Human Diets Cause Weight Problems in Dogs

You may know….

9 million people in the UK suffer from joint problems, 44% of men and35% of women in the UK are overweight

But did you know….

40% of the UK’s large breed dogs live with joint problems too
Similar to the human population, up to 50% of the UK’s pets are overweight
To a dog, one human biscuit has the same calorie equivalent as a whole packet

Britain may be a nation of dog lovers, but new research from a pet food company shows that over a quarter of dog owners are unaware that common dog sensitivities such as putting on weight or sensitive skin can be helped by a change in diet.

The research shows just how much owners love their pets and care about their nutritional wellbeing.

owever, all admit they still can’t resist slipping them the odd naughty human treat:

Scraps from a plate - 43%
Home made gravy for dinner – 23%
One of your biscuits – 21%
A homemade meal – 13%
A bite of your chocolate– 13%

The findings point towards the emergence of a new ‘mirrored-diet syndrome’, when many owners and pets share the same health sensitivity problems, concerns and predispositions.

For example, 30% of owners admit obesity is a big pet health worry, 28% fear arthritis will also affect their dog, whilst a sensitive stomach can be a problem for both man and beast.

Weight Loss Tips For Dogs (and their people!)

Doga! All the benefits of Yoga, suppleness, flexibility and muscle toning and dogs can join in too. Take your dog with you on that journey for internal peace. You can both hold the ‘mountain’, ‘lotus’ or ‘cobra’ position, but don’t forget to warm up first .

An excellent work out for both human and dog is a good old ‘tug-o-war’. Although usually spontaneous, a five minute session will burn off as many calories as a brisk fifteen minute walk. Use an old rag or t-shirt and go for it. It is best if you crouch down to start with to avoid bending the back improperly. Your dog will love this one, but make sure you win, or you could be saddled with a very cocky young pup!

Short and often beats once a day. Walking the dog should never be a chore. Frequent, shorter walks are often more beneficial to you both than one long stroll a day. Bringing your heart rate up regularly, increases cardio-vascular fitness. A two minute jog completed by a five minute stroll four times a day will get results pretty sharpish.

Make minor diet adjustments. Replacing fizzy drinks with cordial will benefit a weight loss programme. Small changes that do not overhaul your lifestyle are easier to stick to. Changing an overweight dog’s portion size beats re-designing his whole diet plan.

What’s the Deal With Lifestage Dog Foods?

Nutritional Nirvana or Masterful Marketing?

It is a simple fact that what you put into your dog is reflected in how they look, act and feel. Getting the right balance of nutrients is not entirely simple and depends on a seemingly endless amount of variables such as breed, activity level, age and medical condition. Life stage foods are quite a modern phenomenon, developed to offer a more tailored approach to feeding your dog.

The theory behind life stage foods is that they go much further than simply satisfying the nutritional needs of a dog in a particular age group. So do they really work or are they a marketing gimmick? Are you ignoring life stage foods to the detriment of your dog’s health?

What are canine life stages? For the purposes of pet foods, life stages are split into three groups, and then divided again to make allowances for breed size and activity level. Whether you plan to feed your dog a natural diet or follow the advice of pet food manufacturers to the letter, you need to be aware of how different life stages effect the nutritional requirements of your dog.

The nutritional needs of dogs may also change with changes in lifestyle or function. If energy needs decrease in a dog but energy intake does not decrease accordingly, the dog is at risk of becoming overweight and developing health problems. By providing a diet that conforms closely to the requirements of the pet, it is possible to improve health and performance.

Diet Calculator: Whichever breed, age, size of dog you have, our diet calculator should help you see if you are giving your dog the right balance of nutrition.

Puppies: The fact that puppies are always growing is the main consideration when feeding. The need for protein, calcium and energy is at it’s highest at this stage in the dog’s life. Since puppies have smaller stomachs, the nutritional quality of their food needs to satisfy the requirements of a growing dog, but be delivered in a smaller quantity. Claire Robinson-Davies explained why the nutritional requirements for a puppy depend on the breed as well as the age.

“Large breeds grow at a slower rate, so less energy in the form of protein and fat is needed to support the slower growth rate, whilst still enabling the dog to reach its full growth potential. Conversely small breeds grow at a faster rate and hence need increased fat and protein levels to support this . Some small breed puppy formulas also contain increased levels of B vitamins to support their high-energy metabolism.”

We can send you regular dog weight and diet advice direct to your in-box. Simply sign up for our free newsletter service using the subscription box on the right hand side of this page.

Dog Weight Loss: Puppies

As a responsible pet owner, you need to be aware of your dog’s growth progress, from puppyhood to adulthood, to make sure that he stays in the best shape for the rest of his life. One of the things that you should do is to keep a weekly record of his weight until he reaches his 1st birthday. This is important in order to determine whether or not you have to modify his diet.

A chubby puppy may look cute and cuddly, but he is at great risk of developing joint problems or a bone disease. On the other hand, a puppy who is not eating his required daily meal may be experiencing an illness by type of food he is eating. If you have a large-breed puppy, he should be at least 2 years old before you can see a dramatic growth in his size.

Determining The Size Of Your Puppy

Obese puppies lead to obese dogs. The best way to find out if your puppy is overweight or underweight is to feel his ribs. The correct way to do this is to position your puppy on the table. Place one hand on his right shoulder and the other on his left shoulder.

Next, feel his ribs by applying a gentle press using the palm of your hand. You should be able to feel his ribs with just a little bit of fat and muscle. If you are having difficulty locating his ribs, then your puppy may need to shed some pounds. On the other hand, if you have no trouble finding every single rib in his body, you may have to add a little bit more calorie to his diet.

Check With Your Veterinarian

If your puppy needs to lose some weight, the best way to handle the situation is to make an appointment with your vet. Your vet will give you specific instructions that you must implement on a day-to-day basis. Your puppy will probably be given a special diet designed specifically for weight loss, one that is going to satisfy his appetite and contain required nutrients that his body needs while helping him lose weight at the same time.  Your vet may also recommend regular exercise to help those extra calories. These include walking, occasional running, and lots of playing.

Why Older Dogs Are Prone to Weight Gain?

Obesity is a very big problem in our society, and this problem goes for dogs as well. All dogs are susceptible to gaining weight as they become less active in old age. But some breeds have been reported to be more likely to become obese than others as they watch the birthdays fly by. West Highland white terriers, beagles, cocker spaniels, collies. cairn terriers, and retrievers are breeds that are noted for obesity in old age.

Older dogs are about twice as likely to be overweight as younger dogs, probably because of genetic factors as well as people feeding them high-calorie treats from the table. Also, smaller dogs can run around the house for exercise, but larger dogs need to be taken out. Because most dogs depend on people to take them out, it doesn’t always get done.

As adult dogs become elderly, a number of factors limit their exercise - including their physical and physiological condition (and perhaps that of their owners as well, if the owners are also slowing down a bit). So, lack of exercise coupled with the same amount of treats as they had when they were younger can lead to obese pets. Female dogs are more likely to be obese than male dogs and cats, and spayed animals are more likely to be obese than reproductively intact ones.

Here’s an interesting statistic: Pet owners who are 40 years old and older are more than twice as likely to have obese dogs as younger owners are. Not only are the owners getting older and probably less fit, but so are their pets! Further, about one-third of owners of obese dogs do not consider their dogs to be overweight; they consider their dogs to be in the normal range of weight.

I suppose the worst-case scenario would be a couple of spayed female Labrador retrievers who are about 14 years old, living with elderly “nurturing” (literally - with food) owners. Both the owners and their dogs are arthritic and overweight, with poor aerobic conditioning. Or maybe the owners smoke and have shortness of breath with even moderate exercise, and they enjoy fried foods and feed their dogs from the table or the couch (of course) or from anywhere else in the house. The owners equate feeding the dogs with giving them love. It’s the proverbial “recipe for disaster”!  So do anything you can do to prevent your dogs from getting fat and out of shape.  This may also be a good reason to watch your own levels of activity and diet.

Help! My Dog is Vomitting

My dog has started vomitting and I’m worried. What should I do?

A) Firstly, you should always get in touch with your nearest vet and seek immediate professional advice on an issue this serious.

When Your Dog Is Vomiting

The dog vomits with ease, seemingly at will, and often without apparent cause. One thing that almost never causes a dog to vomit is eating too fast. Bolting food is the natural way for a dog.

Eating too much, however, is another matter. The capacity of a p stomach to hold food is phenomenal. Life Magazine once ran a story about a five-pound puppy that ate a five-pound ham, all but the bone! Such examples, of course, are the ultra-extreme. Adult dogs, on the other hand, can hold only about one and one-half ounces of liquid for each pound the dog weighs. Some dogs may even hold as much as two ounces per pound of body weight, but any quantities above this almost always produce vomiting.

Vomiting, like diarrhea, is often seen in puppies. Dogs at this age have the exasperating habit of eating such things as dirt, stones, sand, bedding, toys, foil, paper, socks or almost anything else they can get into their mouths. Vomiting also occurs in adults from eating bones, sour food, garbage, carrion or feces. In these cases, vomiting is a sign of gastritis, which is an inflammation of the stomach. Gastritis is rapidly produced by such things as garbage, carrion or caustic chemicals. Most older dogs eventually learn that the foreign materials will make them sick, and stop eating them. The same dogs never seem to realize that garbage, buried bones or sour food may do the same thing - and neither do many owners!

One of the most serious consequences of vomiting is that, once begun, vomiting can persist, even though the cause no longer exists. The usual course in such cases, if uncorrected, follows a characteristic pattern. The dog has a more or less violent seizure of vomiting that ordinarily eliminates the causative substance or object. The vomiting continues, but in a somewhat less violent nature, giving the appearance that the dog is improving.

The loss of fluids and electrolytes in the vomiting causes an imbalance and a noticeable thirst develops. Mild depression develops as well as anorexia, and the vomiting begins to become more severe. Thirst is exaggerated, loss of fluids and electrolytes is accelerated and depression becomes marked. The vomiting becomes more and more violent and the continued loss of fluids and electrolytes creates a critical imbalance. If the situation is allowed to continue uninterrupted, the dog eventually dies from electrolyte imbalance and dehydration.

To help with your dog’s vomiting problem, liquid foods should be fed first. Such things as beef and chicken broth not only supply a few calories, but are excellent tor establishing many of the electrolyte balances that have been disturbed by vomiting. Within 48 hours it is usually possible to finely chop a little hard-boiled egg into the broth. If this does not cause a return of the vomiting, then a little cottage cheese, some vanilla ice cream or a little toast and milk can be offered. Resumption of the regular diet can commence as soon as the bland foods are tolerated for at least 24 hours.

My Dog is Pregnant, How Do I Maintain Her Weight?

My bitch is carrying puppies. How do I care for her weight during her pregnancy?

Nutritional Problems That May Occur For The Pregnant Dog

Most nutritionists agree that reproduction is the most critical stress encountered by a female dog. While the healthy male dog can sire hundreds of puppies without any stress whatever, the female is called upon to use tremendous amounts of energy and nutrients during pregnancy and lactation. If her feeding program does not adequately supply these nutrients and energy, she will obtain them by using up her own body tissues. If neither dietary nor body sources of nutrients and energy are available, a multitude of problems will result.

The manifestation of an inadequate diet during early phases of reproduction may take on several forms. Those most likely to be recognized are:

1. An “out of condition” appearance of the dog. This may not become apparent until after the pups are born. An actual loss in body weight throughout gestation can occur, but is unusual in most instances.

2. An uncontrollable diarrhea following whelping and throughout much of lactation. This is most often seen when she must increase her food intake excessively to meet increased lactational demands because the food she has been eating is poorly digestible or low in calories.

3. The “fading puppy” syndrome. The puppy may appear normal at birth, but several hours to several days later it is found crying or whimpering and chilled. It is off by itself, obviously disowned by the mother. Attempts to reunite the two are usually met with failure. The puppy’s stomach will be empty and its body will be dehydrated. When weighed, it will weigh the same or less than the day before.

4. Anemias. When an anemia occurs as the result of a dietary deficiency during reproduction, it will be present in both the dam and pup. When both mother and pup are anemic, the first place to look for its cause is the diet.

Once pregnancy is terminated by the whelping of the pups, an inadequate diet during lactation is most likely to appear as:

1. Lactation failure (agalactia). This is a complete failure of the mammary glands. The dog produces no milk at all from which the pups can be nourished. These pups cry continuously, fail to gain weight, and unless immediate remedial feeding is started, the pups will die.

2. Lactation depression (dysgalactia). While the mammary glands are functional, they are unable to produce adequate amounts of milk to fully support the pups’ complete nutrient needs. The pups are restricted in growth rate and may become stunted.

3. Deficient milk. The milk, although it may be produced in adequate amounts, is deficient in one or more nutrients.

Could You be Feeding Your Dog Too Many Carbs?

Atkins for dogs?

Well, not quite!

Are You Feeding Your Dog Too Many Carbohydrates?

There is a significant difference between humans and dogs in their need for carbohydrates and in their ability to digest them. The digestive tract of a human is longer than that of a dog, and the formation of jaws and teeth is entirely different. A dog’s digestion starts in the stomach. Dogs’ teeth - all 42 of them - are built to tear flesh apart. Dogs gulp their food as fast as they can, which then reaches the stomach with no digestion having taken place.

Human digestion starts in the mouth. A human chews food with 32 teeth, which have flat surfaces for grinding and breaking down food. Enzymes contained in the saliva contribute to this breakdown of the food, which is being digested before it reaches the stomach.

Carbohydrates come in two forms, simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates come from grains such as wheat, corn, rice, oats, soy and millet. They break down into starches and sugar when properly cooked. Complex carbohydrates come in the form of various fibers such as brans, hulls and peanut shells from the outside of plants. A small amount is needed for proper digestion and stool formation. Nutrients are obtained from both sources, but most come from simple carbohydrates.

If carbohydrates are a major part of your dog’s diet, the time and energy needed for digestion increase, the dog performs less well, large amounts of stool are produced, and a protein deficiency disease may develop. Dogs have evolved as meat eaters and although they need some grains, their health and longevity will be better served on a diet containing more animal protein than protein from grains.

Think about the origin of the dog. It is unrecorded in history that wolves lit fires and cooked grains picked in fields! But there were whole carcasses available that contained everything needed for wolves to survive, including predigested vegetable matter in the intestinal tracts of their prey.

The reason the majority of dry dog foods contain such large amounts of cereal grains is that grains are a cheap source of nutrients. According to the NRC guidelines, “Carbohydrates provide an economical source of energy in the diet of dogs.”

Allergic reactions to grains are common in dogs. The best diet for your dog matches that fed in the breed’s country of origin as the breed developed. Each dog is an individual, and if yours refuses to eat his food, check the grains listed on the package. The dog may balk because of an allergy to one of the grains in the food.

The Role of Water in a Dog’s Diet

Your dog’s body is made up of 70% water. He can live even if he loses all the fat and half of the protein in his body. However, he will die if his body loses even just 1/10 of his water.

In order to survive, a full-grown dog requires, at the very least, two milliliters (mls) of water for every pound he weighs every single day (keeping in mind that there are 30 milliliters of water per 1 ounce).

Read more

Feeding Advice for the Active Dog

Proper Nutrition For Your Working Dog

Dogs that lead a very active lifestyle demand a more comprehensive diet than average dogs require. Examples of these hard-working dogs are those that participate in agility competitions as well as those that team up with law enforcement on a search-and-rescue mission.

These dogs require nutritional needs that are different from an average household pet. Most of these sporting and working dogs participate in intermediate activities as well. These are activities that require low to moderate duration and intensity. Examples include: Competition or agility, service, search and rescue, tracking or hunting, police or guarding, detection, and even managing livestock.

Essential Nutrients For The Canine Athlete

Because your dog is always on the go, you need to provide him with larger doses of food and certain types of nutrients. This is especially important in times when they are most active. A typical working dog would need about 2 – 5  times more calories than a sedentary dog.  These extra calories are converted into energy that helps our canine athletes perform better.

Below are four key nutrients for busy dogs.

1. Carbohydrate: Once your dog reaches adulthood, he has less need for carbohydrates in his diet. Protein is the main building block in the canine diet, however for those dogs who are constantly working, carbohydrate in take should be carefully monitored according to work load.

2. Protein: Protein contains amino acids, which are the building blocks for hormones, tissues, and enzymes. This nutrient provides energy and helps develop muscle mass for extra size and strength. Keep in mind, however, that too much protein in your dog’s diet can lead to excessive protein breakdown. A busy dog should have a diet that includes high-quality protein, enough to provide for muscle and structural repair.

3. Fats: The main source of energy for intermediate athletic dogs comes from fats. This nutrient contains about twice as much energy as carbohydrates and protein provides. Adding more fat to your dog’s diet is the best way to increase his energy and strength. A diet high in fat is more appealing to your dog while at the same time providing him with better endurance. Therefore, it is very important to supply him with adequate amount of essential fatty acids along with saturated and unsaturated fats.

4. Water: A hard-working dog normally loses more water during laborious activity so it is very important to provide him with an ample supply of water to keep him hydrated. This is even more important when your dog is under extreme temperatures (both hot and cold weather).

Next Page »