By Jennie Brass, Assistant Resort Manager
We’ve all heard the words ‘you are what you eat’. After all, nutrients are the building blocks of the body. Whether your dog is a loving couch potato or an active athlete they will still benefit from good nutrition in the proper amounts. Additionally many common conditions can be managed by diet, or a properly adjusted diet can at least help to decrease the amount of medications or supplements needed. There are a wide variety of foods out there to choose from, so how does one know what to feed? After all, we’re looking to have our companions with us for as long as possible.
Mmm! It’s breakfast time!
There are many wonderful dog foods out there, however there is no one single food that works for every dog out there. So, the trick is finding a good quality food that works for your own dog’s unique situation. My crew (as shown above happily eating their Fromm Salmon A La Veg) have actually been through a number of different brands in the past. They have been on Solid Gold Barking at the Moon, Taste of the Wild Salmon formula, and two varieties of Canidae. All these foods were excellent choices and let me break down why.
As an example I will use my crew. When looking for a food I considered my dogs’ lifestyle. All are active in training and performance. Parker, my Tri Collie, does Rally demos with me as well as training. Ash, my Border Collie is middle age approaching senior and he competes in agility. Ion, my young Sable Collie, is competing in Rally and preparing for agility. For all these dogs proper muscle tone is critical: critical for Ash so he can maintain the sport he adores, for Ion so he can start out with the proper muscle conditioning. This means for them they need a high protein food with a good calorie content. They also all have deep double coats, and Ash has allergies with occasional dry skin. One of the best things known to support good skin and coats is fish oil, specifically salmon. While this can be supplemented via pills, having the main protein base of the food be salmon supports the need right from the dinner bowl. To date I have noted less allergies from Ash during his peak season while on the salmon based food and he has needed less Benadryl to get through. An absolute benefit right there. Over the course of time I watch a number of things to ensure the food is the right one for them. These include holding proper weight and muscle tone, skin and coat condition, are their stools formed (if not, the food may not be right for their digestive system), also how much are they pooping (large volumes mean there’s too much waste in the food and thus they are not getting as much from it). And of course they have to like it. As you can see from the photo, clearly they enjoy the food.
Having an idea of what you are looking for (or not looking for) means being able to recognize the signs of a great food. You should see a specific meat source or meat meal right up there in the top ingredients, preferably the first ingredient listed. There are many different meat bases out there: chicken, duck, pheasant, lamb, bison, beef, fish, venison, rabbit, some even come with multiple protein sources combined. The species should be identified. There are even grain-free foods which concentrate more of the nutrition towards the proteins. You should not see a number of grains in the first ingredients on a food. One of the worst to see listed first is corn. While it can be part of the food, it should not make up the bulk of it as dogs get very little if anything from corn. These two points will easily help in choosing a better food. If the food has some whole grains this is good as long as they are whole and not fractions. Actual rice, oats, barley, etc can add to the nutritional value. It is preferable not to have sugars or sweeteners added nor salts. Just like with us, too much of each of these is a bad thing. If you see Omega fatty acids in good quantities: Omega6 (at least 2.2%) and Omega3 (at least 0.3%) this is a good sign. The same if you see vitamins C, E, and K from natural sources. These support a number of critical functions in your companion. However, you want to avoid preservatives like BHA (butylated hydroxynisole) , BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone, ethoxyquin, or sodium metabisulfite. These are known or suspected to accumulate or cause illnesses in dogs, and there are safer alternatives. This is just the basics, one can get even deeper into nutrition, there is a lot of information out there. The bottom line is that the better food though it costs more per bag you will need to feed less, it’s more cost-effective in the long run.
Once you have chosen your food the other part is making sure to obtain a proper healthy weight. Excess weight puts stress on not only the joints, but also demands extra from the circulatory system as well since fat contains loads of blood vessels. Help your dog live a long happy life by feeding to condition, not the instructions on the dog food bag. Those instructions are simply guidelines, and ever dog is different with varying metabolic needs. Some dogs won’t even eat half the recommended amount while others might eat twice that to maintain a healthy weight. My dogs actually vary throughout the year and I adjust their meals accordingly. When I notice they are starting to put on weight I pull back their food by about ¼ cup and watch. If they start to lose weight beyond their ideal I add ¼ on for a while. It depends what they are doing.
Different breeds and mixes have different shapes, but in general the rule of thumb is that a dog should have a slight tummy tuck from the side view and an hour-glass figure when looking down from above. Ion is a fuzzy dog, but it still shows in the photos provided below. I tried my other Collie, Parker, but he was fluffy his tucks didn’t really show.
Sloping underbelly, tucks gently right after ribs
Waistline tucks gently after ribcage, comes back out at hips
Generally, you should be able to feel your dogs ribs rather like feeling something through polar fleece. The spine, hips, and shoulders should also able to be felt similarly. If you can’t feel the bones or have to push hard to do it your dog has too much padding (unless the breed calls for it, for example a Bull Dog). The vast majority of dogs should have a waist line. Sadly, many dog owners have become so accustomed to the sight of overweight dogs they identify a healthy weight as underweight or even a ‘starved dog’. Too thin would be ribs, spine, and hip bones visible (unless the breed calls for it, commonly Grey Hounds will display this at a healthy weight.) The idea is that the dog does not needlessly carry around excess weight, that their nutritional intake matches their needs.
The more we can support their needs with their food, the less additional steps we will need to take to supplement for their needs. Don’t be fooled by gimmicks on commercials, pictures of cute dogs on the bag, or even fancy packages: the proof is in the fine print writing on the bag. By utilizing this we can limit the normal wear and tear of time and lessen or even prevent altogether some unnecessary vet bills. In the long run, being knowledgeable enough to choose the best food for your canine companion will pay out in dividends! More run time for your best friend with you on this Earth!
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