Getting The Fat Right
The foundation of your dogs raw diet is proteins and fat. This makes up most of his meal. Its as simple as buying ground meat or chunks and putting them in your dogs bowl. But balance is important.
This means feeding a diet thats about 10% to 20% fat total, including any fats like fish oil that you add to your dogs raw diet. The remaining foundation of your dogs raw meals will be protein.
Its important to keep your fat within this range. Heres why
Too Much Fat
Fat is relatively devoid of vitamins and minerals and it contains a lot of calories. This presents a challenge if the diet is too high in fat.
If your dogs diet contains more than 20% fat, it will cannibalize his vitamins and minerals. The resulting diet can be nutritionally incomplete. This is especially important for puppies and older dogs, who need more nutrients than adult dogs.
Too Little Fat
If the fat dips much below 10%, youll start to see dry, itchy skin in your dog. This is one of the first signs of fat deficiency. So try to stay within the 10% to 20% range most days.
Heres a list of the typical fat percentage in common meats you can buy at the butcher or grocery store:Fat Content Of Common Food
Ground beef : 10%Ground beef : 20%Regular ground beef: 30%Salmon: 7%Egg: 10%
So step 1 is finding the proteins for your dog and making sure the fat content is not too high or low. But before you choose the proteins your dog eats, its important to understand that your dog needs minerals.
How Long Should A Dog Take To Eat His Dinner
Some people leave food down for their dogs to graze on. I prefer my dogs to eat their meals up fairly quickly. Some dogs are more likely to be picky if they know they can come back to their dinner later on. So I recommend you take up your dogs bowl after ten minutes if he hasnt finished what is in there.
He wont come to any harm if he hasnt devoured the lot. Plus, he will eat more enthusiastically at the next meal if he is a little hungry.
When Can A Puppy Eat Adult Dog Food
When to shift your pup over to adult dog food will depend partly on their size and growth rate. Many toy- and small-breed dogs and mixed breeds reach their full size by 10 to 12 months of age. While a very active small dog may benefit from an extra snack during the day, they can start the change to an adult diet. Large- and giant-breed dogs may not reach full growth until 18 months or older.
Consult your veterinarian for guidance about switching to adult dog food.
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Is My Puppy Underweight
Full or partial anorexia in dogs can lead to a multitude of life-threatening health problems, including the body shutting down to save energy. Prolonged underfeeding will mean your puppy doesnt get the nutrients they need to grow properly, and can lead to stunted growth, brittle bones and a weak immune system both in the short and long term. Anorexia is a condition which should be treated seriously and urgently. If your puppy doesnt eat after 24 hours or continually vomits up his or her food, seek help from your vet.
Similarly to an overweight dog, there are ways of telling if your puppy is underweight:
- The ribs and spine are obviously pronounced, even when you are not touching their sides
- When feeling their ribs, you feel no hint of fat nor muscle.
An anorexic puppy is much harder to manage than an overweight pet, largely because there are so many things that can cause the problem, including hormonal imbalances and psychological issues. It is also harder to get a dog eating again after it has stopped than it is to control the diet of an overfed puppy. Once your vet has diagnosed the problem and come up with a plan for you to follow, you will likely need to begin feeding your puppy small but regular meals until they are able to digest food properly again.
Dog Feeding Chart: How Much Should I Feed My Dog
Determining how much food you should feed your dog isnt always straightforward.
Bringing a dog home for the first time, getting another dog or changes with your dogs weight, age or health can all warrant a closer look at how much food youre feeding at mealtimes.
Although complete and balanced dog food packages have feeding recommendations on the label, every dog is unique so you may still need to adjust how much and how often to feed your dog.
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Should I Feed My Dog Raw Meat
Over the last ten years a more natural raw diet of meat and bones has become increasingly popular. Some people now believe that raw meat is the best food for Labrador Retrievers and many other breeds of dog. This is despite some websites giving out dire warnings of the dangers of letting dogs consume bones.
I wrote a fairly in-depth article on why I switched to raw food for my dogs some years ago. You can read about that and discover much more about raw feeding in Raw Feeding: A Natural Diet For Dogs. And you can also find out a lot more about raw feeding in Tom Lonsdales excellent books on the subject*.
Unfortunately, raw feeding does seem to attract a few extremists. Plus, it can be tricky to find objective and unbiased discussions of the pros and cons of raw feeding on the internet.
What Happens If My Dog Is Underfed
Hell suffer from nutritional deficiencies, lose weight, and develop a dull coat, according to Jessica Romine, DVM, DACVIN, a veterinarian at BluePearl Veterinary Partners in Southfield, Mich. Plus, without enough calories, hell be hungry all the time and may go searching for food in the trash, says Romine, who is board-certified in veterinary internal medicine. Even worse, if hes drastically underfed for a long time he could end up with heart damage.
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Weighing In On Calorie Intake
In 2018, the annual survey by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention estimated that 56% of the dogs in the U.S. were overweight or obese. This is a critical issue for us as pet parents because maintaining a healthy weight is vital to a long and vigorous life for our precious pets. Overweight dogs face a daunting list of potential problems such as arthritis and joint disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, decreased stamina, increased cancer risk, and depression.
While obesity gets most of the attention, being underweight is not a great alternative either. Underweight dogs can suffer from long-term health issues due to a lack of nutrients.
How Much Homemade Dog Food To Feed Your Dog
Making a homemade diet for your pup is a great alternative to commercial kibble if you do it right. However, it is NOT that easy to determine the proper serving size of homemade dog food for your canine. For this reason, it is highly advisable to check with your vet to plan a nutritionally-balanced homemade diet.
Many factors must be kept in mind while calculating the nutritional requirements of your dog. Some of the most important elements among them are listed below.
- Age
After analyzing all these aspects, you will have a better understanding of the nutritional needs of your companion. Therefore, it will help you to figure out a suitable serving size for your pup.
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Why Is It Important To Know The Exact Serving Size
Some parents believe that the dogs weight is the onlycriterion to estimate a suitable amount of homemade dog food. They think thateverythings fine if the canine is not losing or gaining weight. Unfortunately,thats NOT the right thing to do because an unbalanced diet can have serioushealth hazards.
For example, if a pup is consuming too many calories, he/shecan develop diabetes and several other health issues. Similarly, overfeedingcan cause Vitamin Toxicity. In this condition, useful vitamins, like Vitamin Aand Vitamin D, start to harm the body .
On the other hand, if the canine is not getting a sufficientamount of essential nutrients, he/she can face malnutrition. The most commonsymptoms of such dogs would be weakness and lethargy. If this issue is notresolved quickly, nutrient deficiency can lead to organ failure and even death.
Read Dr Kristy Conns Advice:
Congratulations on your newest four-legged addition to your family. I understand the excitement and trepidation that comes with bringing home a furry ball of joy. You want to do right by her and that includes making sure she is getting the correct amount of nutrition. This is a popular time of year for bringing home puppies so Id like to take the opportunity to review basic puppy feeding guidelines for the first year of life while covering your question which may also answer any future questions you or other readers may have.
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Tips To Maintain A Puppy Feeding Schedule
Youre well on your way to feeding your pup a perfectly healthy diet. Just dont overdo it on treats. Keep in mind that treats should take up no more than 10% of your puppys total food quota for the day.
Finally, pay attention to your pups cues and always keep the following in mind:
- Stick to dog food and skip the table scraps some human foods can make your dog sick.
- Keep fresh water out along with any food, and clean both food and water bowls regularly.
- Dont start a medical diet or supplements without a prescription or recommendation.
- Always consult a veterinarian with any questions you may have.
What Happens If My Dog Gets Fat Or Loses Weight
There is no need to worry at all. The formulas with which the needs of cats and dogs are calculated apply relatively poorly to the individual animal, but work very well in populations. So it is totally normal for a dog to gain or lose weight .
In this case, the product itself will inform us that the ration must be lowered or raised by 10% compared to the recommended amount. Once this change has been made, we must wait a few weeks to assess whether there has been a change in the trend to gain or lose weight.
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How To Convert The Resulting Calories To A Serving Size
After you have entered your dogs ideal weight, their activity level, and hit Calculate above, you are presented with the daily energy requirement in the form of total kilocalories your dog needs per day.
But you dont just feed your dog all that at once, right? You need to break/divide the total down into the amount of feeding sessions in a day. What to do?
The amount of calories in a particular amount of dog food is called its metabolizable energy or ME. To spot it, look for one of the following on your dogs food label:
- Calories per cup
- Calories per kilogram
It should look something like this:
From there, you simply take the total DER kcal from the calculated results above and decide how many cups to give your dog per serving.
Heres a very basic made up example: Using the image above . If your dog required 696 kcal per day, youd simply feed them 2 cups of food a day.
What Happens If I Feed My Dog Too Much
Simply put: Your dog gets overweight. You may think to yourself, Well, theres just more of him to love. And that may be true, but those extra pounds are not good for his health. If your dog eats too many calories every day, he may end up obesewhich means he could suffer from the related health issues that come with that condition, such as osteoarthritis, congestive heart failure, labored breathing, Cushings disease, skin disorders, some cancers, a shortened life span, and a reduced quality of life.
Shockingly, more than 50 percent of dogs in the U.S. are overweight, according to the Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University. So relying on the dog food bags feeding directions or letting your pup eat as much as he wants are probably not good approaches if you want to keep your dog healthy and active for as long as possible.
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A Note About Wet Food
Wet food can be a more pricey option that dogs certainly tend to prefer, but it is important to do your research to make sure the food you are feeding is good quality. AKC warns that meaty food alone may not give your dog the fully-balanced diet she needs, and you may have to supplement with a mix of wet and dry foods.
Why You Need To Know The Exact Serving Size Of Food
You may be wondering why you even need to figure out the right serving size of homemade dog food for your pet. Some pet owners assume that they can watch a dog’s weight and make sure they’re not gaining or losing.
This doesn’t seem right.
The consequences of feeding a dog too much or too little food are obvious. When overfeeding on calories, your dog will become obese, which then could lead to a slew of other health conditions: diabetes, joint problems, certain types of cancer, heart and respiratory issues.
Feeding a dog too much food can also lead to vitamin toxicity. In such cases, too much of a good thing could be very bad.
For example, some of the most common vitamin toxicity cases are related to Vitamin A, which can cause bone spurs, lethargy, constipation, stiffness, and limping in dogs, and Vitamin D, which can lead to vomiting blood, seizures, muscle tremors, and abdominal pain in dogs.
At the same time, if you’re not feeding your dogs enough essential nutrients, they’ll be at risk of nutrient deficiency and becoming malnourished.
When you haven’t figured out the exact serving size of homemade dog food and do not realize a dog isn’t getting all of the essential nutrients, it will become weak, and a dog’s organs will start failing.
In the end, nutrient deficiency will lead to death if it’s not corrected in time.
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Converting From Caloriesto Serving Size
Once youve entered your dogs ideal weight and activity level, youll know the number of calories per day.
However, to convert calories into something you can use, youll need to enter the number of calories in your dogs food.
The number of calories in a given amount of dog food is known as its metabolizable energy . Its usually reported somewhere on a dog food package like this
- Calories per cup
- Calories per kilogram
By the way, the calculator assumes youre feeding your dog just once a day.
If you prefer to feed your dog twice a day, be sure to divide your result in half so that both meals add up to the full daily calories suggested.
How Much Canned Food Should You Feed A Dog Per Day
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Whether you are a rookie pet parent or a seasoned one, deciding how much food to give your pup can be confusing.
Since dogs cant communicate with words, it is hard to tell whether they are underfed, appropriately fed, or overfed.
Most pet owners just wing it hoping they are giving their furry friends proper nutrition for their bodies.
If you are among the long list of pet parents who are confused about how much canned food to feed a dog per day, keep readingwe have discussed the topic in detail including how canned food compares with dry food.
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How Much Raw Food Should I Feed My Puppy
If youve ever owned a puppy before, you know how fast they grow. It seems like every time you turn around they get bigger and bigger, no matter how badly you wish theyd stay little. As a result of this growth, puppies need the right portion of raw food to provide them with the nutrients to keep them going.
Youve come to the right place! Were proud to announce our Puppylicious: Complete and Balanced raw puppy food. Puppylicious has been carefully formulated to ensure all nutritional requirements for puppies are met. Balanced to meet AAFCO Nutrient Profile for Growth and Development . Puppylicious is the perfect choice for your puppy and will allow you to love them right from the start.
Visit our newly added Puppy pages to learn more on why Puppylicious, How to transition, How to feed, and frequently asked questions to help guide you through the transition. Click here!
What Is The Best Time To Feed The Dog
Another question that some pet owners ask, especially those keeping dogs for the first time, is whether dogs should eat at the same time as humans. The times you choose to feed, the dog depends entirely on your preferences. However, you can go with some of the most common feeding times that many dog owners practice.
If you are feeding the dog two times a day, the best feeding hours will be around 7 am and 6 pm. Giving your dog this space between the meals ensures that the system digests the food entirely as it needs between 4 to 6 hours to do so. Hunger signals start to take place between 8 and 10 hours for a dog that feeds twice a day.
For senior and puppy dogs, the feeding schedule should have less number of feeding hours in between. If you feed the dog once a day, the most appropriate time would be in the evening. Feeding in the evening allows the nutrients in the meal to work through the system as the dogs rest at night in preparation for energy shedding the following day.
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