The food which you feed your dog is the single most important thing you can do for its health, happiness and wellbeing, so understanding dog food and nutrition is essential for a responsible dog owner.
There are 37 'essential' nutrients that dogs must eat in their food.
Prepared complete dog foods are formulated to provide all of these in the right amounts and proportions. Great care is taken to ensure that the end result is appealing to dogs.
Dogs come in all shapes and sizes and there are foods available that suit whether they are small or large breeds, puppies or adults. The nutritional needs of dogs can vary through life depending on how active they are and their life stage. For instance, small breed dogs need more calories per kilo compared to larger dogs and so need a food that is sufficiently ‘energy dense’ to allow them to eat enough food to provide for their energy requirements.
Dogs have teeth that are adapted to tear and shear, as well as flatter teeth that can crush plant material. Your dog’s intestines are also relatively long – about 6 times the length of the body – to allow fermentation of more fibrous plants. Meats, cereals and vegetables can all be utilised relatively easily by your dog’s digestive system.
