Family Concerns

We all know the saying ‘A dog is man’s best friend’. You do all you can to look after your own health. So, doesn’t your best friend deserve the same? Your dog is an active member of your family and needs the same, if not more attention to health and nutrition as you do, if it is to stay healthy, and live longer.

But how? After all it’s very easy to get lost in big pet store. There is a bewilderment of products available today. Ailse after aisle of products. It is very confusing and also time consuming. However,all we need to use is a little commonsense and good information regarding the breed and age of your dog.

Let’s divide the dogs into two categories – small & adult. It has long been established and proven that small dogs have a different metabolism as compared to large dogs, due to physiologic effect of their body mass. For example a Great Dane weighing 100 pounds needs to consume about 23 calories per pound of body weight Pomeranian weighing 6 pounds needs to consume 47 calories per pound of body weight every day-more than twice as much!

As owner of a small dog, you need to be sure that your dog’s energy requirements are being met. Be sure to choose a diet that’s been formulated properly with optimal balance of highly digestible nutrients. Digestibility determines how much your dog can actually utilize each nutrient in its food.

Puppies need almost two or three times as much food as adult dogs per pound of weight. To keep up their energy levels, they have to be fed as frequently as three to four times till they are six months of age.

Just as with kids, diet is an important element in raising your puppies. A dog’s dietneeds to be balanced, nutrient rich, should contain high levels of phosphorous and calcium and be highly digestible. It should also contain high-quality proteins and should adhere to Association of American Feed Control Officials’ (AFFCO) procedures. This helps ensurea that the puppy develops strong bones, muscle and tissue.

Adult dogs need a combination of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water in a balanced diet to meet their daily requirements. A lot of dog food bags claim they are in themselves complete food. However, this can end up as null if the nutrients cannot be absorbed by your dog’s system. Major companies take great care in this aspect by trying to provide the nutrients in an absorbable form.

Dog foods must also consist of mineral and vitamin supplements in a balanced form. The proportions should be accurate so that they do not interfere with each other in your dogs system. This helps to provide maximum benefit to your dog. If the food consists of one ingredient in overdose and the other in lower doses, it could have an adverse affect on your dogs health.

Below are some feeding tips:
1 - Always keep the food dish clean.
2 - Feed adult dogs twice a day to prevent hogging at one single meal and lessens the chance of your deep chested dog developing bloat or stomach torsion.
3 - The feeding schedule should be within a set windowframe so that your dog knows the meal time but will not bother you if you are just a little late.
4 - Keep your kids away from your dog while feeding, so that he does not get insecure and feel a need to defend his food.
5 - Never let your dog have free access to food, or they risk they have constant activity in their digestive systems.
6 - Make sure your dog sits and has his food, in which case there is less chance of food spilling all over the floor.

If you have just got a puppy then one of your first tasks will be to house or potty train it. Make sure you do it right by checking out these articles
Puppy toilet training
Potty training puppies
toilet training puppies