
Now take a look at the food you
are currently feeding your dog. Note the food’s ingredients, as well as its
protein and fat levels, and its caloric content. Write all of this down, so you
can make logical adjustments if need be.
Just two decades ago, it was
considered fairly radical to propose that canine diseases could be treated, at
least in part, by manipulating the patients’ diets. Today, the increasing
availability of “prescription” diets is the big story in the pet food industry.
As stated by the editors in the preface of the fourth edition (2000) of Small
Animal Clinical Nutrition (the nutrition bible for most veterinarians):
“This is truly an exciting timefor those involved in the discipline of clinical nutrition because of theveterinary profession’s increased understanding of the role of nutrition in
health and disease management, pet owners’ continued interest in receiving the
best nutritional information for their pets and the recent proliferation of
commercially available therapeutic foods. Our ability to improve the quality of
life for pets and their owners is great.”
If your dog has any sort of
disease or an inherited propensity for disease, ask your veterinarian about the
benefits of nutritional therapy to help treat or prevent the disease. Don’t
settle for the suggestion of a commercial “prescription” diet; most of them are
formulated with lower-quality ingredients. Instead, ask what specifically in
the diet has been manipulated so as to be beneficial for your dog. Then, see if
you can find a product that offers the same benefits and better-qualityingredients. The best example is a “kidney” diet for dogs with kidney failure.
The goal is to feed these patients a diet with a moderate level of very
high-quality protein and low amounts of phosphorus (see “When to Say No to
Low-Protein,” WDJ May 2005). An intelligently formulated home-prepared diet can
do a far better job of accomplishing these goals than the commercial diets on the
market.
Other diseases that can be
improved with dietary management include:
• Allergy or intolerance. There
are a number of breeds that are particularly susceptible to food allergies,
including Cocker Spaniels, Dalmatians, English Springer Spaniels, Labrador
Retrievers, Lhasa Apsos, Miniature Schnauzers, and more. Again, it’s important
to keep a record of what foods you feed your dog, what they contain, and howyour dog looks and feels. If your records indicate that one or more ingredients
trigger bad reactions in your dog, seek out foods that do not contain those
ingredients in any amount. (See “Walking the Allergy Maze,” August 2004 and
“Diet Makes the Difference,” May 2001.)
• Cancer. High-fat,
low-carbohydrate (or carb-free) diets are ideal for cancer patients. Cancer
cells use carbs for energy, and don’t easily utilize fat, so you can
effectively “starve” the cancer cells while providing extra energy to your dog
with a diet rich in a high-quality fat sources. (See “Feed the Dog, Starve the
Cancer,” November 2003.)
• Inherited metabolism disorders.
Some breeds are prone to diseases with a strong dietary influence. For example,
the West Highland White Terrier and the Cocker Spaniel have an inherited
tendency to suffer from copper buildup in the liver; these dogs should eat a
diet that is formulated with low levels of copper. Malamutes and Siberian
Huskies can inherit a zinc metabolism disorder, and require a high-zinc diet
(or zinc supplements).
Ask your veterinarian (and
reliable breeders) about your dog’s breed-related nutritional requirements. And
contact the manufacturer of your dog’s food for the expanded version of the
food’s nutrient levels. Pet food makers are not required to print the levels of
every nutrient on their labels, but should make this information available to you
upon request.
Another thing you have to
consider is the caloric content of the food you choose. If the food you select
for your dog is energy-dense, and your dog is a couch potato, you may have to
cut her daily ration considerably to prevent her from getting fat. Some dogs
respond to forced dieting with begging, counter-surfing, and garbage-raiding.
If your dog is one of these, you may have to seek out a high-fiber, low-calorie
food – one that may not necessarily contain the highest-quality protein or fat
sources on the market – to keep your dog feeling contentedly full without
getting fat.
Dogs exhibit a wide range of
energy requirements. You may have to seek out a higher- or lower-calorie food
based on the following attributes that can affect your dog’s energy needs:
• Activity level. The more a dog
exercises the more energy he needs to consume to maintain his condition; it’s
that simple.
• Growth. Growing puppies have
higher energy requirements than adult dogs. A food with a higher protein level,
but a moderate (not high) fat level is ideal. Obese puppies are far more prone
to degenerative joint disease – especially in large and giant breeds – than
puppies with a normal or slim physique.
• Age. The age at which a dog
becomes a senior citizen varies from breed to breed, with larger dogs
considered geriatric at earlier ages. Older dogs typically require fewer
calories to maintain their body weight and condition, partly because they tend
to be less active than younger dogs.
• Environmental conditions. Dogs
who live or spend much of their time outside in severe cold temperatures need
from 10 percent to as much as 90 percent more energy than dogs who enjoy a
temperate climate. The thickness and quality of the dog’s coat, the amount of
body fat he has, and the quality of his shelter have direct effects on the
dog’s energy needs.
• Illness. Sick dogs have
increased energy needs; it takes energy to mount an immune response or repair
tissues. However, dogs who do not feel well also tend to be inactive, which
lowers their energy needs.
• Reproduction. A pregnant
female’s energy requirement does not increase significantly until the final
third of her pregnancy, when it may increase by a factor of three.
• Lactation. A nursing female may
require as much as eight times as much energy as a female of the same age and
condition who is not nursing.
• Neutering. It is generally
accepted that neutered (and spayed) dogs have reduced energy needs. However,
there are actually no studies that conclusively prove that neutered dogs
require fewer calories simply as a result of lower hormone levels. It has been
suggested that these dogs gain weight due to increased appetites and/or
decreased activity levels.
• Other individual factors. Other
factors that can affect a dog’s energy requirement include its temperament
(nervous or placid?) and skin, fat, and coat quality (how well he is insulated
against weather conditions).
Finally, there are the human
factors that may influence your dog-food purchasing decision, such as cost and
local availability. Understand that there is a connection between the quality
of an animal’s food and his health, and do the best you can do.
It’s also worth considering the
reliability, responsiveness, and availability of the manufacturer’s customer
service people. It can be frustrating and costly if a company makes terrific
food, but you can never reach them, your direct-ship order is regularly late,
or the customer service people are either rude or unhelpful. Today, there are too
many companies doing a good job and making good food to put up with this.
