Taking Proper Care of a Family Dog: 4 Nutritional Tips
Your dog is not a pet. It’s a member of the family. This is why they deserve only the best care. Such care always begins with what you feed your furry friend. After all, the wrong food could be counterproductive to your dog’s health.
This is why we’re going to introduce you to 4 nutritional tips that will help your dog live a long, happy, and healthy life.
1. Less Fat Content
Although dogs have stronger stomachs than us, they shouldn’t eat the first thing that lands on their plates. You might already know that certain foods such as chocolate, onions, and grapes could poison your dog if eaten in excess. However, you should also stop feeding them high-fat content foods as well.
A healthy dog is fine eating dog food with normal levels of fat. Nonetheless, if the pup is overweight or has a medical condition, you should consider lowering the fat content in your dogs food to improve their health. Among the many benefits of low-fat food, is that it prevents obesity, avoids pancreatitis, and facilitates digestion.
2. Don’t Cook The Meat!
We are used to cooking our food. Instead of eating raw meat, we learned that properly cooking it not only makes it more delicious but also gets rid of harmful properties, such as bacteria that could damage our bodies. With this logic in mind, we might consider that the same applies to our beloved dogs. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Dogs are wilder than humans. In other words, their digestive system and overall body are resistant enough to digest raw meat in a way that’s not harmful to their bodies. Dogs absorb the nutrients of raw meat. In contrast with cooked meat, in which certain nutrients are not absorbed at all. Not to mention, raw meat includes antioxidants and vitamins, which disappear when it’s cooked.
You don’t want to make your dog’s stomach “lazy.” On the contrary, you want it to be as strong as possible. So please, avoid cooking the meat.
3. Avoid Hard Bones
“Like a dog with a bone” is one of the most inaccurate expressions in the English language. Although cartoons and movies have shown us the contrary, dogs should stay away from bones at all costs. There are lots of facts that back up this statement.
First of all, bones may injure your dog’s jaw, mouth, and tongue. Nonetheless, even if your dog is tough enough to break down the bone and swallow it, it can still cause stomach injuries and damage the intestinal lining. More specifically, bones could hurt the walls of those organs.
Lastly, consider that raw bones contain a wide number of contaminated pathogens. Some dogs may resist these pathogens, so neither you nor your dog will face any trouble. However, we highly encourage you to keep bones away from your dog. Feed it something better instead. There are hundreds of alternatives.
4. Organic = Better
Did you know that dogs can eat fruit and vegetables? However, make sure that such greens are not genetically modified. This means you need to feed your dogs vegetables that are organic. No canned vegetables, no market fruits. Be sure to provide non-genetically modified foods at all times. Your dog will thank you for it.
Dogs are the most beloved beings on this planet. Their love for their owners is nothing but the purest act of fondness any animal could give. Return that love by taking care of them. All it takes is feeding only the best of the best. Make sure you follow the tips provided here and you’re already on the right track!
