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Nutrition Basics for Brittanys Home:
Dog Care: Nutrition Basics for
Brittanys |
 |
With
so many choices available for feeding your dog, how do you choose the best
diet? Do dogs that hunt regularly have different requirements?
In this article, Carla Simon addresses these concerns and gives some
pointers on nutrition for Brittanys at different stages of their lives.
The bottom of this article features highlighted excerpts from the book “Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies”, ISBN # 0-7645-5318-6, by Christine Zink, DVM, PhD. (The cost in 2001 was approximately $21.99 US / $29.99 Cdn.) The book also has great coverage of many nutrition and disease topics. Topics
included in this section:
We recommend feeding any premium adult dog food that has AAFCO approval listed on the package (near the ingredients list). There are many possibilities e.g. Innova, Eukanuba, California Natural, Solid Gold, Nitro, and many more. The AAFCO does clinical testing: foods that have passed these tests have been proven to contain adequate nutrition (vitamins, minerals, and calories.) Bargain brands without this AAFCO label have uncertain nutritional value. You will have a difficult time housetraining your puppy if he is having diarrhea & loose stools because of the food you are feeding him. Although it seems at first that premium brands of dog food (e.g. Nutro Max) cost more, they don't. That's because the dog eats smaller quantities of the premium food. An added bonus of these brands is that your dog will produce less poop, and his/her coat & skin will be noticeably healthier. There’s a popular trend towards raw food diets. These raw diets haven’t passed AAFCO’s clinical tests: they are unproven. I wouldn’t feed them because I can’t be sure the dog is getting too much or too little of all the nutrients. (Both overdose and inadequate levels can lead to disease.) Dogs do have a higher tolerance for the bacteria that’s always found in raw food (e.g. Salmonella in chicken) compared to humans. But dogs can and do catch diseases like Salmonella from food sources. Christine Zink quoted studies that showed dogs on raw food diets shed bacteria such as Salmonella in their feces. Human children are especially at risk of catching diseases from the contaminated feces. All they have to do is to put their hand on the shoe that stepped in the poop; and then put that hand in their mouth. This is a health hazard that could end up in the news in the future, as more people feed their pets raw diets. These are the reasons why we prefer to feed our dogs commercial dog food that has passed AAFCO testing. Our dogs do enjoy healthy treats, some of which are raw. But we try to ensure that the treats don't comprise more than 10% of their diet. Having said this, many experienced, knowledgeable people in the dog world believe in and use raw food diets. Translating Doggy Shorthand offers a list of books and links on BARF at http://www.canineconsulting.com/barf.htm. (Incidentally, Christine Zink feels the major nutrition problem in most raw diets is an unreliable amount of Calcium in the diet. She recommends commercial kibble over raw diets. Some raw diets are better than others in addressing this concern, so if you're considering which raw diet to choose, this should be something you look into further. ) At the time of writing, we have 3 healthy adult Brittanys, aged 2 ½ through 7 years old. We feed our adult Brittanys a (half and half) mixture of Innova Adult food and Eukanuba Adult Performance. One of our adult males has an allergy to beef (which manifests itself as ear infections) so we’ve experimented until we found something that doesn’t give him a reaction. For our last litter at 9-10 weeks of age, we fed each pup Puppy a (half and half) mixture of dry Innova Puppy and dry Eukanuba Puppy food, without any added liquid. Each puppy ate approximately 2-3 Cups (total) daily. We fed 3 meals of 30 min duration. We started feedings at 10am & finished at 6pm. We took away the food & water at about 6pm so that the puppies were less likely to have accidents overnight. The time when you feed a puppy is important because keeping a regular schedule will make potty training easier. You can supplement his/her diet with no more than 1/3 to 1/2 a can of canned puppy food. Any more makes his/her "business" a little harder to clean up. In the past, we fed puppy food until 18 months plus, reasoning that this “better quality” food was doing the dog a favor. In a recent seminar by Christine Zink (veterinarian and specialist in Canine Sports medicine), showed that feeding puppy food longer was associated with health problems. (The “over nutrition” provided by puppy food caused faster growth and was associated with increased incidence of a variety of diseases.) So now we recommend switching from puppy food to adult food gradually at 4 to 6 months of age. Skip
to more about Feeding Puppy Food (excerpt
from Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies) Dog with disease like cancer, or even severe, debilitating allergies have special nutritional requirements. For example, supplements are available for dogs suffering from hip dysplasia. In these special cases, I would consider experimenting with raw diets and supplements. A vet can advise and tailor a special diet with supplements to the individual circumstances of your dog. Although untested, a raw diet could get beneficial results and improve the dog's quality of life. During pregnancy and nursing and for senior dogs, choose the variety of food best suited for the dog's stage of life (e.g. puppy food for the mating/pregnant/lactating bitch, and senior food with reduced calories for most dogs over 8). These brands will be labeled "has passed the AAFCO feeding trials for....stage of life." The vast majority of dogs (average, healthy adults) simply need quality adult dog food without any supplements. Some people feed their dogs the cheapest food they can find. These foods may not be AAFCO certified, and have uncertain nutritional value. Although they might seem cheaper based on the cost per bag, the dog will probably have to eat more of the food. And his /her coat will be less soft and glossy. And he / she will have more frequent, bigger volume, smellier stools. We prefer to choose a fresh premium food with human grade, organic ingredients and watch the dogs’ individual progress while eating the new food. We change to another brand premium food as required to find the best match for our dogs. If you are going to change brands, it is better to make the change gradually over the course of 1 week. (i.e. Increase the proportion of the new food every day until your puppy is eating only the new food.) If you change the dog's diet more quickly, your dog may get an upset stomach & diarrhea. Whatever food you feed, I’d recommend 2 feedings per day for an adult Brittany. Be sure to watch your dog’s weight and body condition. We start introducing very young puppies to solid food using a weaning diet, a fortified mixture that looks like oatmeal. When very young, they eat 6 times per day. By the time they reach 8 to 10 weeks (when leaving the breeder) they should be eating 2 or 3 times a day. Our Brittanys get a lot of exercise. We hunt in the fall for 5 hours per trip about once a week. And go for a 40 minute off lead run as a group almost all other days of the year. As well, we’re active in agility, obedience, tracing, show, etc.. So although we’re feeding Eukanuba Performance (which has more calories than regular adult food), their body weight is healthy. Most dogs aren’t this active and should be fed adult rather than performance variety food. If the dog has less abdominal tuck, and the ribs are more difficult to feel, consult your veterinarian about the possibility of a weight loss program. For example, a weight loss program might begin by measuring the amount of food the dog has been eating and giving smaller, measured portions. When we give treats, our favorite is low fat mozzarella or cheddar cheese. (We buy large blocks of cheese at Costco warehouse and cut them up into hundreds of tiny cubes.) Although my Brittanys don’t currently have weight concerns, these treats are extras on top of the complete diet provided by premium kibble. I prefer to use low calorie cheese as I don’t worry about them gaining weight as much. And compared to very processed, synthetic commercial treats with lots of preservatives (such as jerky and “training rewards” sold in pet food stores), I know and recognize the ingredients and feel they’re more wholesome. AAFCO (The
Association of American Feed Control Officials) http://home.attbi.com/~mstraus/treatref.html
www.nas.edu/nrc/ PFI (Pet
Food Institute) www.petfoodinstitute.org Simply Schnauzer Nutrition http://www.simplyschnauzer.net/ is a great site with all sorts of links related to dog nutrition, including comparison of commercial dry dog foods and raw diets, how to tell if you're giving your dog too much vitamin A, nutrition for the pregnant bitch, and more. Be sure to read their comparison of commercial dry dog foods. http://members.aol.com/smplyschnz/nutrition/wdjtopten.html Interactive
vitamin advisor Do dogs
need vitamins? “Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies”, ISBN # 0-7645-5318-6, by Christine Zink, DVM, PhD is a terrific book that:
The following are excerpts from Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies. “Be careful about the nutrition of your growing puppy. Several studies have clearly demonstrated that overfeeding and oversupplementing puppies, especially rapidly growing large-breed ones, can have disastrous effects on their bones and joints. In one such study, litters of puppies were divided into tow feeding groups. Group A puppies were allowed to eat as much as they wanted of a good-quality puppy food, and they were supplemented with vitamins and minerals. Group B puppies were fed 75% of the amount their littermates chose to eat and were not supplemented with vitamins or minerals. The dogs who were fed as much as they wanted and supplemented had a significantly higher incidence and severity of hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, osteochondrosis, bone deformities, and a number of other bone and joint abnormalities than their littermates whose diets were limited. A high level of total energy (essentially, fat and carbohydrates) and excess calcium were the factors that contributed to the bone and joint abnormalities in these growing pups. The goal in feeding fast-growing large-breed pups is to optimize skeletal growth as the body weight increases. You want to avoid increasing your pup’s total body mass faster than her skeleton can carry it. This kind of growth (in which the skeleton can’t keep up with the body mass) occurs most commonly in some of the obesity-prone breeds such as Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers, and also in the Giant breeds as well, but other breeds are susceptible, too… As important as the total energy in a dog’s diet is the level of calcium. A few years ago, nutritionists believed that the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio was more important than the total amount of each mineral. WE now know that this isn’t true and that the level of calcium in a growing dog’s diet is a very significant factor in bone and joint health. In fact, the data confirming the role of calcium in growth is so overwhelming that the AAFCO changed its recommended nutrient profiles to include not only a minimum recommended level of calcium, but also a maximum. Its recommendations are that puppies and lactating bitches have 1% of their calcium in their diet and that adult dogs have 0.6%, but that, for either group, the level not be higher than 2.5%. Currently the best way to grow puppies is to feed them a large-breed puppy food (even if the pup isn’t a large breed) or an adult-maintenance dog food that has been shown to be adequate for all stages of a dog’s life. The food should contain not more than 1% calcium on a dry weight basis. Be sure to monitor your pup’s body condition and not let her get roly-poly. You should be able to see a tucked up abdomen, a waist, and a hint of ribs. Don’t concentrate on how much your pup weighs, but instead monitor her body condition. In most cases, this means you will feed less than the amount of food recommended on the dog food label. If your pup starts to get too thin, just increase her food a bit. If she is getting a bit chubby, decrease it. Veterinary nutritionists recommend feeding your puppy this way until she has achieved 80% of her anticipated adult weight, then change to an adult maintenance food. Many dog breeders and owners, myself included, have been feeding premium adult foods with the correct level of calcium to puppies for decades, raising happy, active puppies that grow into strong, well-proportioned, healthy adults.”
“So how many times a day should you feed your dog? Puppies should be fed four times a day until they are 3 months of age, when they can be moved to feedings three times a day. At 6 months of age, dogs can be fed twice a day, and this is probably the best feeding schedule for a dog to stay on for life. Some dogs are fed just once a day and get along tine. Occasionally, however, dogs who are fed once a day vomit a little fluid or bile 12 to 18 hours after their last meal. If they are fed twice a day, this problem goes away. Give your dog a quiet place to eat. If there are other dogs in the house, don’t feed them from the same bow. Feed them at a distance from each other so they don’t feel threatened that the other dog will come and steal their food. The best solution is to feed your dog in a crate, so he can enjoy his meal in the privacy of his den. After you put the bowl down, give your dog 15 minutes to eat. If he hasn’t finished in that time, you are either feeding him too much or he isn’t motivated to eat. By removing the bowl, you can be assured that he will be much more motivated to eat at the next meal. Don’t be held hostage by a picky dog. If you try to encourage him to eat by talking nicely to him and giving him delectable treats, he will soon up the ante, demanding better and better treats until he’s not consuming his dog food at all. Many veterinary nutritionists believe that we should be rotating our dog’s diets - feeding them one food for 3 to 6 months, then switching to another diet. They theorize that abnormal proteins may be formed during the processing of food or that individual foods may have undetectable deficiencies or small differences in the availability of certain nutrients. By rotating your dog to a new food every 3 to 6 months, you prevent too much exposure to the abnormality in any given food.”
“You have your dog’s food bowl in hand and the dog food on the counter in front of you. But how do you decide how much to put in the bowl? If you’re just starting to feed a new food, and the label tells you how many calories the food contains, you may want to start with the information in [this table], which lists the calorie requirements of dogs depending on the dog’s weight and activity level. For the purposes of the table, and inactive dog is one who rarely gets more than a jaunt around the yard, a moderately active dog is one who gets 15 to 340 minutes of continuous exercise every day, and a highly active dog is one who gets at least several hours of exercise very day. If the label doesn’t provide information on the calorie content of the food, you have to sue the manufacturer’s recommendations as a starting point. But instead of feeding the amount recommended on the bag, start by feeding 25% less than the manufacturer recommends, and then increase or decrease the amount as necessary. If your dog gains weights, decrease the amount of food he’s getting. If he loses weight, increase the amount
As dogs exercise more, they need more calories to maintain their weight. But as dogs get larger, they require relatively fewer calories to maintain their weight. This is because larger dogs generally have slower metabolisms than smaller dogs. Age can affect caloric requirements, too. As a dog goes from 1 to 7 years of age, his energy requirements drop by and incredible 24%. Dog’s metabolisms vary so greatly that the best way to know exactly now many calories your dog need each day is by trial and error. Feed the amount of food that will maintain your dog’s weight. If he loses weight, feed more. If he gains, feed less. One of the best criteria you can use to monitor your dog on a new food is to observe his stools. Stoll quality is determined by the ingredients in the food, the relative amounts of different ingredients, the type and amount of fiber , and the digestibility of the ingredients. Small, firm stools indicate a food that is highly digestible. Your dog should not, however, be constipated or straining to defecate. Large stools, particularly if they are somewhat lose, may indicate a food that contains less digestible nutrients and / or a high fiber content. Your dog’s stools will vary from day to day. But if your dog often has small, hard stools, consider changing to another food. Thos stools may be easy for poop pick-up but they may also mean that your dog is chronically constipated. Monitor your dog’s attitude and energy level. If you feed your dog a good-quality food, he will have lost of get-up-and-go. He will have the energy and endurance to play all you want. And most of all, he will have that joy for life that we all appreciate in our canine companions.” |
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