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Table of Contents: 2

Chapter 1 – Why Worry About Your Dog’s Diet 3

Chapter 2 – When Should Good Nutrition Start 5

Chapter 3 – What Are The Three Choices Of Dog Food and How Are They Made? 6

Chapter 4 –What Makes A Healthy Dog Food and Where Can You Find It? 7

Chapter 5 – What To Do When Your Dog Is Overweight 10

Chapter 6 –Should You Give Your Furry Friend Table Scraps? 11

Chapter 7 – What Goes In Must Come Out. How Your Dog’s Diet Affects His Waste 13

Chapter 8 – What Is The Raw Dog Diet? 15

Chapter 10 –Should You Give Your Dog Vitamins? 19

Chapter 12 – Do Pregnant Dogs Need To Be Fed A Different Diet? 21

Chapter 13 – What To Feed Your Senior Dog 22

Chapter 14- Should You Give Your Dog Treats? 24

Chapter 14 – To Sum It All Up 27

Chapter 1 – Why Worry About Your Dog’s Diet

Your dog is your buddy. In some cases the best friend. They offer you unconditional love and company. Some breeds live to please you. They can brighten up your day when you get home after a long day of the office with how excited they are to see you. It is a known fact that having a dog can improve your mental health and offer companionship for many people. Dogs can be trained to do a number of things, they can be trained to be a Seeing Eye dog, police dog, and even clown dogs. They can do tricks such as dance with your, sit, play dead.

I love my dog. He is a 2 year old dopey golden retriever who is my protector and my buddy. I love the greetings I get from him when I walk in the door. I love the fact that when he wags his tail, his whole body shakes back and forth. I spoil my dog and to be honest I never gave much thought to what I was feeding him, or even how important it was. My whole life I have had dogs. You would think that I know all about their diet and how important it is for them to have a good diet.

Well I don’t, or at least I didn’t up until a short while ago. I was one of those dog owners who didn’t give my dogs diet a second thought. I bought whatever dog food was one sale that week and never read the ingredients. I listened to my vet advertise brands of dog food and sometimes took his advice but other times didn’t because I knew he was being paid to promote the food. I could tell because of all the free samples he was trying to get rid of.

I wasn’t however, one of those people who fed their dogs leftovers from the dinner table. Those are the people who fall for the puppy dog eyes that our dogs seem to have mastered. That is not to say I didn’t toss him a taste every now and then, but for the most part, I never fed him. Some of the food we eat can be toxic for a dog, and greasy foods, or fried food, forget it. Have fun cleaning up after him after that mess!

It wasn’t until I noticed my dog’s coat not looking as shiny as it once did. Other dog owners have said it wasn’t until their dogs began scratching themselves silly or not have much energy that they notice something was the matter. One person said it wasn’t until their dog’s stomach grew so much from him being overweight did they realize their might have been a problem with the food.

Dogs are mammals, just like us. If we eat too much and don’t exercise enough we are going to get fat as our dogs. If we eat food that is not good for us, we tend to feel lethargic afterwards and do not want to move. Eating unhealthy for us can cause a whole slew of problems from heart disease to diabetes. We can make our skin look unhealthy and our hair and when we go to bathroom. Well let us just say that it can be pretty ugly sight.

Dogs are no different. If they eat too much and get no exercise they become overweight. If they eat food that is not good for them, they to can feel lethargic and have no energy. What they eat can affect their coat and their skin. Dogs can get most of the same diseases we do. They can get cancer, they can get heart disease, and have heart attacks. They can even get diabetes.

This is why it is so important to understand why your dog’s diet is so important to their lives. Just like with us, dogs are what they eat, just like we are. Unfortunately though a dog can not tell you when something does not feel right on them, or when they have a stomach ache from the food they eat. Most of us watch what we eat because of the health benefits that come with the effort, and it is the same thing in our dogs.

A dogs diet needs are not that different from our own. They require the same vitamins and minerals as we do just not in the same quantity. They require protein, carbohydrates and fats just like we do. Their stomachs work similar to ours. There are only a few differences. If we eat too much and not exercise enough, we get overweight. Overweight can bring on a whole slew of problems for us. For a dog, it is no different. If they eat too much and do not get enough exercise, they too will become overweight and they too will deal with a whole slew of problems also. The food we put into our body can affect our skin and our hair. The food we put on a dogs body affects their skin and their hair. Why do some dog owners think otherwise? We eat certain foods to give us the nutrition we need to keep us healthy. The same is true for dogs. While they can not eat the same foods we do, careful attention should be paid to the ingredients in dog food to make sure they are getting a healthy and nutritious meal.

Poor diet in dogs could mean many things. Dogs with a poor diet do not have high energy levels, they many develop healthy problems down the line, they can be overweight or underweight. They can have teeth problems, bad breath, infections. The list goes on and on. An unbalanced diet for you dog could mean a shorter lifespan that your dog has.

Just as important as a good diet is, it is just as important to keep your dog on a feeding schedule. Free feeding your dog is almost like an invitation to obesity for some dogs. They can just graze all day. Getting your dog on a set schedule will help his diet in the long run and also his potty and business breaks outside.

Most dog owners consider their dog part of their family. Keeping a dog on a good diet has tons of benefits. You could be preventing a number of diseases, stomach issues and even be preventing cancer in some dogs. Just like us dogs can get cancer, they can get diabetes and they can even suffer from high blood pressure. What does your doctor tell you to do if this were to happen to you? Your doctor would tell you to change your diet.

You could keep allergies at bay if you make the smart choices for dog food. You could help prevent arthritis in your dog as they age. There are so many more reasons why you should make sure your dog is getting the best food available. With the proper diet, you could be looking at added years together

Chapter 2 – When Should Good Nutrition Start

So when should a dogs good nutrition start? Right from the moment they are born. In fact pups get an excellent source of nutrition and antibodies right from their mothers. In the first 24 hours after they give birth, a female dog will produce a liquid called Colostrum. This is the same liquid that women produce right after they give birth but before their milk comes in. In this colustrum are antibodies that the mother has been exposed to by the vaccinations she has received. So if you have a mother who is up to date with her vaccinations, her pup will be protected at least until they are old enough to begin their vaccine schedule. Usually the antibodies will stay in a pup’s blood until they are a few weeks old.

Without colostrum a pup’s chance of survival can be drastically reduced. Colostrum is a source of protection and nutrition and is also playing a part in maintaining the fluid level in your pup. In order for a new pup’s heart to work, it needs a high volume of fluid. Colostrum helps balance this all out.

After the first 24 hours and mother will start producing milk for their pups. Most experts agree that a pup should just nurse for about 3 to 4 weeks until their puppy teeth start showing. Once their teeth start coming through, the breeder should start adding in solid food because nursing might start to become too hard for the mother with their puppy teeth. If you have a pup or have experience with puppies, you know how sharp those teeth are. Imagine the pain their poor mother must experience if she accidentally gets nipped while they are nursing.

Most vets and breeders recommend that puppies are kept with their mother and their litter until they are at least 7-8 weeks old. By this time they are old enough to be weaned from their mother and ready to begin their new life with you. There are some questions to ask your breeder (if that is who you are buying your dog from). Double check and make sure the pup nursed for the first 24 hours. This way you can rest be assured that they got colostrum. Also ask your breeder or wherever you are buying your dog from what kind diet the pup has been on. Find out what kind of kibble the pup has been getting. Most of the time, a breeder will send you home with a bag of kibble and leave it up to you to determine if you want to stay with that kibble or use a new one. Switching is your choice. Some people switch because the kibble the puppies were on at the breeders have had bad reviews, others switch to a cheaper brand. All I ask is that if you do switch, you make sure they are still getting the nutrients they need to grow into the loving adult dog they are destined to be.

If you decide you want to try your pup on different food for whatever the reason, what kind of food should you buy for your puppy? Avoid canned food as they are made up of mainly water, salt and sugar. You pup does not need any salt or sugar so avoid the canned and the semi-moist food. Plus soften food can also cause teeth problems down the line for your dog. Stick with a dried food. To be more specific stick with a dried kibble food that has a meat protein source as one of its first two ingredients. Included in this kibble should be at least 28% of protein for your puppy to help they grow big and strong. Not only that but the kibble will help the puppy’s teeth. Puppies’ teeth are notorious for being sharper than adult teeth. Puppy kibble is designed for these teeth. You will notice that puppy kibble is a little smaller and sometimes harder than adult kibble. This is for your puppies’ teeth and to help his adult teeth come through.

If you are switching, the next step is to make the switch. Do not switch suddenly meaning do not give your pup the food it is used to one day and then a completely different food the next day. This will wreak havoc on your puppy’s stomach. Not only that your pup might not take to the new food so kindly. Your best bet is to mix the food in slowly to get them use to the new food. It can take up to a week to completely transition the pup from one food to the next but in the end it is worth it for your dog.

How often should you feed your puppy? Well any puppy under the age of six months should be fed at least three times a day. By the time they are six months, they should eat twice a day, and once they hit a year, they should eat only once a day. Of course that is all depending on the breed and the amount of activity your dog gets. A dog that gets a lot of activity and is a larger breed dog might benefit from being fed twice a day instead of once. It is not a good idea though to leave your puppies or your dog’s food out all day for them to eat whenever they may feel like it. This can lead to unwanted behavior down the line and obesity in some dogs. Since you are feeding three times a day, which means once in the morning, afternoon and night. This does mean that if you work full time, either yourself or someone you know and trust will have to come to feed your puppy its lunch and make sure they are taking out immediately. A puppy’s intestinal tract is still developing and they can not hold off on doing their business as long as adult dogs can. Make sure though you stick to a feeding schedule with your puppy.

As always limited the amounts of table scraps you give your pup in fact try not to give him any. Instead go for the puppy designed treats if you must give him something. By practicing good nutrition and diet right from the start you are creating an excellent blue print for your dog to follow through his life.