Diet Makes a Difference
The food we eat is our source of fuel and contributor to our overall health. This also holds true for our pets so talk about diets. There are several ways you can significantly improve the overall health, behavior and quality of life for your pet when you feed them their optimal diet.
Dog food aisles can be an overwhelming place to venture anymore with the variety of formulas created to serve every niche imaginable. Forget the marketing hype and focus on three key factors that really matter to your dog’s health and well being.
- Best quality ingredients with minimal chemical additives
- Type of food and Assessment of Grains
- Protein source
Quality Ingredients
You should recognize the names of ingredients in your dog’s food. The first ingredient should be an identifiable and named protein. You do not want to see “meal” listed after the protein. Avoid foods with added sweeteners and artificial preservatives (e.g., BHA, BHT and ethoxquin). Purchase food made from the best ingredients you can afford. Investing in organic foods can be the best choice for some dogs.
Type of Food
Selecting the right type of food whether kibble, canned or raw can make a big difference to your dog’s appetite and behavior. Kibble is easy to feed, but takes a long time to digest so nutrients are not utilized as efficiently. Many dogs adapt well to a kibble diet, but if your dog is not excited about eating, always seems hungry or has very large stools for it’s size you may want to try another type of diet.
Wet or canned food is a better option that can be mixed with kibble to improve your dog’s nutrition. The best option is a raw or natural diet that you purchase or prepare for your dog. Enzymes and vitamins remain in their natural state in a raw diet so they are effectively processed in the dog’s body. You will have very small stools or waste material when feeding a raw diet.
It is very important to use proven recipes so your dog receives a balanced diet if you prepare on your own. There are good books available to guide you including: Dr Pitcairn’s Natural Health for Dogs & Cats and Wendy Volhard’s Holistic Guide to a Healthy Dog.
Protein Source
To me the most underutilized information that benefits our dog’s diet is selection of the protein source. More important is knowing which ones are cool, neutral or warm. Dogs that tend to run hot often do better eating cool proteins. In winter your dog may prefer a warm protein versus a cool protein in summer. Just like we do best eating seasonal foods, the same applies to our dogs. It can be beneficial to vary your dog’s diet and recommend you consider it quarterly as seasons change.
A brief recap of common proteins is summarized below to get you started looking at foods by their energy.
| Warm | Neutral | Cool |
| Chicken | Beef | Turkey |
| Lamb | Pork | Duck |
| Venison | Salmon | Cod |
| Oats | Beets | Barley |
| White Rice | Peas | Brown Rice |
| Yam | Carrots | Spinach |
Muscle testing is a tool that will tell you the best diet for your dog today. It’s a tool that everyone can learn and a great way to confirm you are feeding the best diet for your individual dog.
Robin and I both feed raw diets to our dogs and have for many years. I’ve tried the BARF diet, Volhard home-prepared diet, muscle-tested home-prepared diet and frozen prepared natural diets. My dogs are healthy with small stools and have never required a professional tooth cleaning. The enzymes in their raw diet and recreational bone treats keep their teeth clean naturally.
My experience confirms that each dog is an individual and there is not a one size fits all choice. Focus on selecting the right protein source and type of food that your dog enjoys. Finally feed the best ingredients you can afford and make nutrition an area for additional learning. It’s definitely the foundation to helping your dog lead a long and healthy life with you.
