Nutrition for a Healthier Dog

Nutrition for a Healthier Dog
By Laurie Coger

More than ever before, owners are paying more attention to what goes in their dogs food bowls. The question of how and what a dog should be fed is often heatedly debated premium kibble versus look-alike brands from wholesale clubs versus grocery store brands, raw, home-cooked, and fresh frozen. Should supplements be used, or is the food complete and balanced, as the labels state? Should grains be fed? Should bones be whole or ground? What about herbal supplements, joint supplements, vitamins, and probiotics? What about the special needs of the performance dog, older dog, or growing puppy?

The answers to these questions are obviously complex. There are many ways to meet a dogs nutritional needs. For the show and competition dog, we are especially concerned that the diet supports peak physical and mental condition, as well as overall health. Many dogs have sensitive digestive systems, food intolerances, or other health concerns. The senior dog and the family dog who is not very active need good nutrition without extra calories that lead to weight gain. A sound nutritional program will enable all of these dogs live to long and healthy lives.

Whatever feeding plan is used, it must fit in the daily routine of the owner. The food chosen must be readily available, and in the case of the competition dog, be able to be easily fed on the road. The food must meet the nutritional needs of the individual dog, and be fed in a way to not provide excessive or deficient amounts of key nutrients. All foods should be clean and fresh, especially kibble that is naturally preserved with tocopherols and or citric acid. Natural preservatives are preferred to chemical preservatives such as BHA or BHT, but naturally preserved food that is stored too long may become rancid or moldy, as well as losing its nutritional value.

The vast majority of dogs in this country, whether family companions or competition/working dogs, are fed some type of commercial food. For the purposes of this article, commercial food will be divided into three categories: standard or grocery store foods, premium or pet store foods, and super-premium foods. The best way to understand the differences in these foods is to review the ingredients of a representative of each food category. (Food examples were chosen based on nationwide advertising and availability.)

Top 5 ingredients of common dog foods

Standard/Grocery Store Food
Kibbles n Bits

Corn
Soybean meal
Ground wheat
Beef & bone meal
Animal fat*

Premium/Pet Store Food
Nutro Max Adult

Chicken Meal
Wheat Flour
Ground Whole Wheat
Rice Bran
Poultry Fat**

Super-Premium Food
Wellness Super5 Chicken

Deboned Chicken
Ground Barley
Oatmeal
Rye Flour
Menhaden Fish Meal

*BHA and citric acid used as preservatives

**Preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E

As you can see from these examples, the proportion of meat in the top 5 ingredients (listed in order of amount, i.e. the first ingredient is present in the largest amount) is small in the standard grocery store food. The meat source, beef and bone meal, is defined as a rendered product made from beef parts which are not suitable for human consumption. Rendering is the process by which waste products are broken down to be used in, among other things, dog food. Rendering companies typically collect waste from slaughterhouses, dead livestock, restaurant and grocery store wastes, and in some areas, euthanized animals (livestock and in some areas, pets). The collected animals and waste are then sprayed or injected with carbolic acid or similar chemicals to break down the proteins. This is followed by grinding and cooking. Fat is separated out, and the remaining material is dried to produce meal. What do you think the nutritional quality of this meat and bone meal is?

The premium quality food lists chicken meal as the first ingredient. While it is a more specific type of meal, and likely of higher quality, it is still a rendered product. Also, two varieties of wheat are listed, a technique known as splitting in labeling jargon. It cannot be determined from the label whether the food contains more chicken meal or wheat. A big advantage the premium food offers is the use of tocopherols for preservation of the chicken fat, rather than the suspected carcinogen BHA.

The super-premium food protein source is whole, unrendered meat, meaning muscle with or without organ meat and associated structures. This product contains fish meal as the fifth ingredient, which is defined as clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish and/or fish cuttings, with or without the extraction of part of the oil. The super-premium food also contains three types of grains, of types not commonly found in most dog foods. With wheat implicated in many food allergies and intolerances, it is advantageous to use other grains if possible, even if they cost more than wheat or corn.

After learning what is really in commercial dog foods, you may be wondering what you have been putting in your best friends bowl! You thought you were getting the best food possible when you paid for an expensive brand, only to find out it is mostly grains. You are probably wondering if you have used a food that contains rendered euthanized animals, including dogs and cats. Two studies performed by the US Food & Drug Administration demonstrated the presence of the euthanasia drug sodium pentobarbital in many commercial dog foods, including premium brands. (Read about these studies in Foods Pets Die For, by Ann Martin) You may be considering the possibility that some of your dogs health issues could be food related. Most of all, you are probably wondering what commercial foods can meet your dogs nutritional needs in a wholesome way.

Fortunately, as more people learn about commercial foods, the demand for super-premium quality dog foods has increased, and more options are available today than ever before. It is now possible to find non-meal protein sources, grain free foods, and foods that use all human grade ingredients. With some research and careful label reading, you can find foods you can be comfortable feeding. With some companies offering delivery to your home, getting the highest quality food available has become easier, regardless of your location.

In response to learning what may be contained in dog food, many owners have turned to home-prepared diets. Feeding so-called natural diets is becoming commonplace in the world of the canine competition. Advocates of natural diets are often very enthusiastic about the merits of feeding real food to their dogs. Commonly cited benefits of a natural diet include reduction of allergies, better coats, stronger immune systems, and fewer gastrointestinal problems.

There are many feeding plans that fall under the general description of a natural diet. Perhaps the best known is the Bones And Raw Food diet designed by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. The core of this plan is the raw meaty bone, most commonly poultry necks, backs, and wings. Other pioneers of natural feeding such as Wendy Volhard and Dr. Kerry Brown advocate use of raw meats and vegetables, as well as a grain/cereal meal. Their feeding plan is one of the few that has been shown to meet or exceed the minimum daily requirement of all known nutrients, and was tested on dogs in all life stages for 12 years before being published. Many other feeding plans exist, and incorporate concepts from the Volhard and Billinghurst diets. Several companies are producing premixes and meats designed for inclusion in these plans, eliminating some of the work involved in feeding a natural diet. Finding recipes for feeding plans has never been easier, as there are many books, seminars, and internet resources available.

Although it is becoming easier to feed a natural diet, it can still be time consuming and require extra work. It requires an investment of time to become educated about your dogs nutritional needs. You must find a source for clean and fresh meats and other ingredients, and have the freezer space to store them. Depending on the diet plan you choose, you may need to grind or blanch vegetables or prepare cereal meals. You will also need to monitor your dogs health with regular veterinary check-ups and blood testing.

Many veterinarians and owners object to a natural diet. They are concerned that the raw meat may be contaminated with bacteria and cause infection in dogs or people, and that raw bones may perforate the digestive tract. They are worried that the diet is not completely balanced, as a kibble meal would be. Since the advent of commercial dog foods, we have been lectured about the evils of giving our dogs human food, as that would unbalance the diet. How can we possibly consider feeding a dog a completely human food diet, and how can it supply all the nutrition the dog needs?

Raw meats inevitably contain a large bacterial load. These bacteria can be dangerous to humans, so practicing good food hygiene is important, whether preparing your dinner or your dogs. However, a dogs digestive system is designed to handle bacteria that would be life threatening to a person. Bacteria are everywhere. If he couldnt handle large bacterial loads, your dog would surely die from chewing on sticks, licking his feet after walking in dirty areas, or scavenging discarded foods from the trashcan.

The risk that raw bones may perforate the digestive tract is small, but theoretically possible. Cooked bones are far more likely to splinter, and do pose a real risk. Appropriately sized raw bones, especially non-weight bearing bones such as poultry necks, can be thoroughly chewed by most dogs and tend to be crushed by chewing. Large bones such as beef thigh bone (femur) are large enough to not be splintered. You may have seen them sold in pet stores, plain or coated with a flavoring. Of course any dog that is an enthusiastic chewer should be supervised while chewing meaty bones.

The dog food industry has long fostered the belief that each meal we feed our dogs must be completely balanced. Meeting your dogs nutritional needs for the basic nutrients protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals is the very definition of a complete diet. However, the body possesses the ability to store some nutrients, a buffer, making it unnecessary to eat a 24-hour supply of every nutrient every day. In fact, the Volhard diet is fed in 7 days cycles, taking advantage of the bodys ability to store nutrients and allowing the digestive system to rest one day of the cycle. Do you eat a perfectly balanced diet each day?

Deciding what to feed your dog is not a simple decision. The more you learn about commercial foods, the more selective you will become. Fortunately, more high quality kibble foods, which approach the quality of well-managed natural diets, are readily available. Premixes that make feeding and traveling with a natural diet easier are also available. Feeding a natural diet is becoming more common and accepted, especially among owners of competition dogs. Whether you choose to feed your dog fresh or kibbled food, you have several excellent feeding plans to choose from.

For more info, specific product recommendations, or to order our recommended products, please visit us at CompetitiveCanineCare.com or CanineWellnessCenter.com.

Dr. Laurie S. Coger, a Certified Veterinary Chiropractitioner, and Certified Reiki Practitioner, brings a lifetime of experience in equine and canine competition to her work. A graduate of Cornell University's Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture & Life Sciences, she has a broadly based scientific education, with a special interest in nutrition. She is a contributing editor for The Australian Shepherd Journal, a national breed magazine, and a frequent speaker for various animal interest groups. Books discussing her approach to natural dog care and caring for the competition dog are underway.

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