Dog Nutrition - What to Know about Diet

Sure, it’s easy enough to run to Target once every few weeks, pick up that giant bag of food, and pour a scoop or two into your buddy’s dish, but is it really the best thing for him?

Dogs’ diets can be as complex as ours, and it’s important to hit all of the vital nutritional bases. Lack of the proper vitamins and nutrients can lead to upset stomachs, skin problems, brittle bones, obesity, and even - in the worst cases - death. Proper pup nutrition is the building block of his overall health.

Without the right nutrition and exercise, his defenses against disease and disorders are weakened. Educate yourself about the ABCs of poochie health by reading on! What does my dog need from food? As you most likely learned in primary school, dogs are carnivores. After centuries of domestication, dogs still enjoy living out the illusion that they are the wolves from whom they were naturally selected. They hunt prey (unfortunately for Kitty), love their bacon and sausage treats, and love the solid crunch of chewing bones or other hard toys. Yet a diet of meat alone is not ideal for your dog.

While meat provides most of the crucial nutritional elements to help provide energy and enhance bone growth like protein, fat, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, your pooch’s diet should also include some amount of fiber to help his body digest his food. Just as in your own body, an overdose or deficiency of any given nutrient, vitamin, or mineral can cause reactions or illness in your dog. We’ll discuss the ins and outs of vitamin supplements later in the chapter, but you should be generally aware of what amount of each nutrient is ideal for your dog and select his food accordingly.

Decent guidelines for nutrition are the percentages above. Check the sides and back of your dry food bag and you should be able to find the nutritional content fairly easily. If not, give the manufacturer a call and ask them to provide you with the information. If your dog is a sucker for moist food, you’ll find an adjustable formula later in the section.