5 Tips on Dog Nutrition

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Dogs give us humans a lot back in terms of love, affection, support, warmth and happiness… of course, with the correct training they can even save our lives, but in a day to day context, the love and emotional support of a dog is second to none.

For this reason, it’s important we keep our dogs in the best shape possible and in addition to ensuring plenty of exercise, we must focus on their nutrition as canine nutrition is just as important and impacting as human nutrition.

Whilst the topic of dog nutrition sounds simple enough, it’s easy to forget the impact food has on our pets and some dog owners are so busy they might be better off keeping fish, as you can simply visit Pet Gear Lab, buy an aquarium filter, throw a few flakes of fish food into the water and that’s as arduous as it gets.

Dog’s require a lot of attention, exercise, love, company, and solid nutrition. In this vein, let’s take a look at five tips on dog nutrition.

1. TOXIC FOOD

Whilst you might view chocolate as a treat there are a number of foods that are poisonous to dogs – including chocolate, avocado, and the sweetener xylitol. It’s important you familiarize yourself with these, if you often give your dog human food.


2. DISCARD THE HYPE AND CHECK OUT THE LABEL

There’s a lot of marketing hype around dog food, indeed dog food manufacturers spend as much on advertising as human food manufacturers. You need to look past the label, with its myriad of positive claims and head for the label on the back.

A lot of dog food is heavily processed and full of ‘fillers’. You therefore want to check the label, just like you would with human food, to confirm the main ingredient is a high protein meat and not all filler or junk.


3. DO NOT OVERFEED

We all love our dogs so much that we often overfeed them, as a treat. There are only a few ways we can express our love; the predominant channels being walks, cuddles, and food. The latter, can lead to an overweight dog, particularly if you’re guilty of dishing out dog treats in order to emotionally compensate having to leave your dog for a period of time.

If you have an overweight dog in need of a doggy diet, one of the best and most simple tips is to feed earlier in the day and increase exercise… just like you would with a human.


4. NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS

Humans spend billions on vitamins and supplements; yet animals can benefit from these too. A chronic condition that plagues most dogs, as they get older, are conditions like arthritis – by supplementing with preventative remedies such as omega oils or natural anti-inflammatories like aloe vera can really help.


5. WATER

Dogs need to drink little and often, particularly in summer, as dehydration can cause serious health problems… even death.

Just like humans, the higher the temperature and amount of exercise – the more your dog needs to drink. Having access to a plentiful supply of clean drinking water is critically important, as dogs can survive for a long time without food, but a very short time without water.