Dog Food Nutrition & Diets

Whoever wants to have a healthy dog, must provide it nutritious and balanced food. This applies to puppies as well as to adult dogs even when the nutritional necessities and calories vary with breed and age.

There are numerous commercial brands and you can choose among them. However, it would be good to ask breeder what you should give your newly bought puppy, or the veterinary, if your dog is already adult.

WHAT YOUR DOG NEEDS for food

Dogs, like us, need healthy and good quality food to grow and support their bodily functions. Now well, an excess of food will only lead to obesity, a very frequent health problem. In order to avoid it, one must know the nutritional composition of the chosen food as well as its caloric content.

The serving of the dog should be mixed, meaning, you should add proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber at the same time. Dogs also need, and this is very important, to have a lot of fresh water available all the time. The liquid is essential for the nutrients to get distributed in an efficient way and for disposed materials to be expelled properly.

 The daily intake of food depends on the weight, the lifestyle and age of each dog. A working dog during the periods of intense activity for example, needs more food than a company dog with sedentary habits. The puppies and female dogs have specific nutritional needs.

 Normally, the daily serving can be calculated based the weight and the age of the animal. Many brands of food offer charts for the calculation of servings based on the weight. But there are special cases in which the charts don't work as a guide, as in the case of dog with a very fast metabolism (the ones that always seem to be hungry and too thin when they take the recommended dose), the puppies (they should eat food specially formulated for them), pregnant female dogs (their daily intake must be multiplied by 1.5) and female dogs that are breeding (they should take between 3 and 4 times more food than usual).

 We will specify the caloric needs and the ideal weight for some breeds in the following chart. It is convenient to compare the chart with the label on the food package to make sure that your dog is eating correctly.

Ideal Dog Weight Based on Breed

WEIGHT (KG)	DAILY CALORIES	BREEDS
2	230	Papillion, Chihuahua.
5	450	Toy Poodle.
10	750	Corgi, Small Terriers.
15	1010	Beagle, Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
20	1250	Basset Hound.
25	1470	Collie, Samoyed.
30	1675	Labrador, Airdale Terrier, Boxer.
35	1875	Bobtail.
40	2070	Lebrels, Irish Hound.