What and how to feed your dog at home according to all the rules. What food is best to feed a dog? What food is best to feed your dog?

Having a pet means taking care of its health completely on your shoulders. It is not always possible to understand all the intricacies of choosing a diet for your four-legged friend. Let's find out what to feed your dog in order to have the most productive effect on its appearance and health indicators.

How to feed a dog correctly?

The principle of good nutrition is sometimes confused with excess food in the diet. Many dogs, by their nature, are insatiable, they have no sense of proportion, and the hospitable owner rejoices as his dog absorbs more and more, and gets fat before his eyes. But it is known that a fat dog that is obese to one degree or another has a high chance of developing heart, gastrointestinal and joint diseases. Therefore, every owner needs to know how to feed a dog correctly, so as not to overfed it, but also not to keep it from hand to mouth.

Important! Under no circumstances should food from our table become a dog’s diet, no matter what breed it is. After all, spices, difficult-to-digest foods and large amounts of sugar and salt will sooner or later have a negative impact on your pet’s health.

A caring owner should know how many times a day to feed the dog in order to satisfy its hunger and satisfy the body's nutritional needs. You can learn about this and more by reading the article to the end.

How to properly feed your dog natural food?

If you have already decided what to feed your dog and have given preference to natural food, then congratulations - this is an excellent choice! All that remains is to find out what is healthy to feed your pet, and what foods are strictly prohibited. So, an adult dog of any breed (guard, hound, decorative) at home can be fed:

raw meat and offal (beef, veal, rabbit, chicken, turkey, young lamb, kidneys, lungs, liver, trachea, udder, stomach);
sea and ocean fish (hake, halibut, mackerel, chum salmon);
dairy products (kefir, whey, calcined cottage cheese);
vegetables (pumpkin, zucchini, carrots, beets);
cereals (buckwheat, rice);
fruits and berries.

pork;
potatoes;
barley;
milk;
semolina;
pasta;
bread;
legumes;
grapes;
raisins.

Important! An adult dog can replace one meat feeding per week with fish, since fish in large quantities interferes with the absorption of B vitamins.

It also follows that an incorrectly composed menu for a dog can cause a chronic lack of necessary substances. Therefore, the dog should be regularly given vitamins in courses 3-4 times a year, and also flavor its food with minerals, such as bone meal.

How to properly feed your dog dry food?

More and more owners prefer to feed their pet dogs dry food. But it is not always clear what is better to feed – budget or premium food. After all, there are reviews that by saving a little, you can perfectly maintain an animal without overpaying. But veterinarians have a different opinion - cheap food, consisting of low-quality and sometimes harmful components, often causes problems in dogs. This could be allergies, indigestion, hair loss, dandruff and other troubles.

Important! In terms of volume, a portion of dry food for an animal differs significantly from a portion of natural food. You need to carefully read the information on the packaging, and also buy food that matches the specific breed.

Pay attention to what you can feed your dog so as not to harm its health, but to increase it. Premium, Superpremium class food, as well as holistic foods, can handle this perfectly:

Nutra Gold.

When the owner has decided what food to feed his friend, he should familiarize himself with its correct use, since the feeding process has its own nuances. Did you know that a dog fed dry food should receive twice as much water as a dog fed natural food? After all, dry pieces require a lot of liquid to swell. And another useful information - the dog becomes saturated with dry food a little later than with natural food, so it is very easy to overfeed it due to inexperience.

Attention! When switching a dog from natural to dry food, the latter can be soaked in water to swell. This way the dog will get used to the change in diet faster.

How many times a day should you feed your dog?

While the puppy was still small, we had to feed him literally by the hour. But already at the age of one year, the diet is divided into one or two feedings. Some owners prefer to feed in the morning and evening, while others feed only before bed. Veterinarians consider both options acceptable, although the first is still better.

Important! A sick or old dog should be fed light, low-fat food, dividing the usual diet into 3-4 meals for better digestion.

If the animal is not prescribed a different regime, then the question “feed the dog before or after a walk” should not be relevant at all. And this is not a matter of habit of the dog or the owner - doctors are unanimous on this matter - you can give your pet food only after a walk, and not vice versa. The fact is that a dog’s gastrointestinal tract is designed in such a way that when overfilled with food during active movement, it can twist, forming a volvulus of the stomach and part of the intestines. Therefore, first an active walk, and then food.

If there is a need to feed the animal before walking (it cannot recover normally without replenishing its stomach with food), then the walk in this case should take place in an inactive form, only to relieve its natural needs. Only after an hour will the dog be allowed to frolic to his heart's content.

Important! In winter, when it is cold, the amount and calorie content of food for the dog kept in the enclosure should be increased.

What to feed your dog to make it gain weight?

Fattening a skinny dog is not an easy task. First, you should find out what causes your dog’s weight loss. Perhaps this is underfeeding from a very early age, when the puppy was still forming. In this case, fixing something may simply be unrealistic. But if the dog was sick, then it is often quite possible to cure it and begin to gain weight competently.

Please note what to do with an underweight dog:

Now let's discuss what to feed a pregnant, lactating or postpartum dog. Indeed, during all these periods, the bitch requires increased attention to herself, as well as to her diet:

In the first month of pregnancy, the dog should be given a little more food than usual or another feeding should be added. About 2 weeks before giving birth, you should cut down on your diet, removing as many carbohydrates and fats as possible. Instead, the bitch should receive protein, a multivitamin complex and fish oil.
After giving birth and during lactation, the bitch is fed intensively, with a high calorie content, until the puppies suckle from their mother. Beef tripe is very useful for the dog at this time - the stomach contains the enzymes necessary for a nursing mother for rapid recovery.

What should you not feed your dog?

Knowing what to feed your dog, you can give it several years of life. But improper and irregular nutrition, on the contrary, can undermine the health of a four-legged friend and shorten his already short life. The dog is not fed “human” food. That is, such products harm her:

potato;
legumes;
flour products;
citrus;
sweets;
spices;
smoked meats and pickles.

Important! Feeding a large or small dog natural food does not mean feeding it bones! Whole, unchopped, raw sugar bones are given to a puppy during the period of permanent teething, and also as a reward for an adult dog. But they are not a substitute for meat, because they often lead to intestinal blockage and even rupture.

Some owners manage to feed their dogs cat food. This absolutely cannot be done, because dogs and cats have completely different needs and such food, of course, will fill you up, but will not be beneficial.

What else do you need to know about feeding dogs?

Every year, every adult dog should come to the doctor for a preventive vaccination. As a rule, the animal tolerates vaccination without consequences, since the body has already developed a strong immunity.

But there is also a nuance here - if you decide to switch your dog from one type of feeding to another (from dry to natural or vice versa), then in no case should this be done before vaccination. You should think about this a couple of weeks before going to the vet or wait the same amount after the injection.

All cases of feeding a dog with natural or dry food are suitable for a healthy animal. But what to do if your pet suddenly gets sick or his illness turns out to be incurable? Let's find out what to do.

What to feed your dog after poisoning?

Does your dog pick up everything on a walk? Then she has every chance of being poisoned by spoiled food. When poisoned, the dog loses a lot of fluid, and toxins attack the body from the inside. Immediately after poisoning, it is advisable to wash the animal and put it on a starvation diet for a couple of days. Afterwards, in order to alleviate your pet’s condition, you should adhere to the following principles:

transfer the dog to small meals (4-5 times a day);
give food slightly warmed up;
exclude fatty foods;
give light broths;
porridge - only rice and buckwheat;
meat - chicken or horse meat.

What to feed a dog with diarrhea?

Indigestion is not only an unpleasant, but sometimes a dangerous problem. Eating should be suspended for at least a day. Instead of food, the bowl should always contain unlimited amounts of clean water. If the dog is upset, do not give it fatty or raw foods. As soon as things get better, you should include light foods in your diet, exclusively in boiled form.

Important! In case of poisoning, diarrhea or vomiting, the dog's food must be added with salt to restore mineral metabolism.

What to feed a dog with diabetes?

Like people, dogs with diabetes begin to have problems eating (lack of appetite) and the dog loses weight very quickly. To minimize losses, you should walk your pet more often, working up an appetite, and try to give him more high-calorie food. If the dog was on dry food, the veterinarian will recommend a special therapeutic diet. Natural products should include:

hard cheese;
cereal soups with meat broth;
meat of different types, as well as fish, but in boiled form.

Be careful! Vegetables, fruits and refined rice are not allowed for dogs with diabetes.

What to feed a dog with allergies?

Just like people, animals also suffer from allergies. It may appear as:

skin rashes;
hair loss;
itching;
bad breath;
diarrhea;
lacrimation and swelling of the mucous membranes.

Most often, food products are the culprits of this condition. Identifying an allergen is quite difficult. So you will have to act by elimination.

Basically, with an allergy, the reaction occurs to:

poultry meat;
eggs or egg white;
nuts;
sea fish;
“treats” for dogs;
milk;
soy products;
semolina, wheat, oatmeal;
vitamins and minerals in the form of supplements;
cheap dry or wet food;

As you can see, part of the list consists of foods prohibited for dogs. But, nevertheless, some owners, ignoring recommendations for animal nutrition, give them, thereby provoking health problems in their pet. Knowing what to feed a dog, a responsible owner will never intentionally harm it.

People planning to get a dog often wonder what to feed it? There are two options - prepare the animal’s food separately or purchase ready-made food. Let's consider which food option is better to choose and why.

Self-cooking

Remember one important rule: you cannot feed your dog what you eat. Of course, you can give her the treats that you eat, but feeding her borscht, soup and mashed potatoes is strictly prohibited.

For animals, they prepare separately, taking into account the characteristics of the breed, age of the animal, its condition, etc. Usually, owners cook various cereals and soups, to which they add bones and meat, fish, vegetables and other nutrients. Self-cooking has only one significant advantage - the low cost of the resulting product. Basically, you can just buy bones, make broth with them, and then add some grains and a couple of carrots to it. Then the disadvantages begin:

1. When cooking independently, it is impossible to balance the composition. The animal will receive a disproportionate amount of fats and carbons, and practically not receive vitamins and micro-macroelements necessary for the normal development of the body.
2.Serious time investment. In order to cook food for an animal, you need to spend at least an hour and a half of time. A standard five-liter pan will last a medium-sized animal a maximum of two days, so you will have to cook it quite often.
3. Short shelf life of food, inconvenience. Cooked food needs to be stored somewhere; it turns sour quickly, so you won’t be able to cook it for future use.

In general, self-cooking has more disadvantages than advantages, so most owners prefer to purchase ready-made food. Let's look at what they are.

Ready food

Such food is developed taking into account the needs of the animal and is an excellent substitute for the usual homemade food. It includes everything a dog needs - fats, high-quality proteins, natural carbohydrates, a set of microelements, vitamins, etc., and the mass fraction of each component is selected in the correct proportion. contains more proteins and fats that pets need; food for small breeds contains more carbohydrates that normalize the nutritional system.

The protein included in the finished product can be of plant or animal origin. The animal is more valuable for pets because it is better absorbed by the body. It is obtained from meat and by-products of cattle, poultry, fish, eggs, etc. Carbohydrates in feed are usually represented by rice, wheat, carrots, barley, bran, peas, potatoes, beets, etc. These products are needed to normalize digestion, so exclude them from diet is not allowed. The fats included in the feed are a source of energy for the animal. They are usually obtained from tissue of birds and animals.

Ready-made food is divided into several types:

1. Economy class. The main advantage is the low price. It is not recommended to feed animals such food - it is created from low-quality products, its consumption is higher, and its nutritional value is lower.
2. Regular food. The Regular class can be used for daily feeding of an animal - it is created from fairly high-quality components. These foods contain dehydrated meat products, vegetable carbohydrates and fats.
3. Premium class. High-quality food, which is considered the best option. It is made from natural ingredients and contains virtually no dyes, flavors or fragrances, so it is considered safe.

In general, it is recommended to give premium dry food to animals - they have a fairly reasonable price, are stored for a long time, and are consumed less than food of lower quality. Be sure to ensure that the animal always has access to water - dry food is dehydrated and dogs will be thirsty after eating.

There are many articles about proper nutrition for dogs. Each author shares his experience. Meanwhile, there are as many food options and diets as there are people, and there are just as many options for dogs. Therefore, it will not be possible to find one universal one. Still, an individual approach cannot be avoided. The authors offer both calorie tables and weekly menus. There are even recipes for dog treats, from cookies to Peking duck...

But I want to write a little about something else, about the fact that our dogs are hostages of our ideas about right or wrong.
Someone actively believes in the advertising of dry dog food, believes in the balance of dry food, and even seeing how his dog is going bald, itchy and watery, he selects, selects, selects... without really understanding what exactly he is looking for. Or the opposite example: a dog just can’t get a bowel movement, he gets bloated and cringes, but every day his bowl is full of oatmeal with pumpkin. The owner sincerely believes that oatmeal is healthy, and pumpkin contains many essential vitamins. It’s hard to blame both the first and the second for not caring about their dog.
Let's think of our pets as our children. No, I’m not suggesting humanizing things like that. I propose to think about the digestion and health of a dog, which should live next to us for fifteen years being healthy, beautiful and well-fed. And not to cause problems, and these are not her problems, these are problems of the owners’ consciousness. You know what some veterinarians say? “What is this dog sick with? Her owner is not right in the head!”

What is dry food? Let's start with the meat. Dozens of Kamaz trucks drive up to the gates of the manufacturing plant. And they contain tons of the freshest salmon, pink lamb from the meadows of Australia, delicious veal from Brazil... For holistic people, they keep bringing in pineapples, oranges, and pomegranates. Owners, when buying food, almost see all these delicacies in bowls. Choking with saliva, the workers turn it all into some kind of brown balls, smelling of burning and dust, slightly salty in taste, like kirieshki. And it’s even more difficult for them than for cooks in kindergarten: they can’t bring it home or have a snack themselves at work.

All dry food (regardless of class) is produced according to the same scheme. Most often, the plant receives not fresh products, but prepared ingredients. Although many factories have their own workshops for processing meat ingredients: dehydrated (dehydrated) meat, cereals, dried vegetables, and so on. All this is ground in a mill, crushed to the desired size, mixed into a mass, and moistened. Then a granule is formed and baked and dried. After which the finished granules are sprayed with all sorts of fats containing vitamins or preservatives. That is, plus or minus, everything is the same everywhere. There is absolutely no need to pay any special attention to production methods, which feed sellers sometimes push so hard on.

Dog food rating

It has long been known that dogs have fewer taste buds and pay much more attention to smell. Therefore, you can hear about rabbit, duck, lamb and so on, but the dog will choose food based on the flavor. Oh, your manufacturer doesn’t use flavorings? Oh well. That is, your nose doesn’t pick them up?

Now back to the meat. It is in dry food, for example, 25%. But this is based on its “wet” state. In dry form, the percentage of meat component per bag is really funny. The rest is probably blueberries and spinach? How does all this mass stick together into a ball? To create the impression of satiety in the animal, “ballast” is added - fiber.

All, as I already said, vitamins and microelements, are added mainly with fats. Because they cannot be overheated while preparing the granules. And there are many other reasons that you can look for yourself.

I don’t want to criticize dry food, because I feed my dogs dry food myself and I know perfectly well how it is prepared, what it actually consists of, and what Australian lamb can look like in super-premium food. These mustaches are the golden fleece, perhaps? Judging by the price per bag, it’s the best.

But, nevertheless, we must try to avoid dyes and take food only where the rules for its storage are observed. That is, if you are offered a bag from the shelf with a finger-sized layer of dust on it, refrain from buying it.

But again about feeding. So, I feed my dogs not only dry food. I am forced to take it because I have a large number of dogs, and preparing several buckets of porridge a day could turn my interesting and unique life into complete boredom. Therefore, having reconsidered my ideas about dry food, I made a very unpopular decision: dry food is dried porridge, which from now on I take as a basis. To this “porridge” I myself will add what the dogs need. Some are allergic to chicken, others have developed pancreatitis due to age, but this is a growing organism, and here we have a pregnant girl. You can’t feed everyone the same amount from the same bag, and it’s impossible to select food for everyone individually. But it is quite possible to dose meat, pins, trachea, eggs and kefir.

But I know that mixed feeding is harmful. This is what veterinarians and many breeders say. They claim, as practice has shown, not without some guile. Fortunately, rarely will any owner be seriously interested in studying the digestive tract of their dog.

How does a dog's digestive tract work? To put it simply, it is designed like a predator. But besides meat, a dog can eat other foods: vegetables, fruits, herbs. A dog's teeth are not designed for grinding food, but are intended to crush pieces of meat and bones. (The first remark that is always made about dry food is that the dog swallows it, almost without chewing, and the owners begin to resort to the services of clinics and the tricks of the pet industry, buying all sorts of dentastics, bones, ears, or brushing their teeth under anesthesia in clinics.)

Meanwhile, the digestion process should begin in the oral cavity, during chewing. Moistened and crushed, it enters the dog’s stomach into a mixture of acids and enzymes. And it begins to digest there. That is, “lie down” and digest. And this is where the fun begins.

Liquid food, such as soup or thin porridge, flies into the intestines within 30 minutes. But the meat remains in it for up to 12 hours. The same thing happens with dry food, it lies there and pretends to be digested, but in fact, it simply soaks and prepares to pass into the intestines for absorption. Partially digested, food enters the small intestine: first into the duodenum, where the pancreas secretes juice and the liver secretes bile. Here, with the help of amylase, lipase and trypsin, proteins, fats and carbohydrates are decomposed. At this time, the proteins had already become amino acids, the fats were formed into balls, and everything went into the jejunum and ileum to be completely absorbed. The large intestine takes on water and salt.

Dogs have a rather short gastrointestinal tract compared to herbivores. The dog's intestines are completely emptied within 15 hours after eating. It has been noticed that vegetables, due to the increased peristalsis caused by them, fly by twice as fast.

Thus, microflora plays a lesser role in the digestion of food in dogs than in herbivores.

What's next? Next, it is very interesting about the cecum, that is, the appendix. It contains bacteria that help fermentation, putrefaction, dehydration, synthesis of vitamins and the final decomposition of nutrients in the contents of the colon.

And, of course, gases, for which special thanks to bacteria.

Bacteria, as we know, are putrefactive and fermentative. Most of all, dogs need the latter. It is their lack that pushes our pets to eat all sorts of abominations. A lack of fermentative bacteria creates a deficiency of essential vitamins in the body.

Interesting material that I once came across: with a dairy diet, the amount of putrefactive bacteria in a dog’s feces is no more than 30%, with a vegetable and meat diet – more than 50%.

So, the shortest conclusion:

- the structure of the dog’s digestive apparatus - teeth, jaws, small stomach, short intestines and concentrated gastric juice - is adapted for feeding raw meat;
- the dog should receive a relatively small amount of food, of which 75% is raw meat, 25% cottage cheese, cereals, vegetables, fruits;
- dogs need to chew in order to cleanse the oral cavity of bacteria with the help of secreted lysozyme and mechanically clean their teeth;
- a healthy dog’s stomach should digest raw bones, those that will dissolve in gastric juice;
- Dogs can be given meat from any animal, as long as it is lean.

About harm and benefit.

Feeding only dry food is harmful, because the dog’s intestinal microflora is depleted, causing frequent problems with pancretitis, urolithiasis, and dental disease.
Feeding only natural food is not harmful, but it is difficult to balance a dog’s diet (more on this below).
Veterinarians do not recommend mixed feeding. What is mixed feeding?

- drying + porridge in one feeding;
- drying in the morning + porridge in the evening;
- month drying, month porridge;
- drying + meat (vegetables, fermented milk) without porridge in one bowl.

The first three options are definitely harmful. The second is not so harmful if the dog eats this way for life, and its body gets used to secreting the necessary juices and enzymes according to this schedule. But this method is also criticized, since the load on the gastrointestinal tract is also constant, and problems with the liver and pancreas are added to this. It can be determined by scatology.

The reasons for this are simple: to digest porridge and dry food, the body requires different enzymes and the amount of acid. However, I don’t even know dogs, but entire nurseries that use exactly this method of feeding. With one important note: dry food with this diet is given soaked, and meat is boiled.

I am one of those adherents of mixed feeding who do not give dogs porridge and drying in one bowl, and do not feed dogs twice a day. Because, as we know, the speed of lying down and the passage of drying and porridge is different, this forces the dog’s body to digest food around the clock. Raw meat lingers in the stomach and intestines for a long time for digestion, and for this, the stomach and intestines, as well as the pancreas, produce more concentrated juices. Boiled cereals are digested much faster. And juices do not require such a concentration of acid to digest carbohydrates. But supporters of mixed or natural feeding say that it is impossible to give porridge and raw meat or porridge and dry food at the same time. And raw meat is best given as a separate evening feeding so that the animal can digest it calmly.

In addition, if we recall the same food manufacturers, they do not at all exclude the use of drying food along with canned food produced by their own company. Interesting, isn't it?

I really like the quote from veterinarian V.B. Davydov: “On the one hand, it may seem that the need for a balanced diet is obvious, because it’s good when a dog or cat gets as much and as it needs. But it's not that simple. As mentioned above, the most important feeding rules are typical for a given type of animal and moderation (no overeating). The animal or human body has enormous adaptive capabilities and a temporary deficiency or temporary excess of one or another component of an animal’s diet does not pose a big threat to health. Thus, if the two specified rules for feeding the animal are observed, the need for special balancing of food disappears completely. The concept of balanced food is introduced into the minds of doctors and patients by food manufacturers with one sole purpose, to complicate the process of feeding an animal, playing on the concerns of dog and cat owners about the health of their pets. Therefore, this concept is nothing more than a marketing slogan - “a balanced diet - a healthy animal.” In fact, this is not so. A very simple argument for these conclusions is the example of animals whose diet has never been balanced. Wild animals, stray animals, and animals living in rural areas eat very differently, but are healthier than most pets. Doesn't this surprise you?

A balanced diet is necessary for productive animals: sports animals, animals that produce milk, meat, etc. The purpose of keeping such animals is to obtain maximum benefit (profit). Such a diet is needed by a cow that, instead of 3 months. lactation lasts 10 months. A fattening bull that must gain a certain weight by a certain age. A sports horse that sometimes experiences unimaginable stress. All of the listed animal species experience non-physiological (non-natural) stress, which requires the most accurate calculation of the diet, since a lack of food will lead to a lack of production or illness, and an excess of food will lead to unnecessary economic costs. In this regard, a balanced diet in relation to pets is nothing more than a beautiful phrase.

Important! When feeding animals, it is necessary to maintain not so much a balanced diet as consistency of natural food components and moderation in their quantity. As you can see, we are not talking about any numbers or percentages.”

Feeding only dry food impoverishes the intestinal microflora; dogs who eat only dry food are much more likely to hunt for other people's poop than those who regularly eat fermented milk products. And dogs living on porridge are much more willing to let the “product” go round and round, eating waste products one after another.

I would also like to say this. Many manufacturers are proud that a very small amount of feed is needed per feeding, they say, it is very economical. Yes, it’s expensive, but everything is absorbed, and there’s little poop, and if you count it in terms of the number of servings, it’s very profitable! In addition, this is super-premium, and not cheap crap from which the dog and wallet will suffer in the future. But our dogs don’t think so. They want, as nature dictates, to fill their belly until they are full or almost full. To soak this volume of feed to the required amount, a lot of liquid is required: gastric juice, water. I fed such food, but I’ll be honest: I haven’t seen such hungry eyes on my dogs for a long time. Although they were in good condition, they spent their days carrying everything they could steal and eat.

Cheap food amazes with the colors of the granules and the amount of secondary product that the dogs produced. Mountains, mountains!

By selecting food so that the desired level of fats and proteins, calcium, etc. was at minimal levels, there were no such exotic legs of New Zealand shellfish, mixed with white lambs from Australian pastures, pellets tinted with fresh spinach and similar useful things, I spent a lot of time. But I found a food that suited me at the price and average quality without advertising bells and whistles. My dogs’ diet consistently includes meat, eggs, fermented milk, fresh vegetables and fruits.

And it’s good if you have a simple and understandable dog. I happen to own bulldogs and dachshunds. And choosing food is not as easy as it seems. A bulldog, for example, is a medium-sized dog. But it weighs about 30 kilos, that is, like a large dog. The feeding dose does not meet the needs. It turns out that in order to give a dog the portion of food that a bulldog needs, like an average dog, you need to exceed the norm. And the daily amount of all proteins to which the bulldog is often allergic is exceeded. If you rely on food for large dogs, there will be an excess in carbohydrates and fats, since a special bulldog does not suffer from mobility. And you have to choose between obesity and allergies.

It's no easier with dachshunds either. Food for medium dogs is too small for them. Half my dogs choke and swallow without chewing. That is, it is impossible to force them to chew. Eating turns into sucking “mouth and nose” in a race with further regurgitation of the semi-dry mass, irritating the stomach, in the corners and fights for eating a sudden freebie. And larger food will contain an excess of, for example, calcium and fat, which in such a volume is not only not useful for the dachshund, but downright harmful.

But in dry food, ideally balanced, it is not known for what breed and dog, sometimes there is a completely unnecessary amount of certain substances. Magnesium, calcium and phosphorus are not the most harmless substances to blindly trust the manufacturer and put your beloved animal at risk.

Feed manufacturers read our souls perfectly: to wash less dishes, so that the poop doesn’t stink, the wool shines, and it seems like there’s even “duck with oranges” in the bowl at the same time. Yes, and 15 kilos for 100 dollars. For the stubborn - a wolf diet: meat with grass. The storytellers also talk about Little Red Riding Hood. For those who have a refined nature - please, salmon with pomegranate, holistic. It all depends not on the dog’s needs, but on how much you are willing to pay for a beautiful fairy tale and a clear conscience. The pet food market relies on lazy people and busy people. And also for those who got their first dog, don’t know how to cook and what to feed, and don’t want to find out.

The so-called market segmentation (dividing food into food for puppies, active, elderly, domestic, fat, long-haired, allergic, dwarf and picky) is a good marketing move, the illusion of a serious choice of food that is suitable for your dog. This, in theory, increases life expectancy and greatly improves health. Agree, wouldn’t it be a shame to pay a little more money for this? It’s not just that for nurseries there is one type of food and one price, but colored food wrappers are more expensive and individual selection with the help of an experienced sales consultant is for completely different consumers who do not have the experience of simultaneously keeping a dozen or more dogs of different ages and needs. By the way. Dogs in kennels practically do not get sick. But the clinics are full of owners of one dog. There is a simple explanation for this: dogs eat more simply, food is selected based on the composition and optimal condition of the dogs, and such condition is never excessive. I read: “if you put meat in the dryer, soon the dog will stop eating the dryer and will only demand meat! Don't do that! Hehe. There is no mischief in our house. Those who haven’t eaten will definitely have their competitor stick their nose into the bowl and happily gobble it all up without a trace. Next time, the capricious person will think hard: is it worth giving up drying in favor of something that they won’t give anyway.

In advanced kennels, they have a fasting day once a month, and the dogs spend a lot of time playing with each other. We are, of course, talking about normal breeders.

Yes, manufacturers perfectly read our thoughts. But in order to sell well, they are forced to focus not only on the dog’s tastes, but also on the preferences of their owners. A simple example: breeders and owners are convinced that chicken food can cause allergies (and often does), but there are large companies that produce food only based on chicken meat, which does not prevent them from declaring food for the first feeding of puppies, dogs with problem skin, sensitive digestion. I wonder if they add something there or leave something out? But other manufacturers, taking advantage of our fears, offer food with hypoallergenic lamb. There are still chicken ingredients in there, but there is rarely more than 15% lamb. It’s like with salmon, which is written about on the label, and at the end in small print: 4%... But the price of lamb feed is 15-20% higher. In our minds, lamb is a healthier and more elite food. And only extremely honest Scandinavians indicate pork in their ingredients, which terribly scares the Russian consumer and will not penetrate our market in any way.

It would be nice to have food like a timber wolf (why not a coyote, an arctic fox or a raccoon dog?), or a rabbit with pineapples. But dogs with vegetarian owners are also forced to lead the healthiest lifestyle in the world. Alicia Silverstone, Debra Beffer - famous people "train their dogs to do this to solve the ethical and health problems associated with the consumption of poultry and animal meat." But the dogs didn’t even know...

Animals become hostage to our preferences and concepts even when the owner, along with the purchased puppy, is given feeding recommendations, suggesting that they buy food through a breeder or club. As a rule, there is a purely commercial benefit behind this, since few owners know how often the priorities of breeders can change, based on more profitable contracts with suppliers.

And the presence on store shelves of mainly imported food or popular brands is just a more rational use of the small areas of pet stores, which are forced to take the most popular and popular brands of food, advertising of which is shown on TV. Meanwhile, food from Russian manufacturers is often no worse in quality, but much cheaper, because they cannot compete with powerful corporations. And we are hostages again together with our dogs: bright and literate booklets, attractive packaging... a bucket as a gift. And, of course, we want to eat a varied diet, so companies offer us fish, beef, rabbit and duck. We get moral pleasure from seeing with what appetite our four-legged naughty boy eats. And we want to make him happy. But if dogs could talk, they would never trade the fragrant tripe for the fragrant poop of dry food.

One day, standing in a long line at a pet store for some pills, I got very tired listening to a long lecture from a salesman praising some special food for a sterilized preschool cat, and decided to shorten the time of the unauthorized promotion:

“Imagine, tomorrow your neighbor will be castrated, and his wife will start cooking him “borscht for a sterilized husband over forty.” And prepare evening coffee for your beloved castrato. According to a special recipe.
— Woman, do you have cats? - a seller was found.
- Eat. If they manage to survive among my dogs, they eat mice. Both sterilized and non-sterilized. Everyone has one way to get food - to the basement. That's why I keep them. And they don’t even know at what age they start eating mice.

Meanwhile, everything remains as simple as at the very beginning of the article: a dog is a predator. It spends the bulk of its vital energy on hunting, so the body's systems are subordinated to this goal: the gastrointestinal tract of a predator is compact and focused on obtaining amino acids from food that are similar in composition to the amino acids of the predator itself. The functionality of the body, including the speed of wound healing for which dogs are so famous, depends on the supply of suitable animal protein.

The exception to the rule is sick animals. Then the use of dry food from dietary lines is completely justified. But even here there are nuances that are not usually discussed in polite society of manufacturers and sellers.

“Quite often, owners report poor tolerance to raw meat. The dog experiences diarrhea or vomiting, which complicates the process of natural feeding or makes it even impossible. This fact does not mean at all that meat is a bad food for a dog and therefore harmful, but this is due to the fact that raw meat requires maximum efficiency of the dog’s digestive tract, in particular the stomach, where the main digestion of lump meat occurs. Thus, intolerance to raw meat indicates the presence of diseases in a dog in a variety of ways, and in most cases this is reduced acidity, hypoacid, anacid gastritis, when the stomach cannot cope with what it should cope with. In other words, the dog is sick. Dry food, since it does not contain native meat (only large peptides - elements of the protein structure of meat), does not require gastric digestion at all; we can say that with a dry diet, the dog does not need a stomach at all. All that is required of the dog is to eat the food and absorb the nutrients in it with a small participation of intestinal juice and pancreas.

The fact of meat intolerance is often misinterpreted by both pet owners and doctors in favor of a natural diet, which forces owners to switch their dog or cat to a dry diet. The absence of problems in a dog is perceived as health, but in reality it is not. Some doctors recommend switching to a dry diet in order not to want to treat the dog’s intractable condition (it’s easier this way). However, in fairness it must be said that sometimes switching to a dry diet will be the solution when the dog is terminally ill or too old to be painstakingly treated, but only sometimes, and not in all cases, as is happening now,” writes Davydov V.B.

Writes beautifully! And, most importantly, it’s correct!

When a small puppy appears in the house, it is important to decide what to feed him. After all, every modern owner wants their pet to be healthy, full of strength and energy.

Currently, there are a number of methods for feeding dogs. Basically, most owners prefer special products. Above all is their quality. Veterinarians recommend choosing professional types of food for dogs. Their price is much higher, but the quality is impeccable.

Basic varieties

Today, among dog food, the following groups of food are distinguished:

Economy class- a budget option. Does not require significant costs from the buyer. Quite cheap ingredients are used for preparation. Mainly products of meat origin. That is, from animals that arrived at the slaughterhouse already sick, old, or dying. Of course, the likelihood of developing tumors and various ailments in a dog taking such food is high. The meat of livestock that has received hormonal drugs, pesticides, and antibiotics can also be harmful. Meat from the tissues of pregnant cows will not be beneficial. After all, heat treatment will not get rid of all hormones. Dogs cannot be kept on such food for a long time. Otherwise, the animal’s skeletal development may slow down, its coat will begin to look unkempt, and its behavior will worsen.
Custom class- very high quality products. True, their protein content can be too high, which can lead to disruption of the genitourinary system. Such foods sometimes contain synthetic dyes that provoke allergies in animals. Often, due to the sweeteners that are also found in custom grade foods, your pet's appetite increases and he eats much more than when eating high-grade foods.
First-class feed- easily digestible food. Significantly less product is used for feeding. Feces are also passed less. As a result, the dog looks truly excellent when fed premium dry food. Components for creating the product are poultry or lamb. Beef is also used. These are good, balanced foods. They contain everything dogs need for an active life. Eating first-class foods will help prevent ailments of the kidneys, bones, heart, genitourinary, and vascular systems. First-class feeds always provide optimal protein content.

Criterias of choice

When choosing truly reliable food for your four-legged friend, you should focus on a number of criteria. Among them:

Manufacturer country. It is important that the product is licensed and certified. After all, even when buying high-quality food, you can encounter a problem when the dog looks great and feels great, but after six months it begins to itch, change color, and become covered with dandruff. This is possible if the manufacturing company without warning switched to cheaper feeds and began using preservatives to create the corresponding products.
Indication of preservatives. Premium foods contain important vitamins E and C. Consumer grade foods use chemical preservatives instead. Of course, in European countries this issue is approached with the utmost seriousness, and the use of any chemical preservatives is strictly prohibited. After all, such substances are dangerous and can have a detrimental effect on animals, destroying their kidneys, liver, genitals, and pancreas.
Presence of food coloring. Basically, the dog doesn’t care about the color of the food. But a lot of dyes and preservatives are very harmful to animals. Such substances have carcinogenic properties. They help increase sensitivity to viruses.
Amount of each ingredient. Sometimes the supplier simply does not indicate the content of all nutrients; it is undesirable to buy such a product.
Feed moisture percentage. After all, there is no point in overpaying for the presence of water in the product. The percentage of moisture should not exceed ten. The lower this indicator, the longer the shelf life of the corresponding product.

The key to a dog’s health, confident stance, correct posture, shiny coat, activity and healthy lifestyle is the way it feeds. There are general standards and recommendations on how to properly feed a dog with natural food, of course, there is an alternative - industrial food, but each animal needs an individual approach, so we will look at the nuances.

Before purchasing a pet, you should study many breed nuances of feeding and maintenance. It is important to understand, even if you are adopting a mongrel from a shelter, that this is a dog that needs the same nutritious nutrition as a titled pet. Accept it as a fact - keeping any animal requires material costs; do not expect to feed your dog homemade food “from the table” or the cheapest dry food. As a result, treating your pet will take much more time, money, and most importantly, the animal will suffer for the rest of its life. A number of fundamental rules that will help maintain the health of the animal:

In most cases, it is fraught with metabolic disorders.

Has a detrimental effect on the intestinal microflora.

Industrial feeds are enriched with vitamins and microelements; mixing diets can lead to hypervitaminosis.

The daily food intake is calculated based on the weight and energy needs of the pet. An imbalance leads to either obesity or loss of strength and exhaustion. The daily weight of food should be 2–3% of the dog’s weight if we are talking about an adult pet.

An important nuance: the larger the dog, the less its need for daily calories per kilogram of weight.

When calculating, take into account the energy needs of the animal; you cannot feed a yard dog kept in a chain or enclosure in the same “regime” as a pet who is engaged in service or regularly engages in “dog sports”. Older dogs also have lower calorie needs, but the amount of protein, fatty amino acids, and proteins should remain the same.

Requirement of large breeds weighing 45–70 kg: 30–24 kcal/kg body weight.

Requirement of medium breeds weighing 15–30 kg: 39–33 kcal/kg body weight.

Requirement of small breeds weighing 5–10 kg: 52–44 kcal/kg body weight.

Requirement for miniature breeds weighing 2–5 kg: 65 kcal/kg body weight.

Important! A complete ban on fatty foods in a dog’s diet is, to put it mildly, illogical. Of course, proteins, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, amino acids and microelements are extremely important, but a moderate amount of fat is also necessary. The main thing is to carefully monitor your pet’s weight, especially after surgery, illness, pregnancy, stress, and adjust the diet if the dog begins to gain weight.

Provide constant access to water, the dog should have it at any time, especially after an active walk, in hot weather, with low air humidity. , a subtle but serious threat to the life and health of your pet. It is recommended to change the water once a day, in the hot season - at least 2 times. If in your city or town, tap water has a high percentage of impurities (scale remains in the kettle), it is recommended to give the dog purified water - salts, phosphorus, chlorine, unrefined calcium obtained with water, the most common cause of urolithiasis.

Note! Excessive water consumption is a dangerous symptom for the female. Dogs experience intense, uncontrollable thirst when they develop pyometra, a purulent inflammation of the uterus.

Feeding an adult dog - daily need for energy and vitamins

Beginner owners often face a number of difficulties in preparing a diet, succumb to the manipulation of their pets and lose sight of important features of the breed. Let's figure out what to properly feed your dog at home and how to calculate the required amount of food. An adult dog eats 1-3 times a day; based on the regimen, divide the daily intake into portions.

Water

The basis of proper metabolism, digestion, and therefore good health is water. The daily norm is calculated based on 40–60 ml. per kilogram of an adult pet’s body (80–110 ml for puppies), if the ambient temperature does not exceed 25 C°. Please note that the daily water intake includes the liquid that is included in the porridge.

Squirrels

Material for cell restoration and division. One of the necessary elements that the body cannot stock up on for future use, therefore proteins must be present in the animal’s diet every day. The dog's body synthesizes many vitamins and microelements on its own, but a number of essential amino acids are found only in protein foods. Complete sources of protein - lean meat, natural milk, eggs.

Eggs are a rich source of vitamins E, B2, B12, D, proteins and essential amino acids. Along with the benefits, the product is a strong allergen, so it is not advisable to use it more than 2 times a week. For puppies, nursing and weak pets, quail eggs are recommended for maintenance purposes.

In combination with natural food, the pet should receive bones and cartilage, but taking into account several nuances:

It is strictly forbidden to feed the dog tubular, rib and other bones that break into fragments under pressure - a direct path to the operating table, and only if you have time.

Bones are fed only raw. Boiled bone tissue is calcined like glass and, when chewed, breaks into small sharp fragments.

The dog can have spongy bones (porous) - shoulder blade, brisket.

Sugar bones (moslaks) are given to the dog as a teething and teeth cleaning aid. The moslak should not fit into the dog's mouth. You should not leave an animal gnawing a bone unattended - an overly enthusiastic pet can damage its jaw if the bone gets stuck.

Read also: Teaching a dog the “Place” command: step-by-step instructions for pets from 4 months to a year

Milk is a partial alternative to meat, but with a number of conditions:

Homemade milk must undergo veterinary examination, otherwise the product may threaten the life of the animal.

The optimal fat content of milk is 7–12%.

The milk must be fresh.

Mixing meat and milk in one feeding is not recommended.

Carbohydrates

The energy basis of the body, including the immune system. Fiber - bran, the shell of cereals and some of their components, act as a catalyst for digestion and cleansing the intestines. The daily fiber intake for an adult dog is 2–3% of the diet, carbohydrates – 10 g. per kilogram.

The optimal source of carbohydrates and fiber is cereals. They are fed only in a well-cooked form. Porridge is prepared from chaff, whole or pressed cereals - rice, oatmeal, barley, buckwheat or mixtures thereof. Feeding millet, semolina, corn and pearl barley is unacceptable!

Vegetables and fruits are a source of fast carbohydrates and fiber. Eating raw or processed vegetables in combination with grains and meat has a beneficial effect on the tone of the gastrointestinal tract, supports intestinal microflora, and helps the body get rid of toxins. It is optimal to finely chop or grate an apple, pumpkin, carrots, herbs, lettuce, and tomato. You should be careful with potatoes, cabbage and beets - they can cause diarrhea.

Fats

Contrary to all the arguments about the dangers of fatty foods, no metabolism can do without fats. Of course, the dog should not be fed excessively fatty, fried foods, or foods containing harmful vegetable oils (palm oil, recyclables). The pet needs to receive non-synthesized Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids and products that will allow them to build up a small layer of fat for the winter. The daily fat intake is 1.3 g per kilogram for an adult dog, 2.6 g for puppies.

The source of healthy fats is boiled ocean fish, vegetable oils: olive, pumpkin, sunflower, which are optimally absorbed in combination with cereals.

Vitamins and minerals

The weak point of dogs is B vitamins and ascorbic acid (C), they are synthesized in the body in insufficient quantities and are not stored in reserve, so they must be present in food daily.

Note! High-quality industrial food contains a full complex of vitamins; when choosing treats, study the composition so as not to increase the required daily dose.

Vitamin supplements are given in regular courses and additionally during pregnancy, lactation, active growth or illness. Please note that phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and vitamin D must be present in one complex, since they are absorbed in proper proportions, and excess is excreted from the body.