.Tuesday, July 29, 2008 ' 11:38 PM Y
The following is ©1995 - David J. Sheckler.
http://home.europa.com/~dshecklr/Nutrition1.html
Note: Only the first Section and highlights of other sections are included here, for full article see the link above. Full article includes:
How Much Do We Feed Our Dog?
"...Obesity and overweight conditions in a dog are a serious threat to its health. Early in life, this excess weight impacts the growth and anatomy of the joints. Middle in the life, obesity will impact its ability to sucessfully reproduce. Later in life, excess weight will severly effect the heart, lungs, kidneys, and joints of the dog." -more in full article
To Supplement or Not to Supplement
"...Many owners consider adding supplements to their dogs meals under the (mis)conception that "some is good, more is better". Most commercial feed is formulated to give basic, balanced nutrition, and probably needs little if no supplementation. It is often misguided pereptions that motivate an owner to supply the best (read: most) of everything in the drive to supplement a dog's diet."
When to Feed Your Dog
"...Puppies require feeding more often in the day due to their high needs and relatively small digestive tracts. Adult dogs can be fed once a day, although many owners choose to feed morning and night to lessen the threat of bloat.
Basic Nutrition Principles
"Minerals are involved with both anatomical structure and cellular metabolism of the animal. Almost all good feeds have reasonable levels of basic minerals, but some attention should be paid to "trace" minerals and whether they have been included. Some of the trace minerals (selenium, manganese, copper, and zinc) have been recently shown to be critical to proper cellular metabolism/stability."
Basic Considerations for Puppy Nutrition
"If any puppy's rapid development is retarded from an insufficient diet, those losses may never be fully recovered. The amount of food consumed, as well as the quality of food consumed, MUST contain adequate caloric energy as well as the proper mix of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals. Balance of these components (caloric vs. nutrative), and the quality of the sources of each, determines the overall "excellence" of any one food.
On the other hand, overnutrition (predominantly calories, protein, and calcium) will create a series of potential health problems which can easily be avoided. Puppies gaining too much weight are susceptable to increased incidences of joint problems and dysplasia. Excess supplementation or oversupply of calcium has be inplicated in growth diseases of the bone and connective tissues. Excessive protein levels can adversely increase blood urea nitrogen (BUN), with added stress on the kidneys and the potential for uric acid problems or kidney failure.
Simply put, you must pay keen attention to a puppy's diet, balancing the quality of food with its availability, and keeping the quantity of food proportionate to the puppy's weight and activity levels. You should maintain your puppy neither too heavy or too thin, but we recommend that you try to keep it on the lighter side rather than the heavier side. It appears that excess weight has a significant adverse impact on the puppy's joints as it grows up. We strongly recommend that you do not allow free feeding by the puppy, rather we recommend that you dispense a set amount of food at planned intervals over the day.
As stated above, this is not the full article, for full article please visit
http://home.europa.com/~dshecklr/Nutrition1.html
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