Today's dog owner is confronted with a bewildering array of food for his pet.
Years ago, when such a variety wasn't available, dogs were fed foods that were most plentiful in the region. In the arctic, dogs were fed mostly fish and whale blubber; in the southern United States, a dog's diet consisted mainly of cornbread; in Europe, potatoes were the main fare. These diets led to diseases such as black tongue (pelegra in humans), rickets, and other less commonly known ailments, many of them fatal.
In the wild, the canine did not just restrict himself to eating just the meat of his prey. He ate the entire animal, including the contents of the stomach. Wild dogs were known to kill each other while fighting over the stomach contents of their prey. Thus, nature provided the wild animal with a diet considered nutritionally complete.
Domesticated dogs were not allowed that luxury, and usually were fed table scraps. These
diets, as they essentially reflected whatever diet the human was living on, sometimes resulted in serious nutritional imbalances and severe nutritional deficiencies.
After years of study, it was determined that even though the canine is considered a carnivorous animal, he requires certain carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals to satisfy nutritional requirements just as humans do. So he's not, by definition, a 'true' carnivore like a cat is.
In 1953, the National Research Council compiled and published nutritional requirements for dogs. The NRC is US-based, federally established scientific body whose basic function is gathering research data.
After World War II, the pet food industry began an enormous expansion. Already a highly competitive business, pet food manufacturers quickly found themselves in neck to neck competition for a piece of this highly lucrative business.
In order to survive and successfully compete in the market, pet food manufacturers knew that they must provide a dog food which was:
A) Nutritionally complete; containing all 26 nutrients that the National Research Council said that does need.
B) Palatable so that the dog would enjoy eating the food.
C) Easy and convenient for the customer to handle.
D) Economically competitive in the market.
Pet food manufacturers have established laboratories and hired nutritionists and food technicians to select those ingredients, which, when combined, will provide the sufficient nutrition to meet NRC standards.
Over the years,store purchased pet food has benefited from more research, analysis and scientific input. There is - quite literally - a dog diet to suit your dog no matter what their age, weight, activity level or breed.
So, on the question of supplements and, more to the point, does your dog need them?
The answer, quite simply is no, they don't 'need' them.
This doesn't mean you can't use them if you choose to as many owners find certain products do tend to improve their dog's all round wellbeing, in which case supplements clearly serve a great purpose - but the is, pet food is developed to contain all of the nutrients and nourishment your dog needs.
But there are times when certain supplements can perform an extremely valuable function. I'm talking about products such as joint supplements and other complementary items that can provide additional support where it might be needed. We will take a look at some of types of supplements and whether they will have any value for your dog, in a future edition - but hopefully we've set in stone the notion that in terms of diet, 'ordinary' store purchased pet food contains everything you dog needs nutritionally.
At Urban Out Sitters we continue to raise the bar above all our competitors to offer the best care for your dog. Each facility is clean, safe and certified by the Department of Agriculture offering stricter sanitary requirements; enforcing better screening for each dog; and selling a higher performance of daycare or kenneling. Our fully staffed facility is a smaller environment, specifically designed to maintain control, supervision and quality.For more information about the services we provide visit our website at www.urbanoutsitters.com
No comments:
Post a Comment