The old adage “you are what you eat” holds true for canines as well.
Diet has a significant impact on both the behavior and the overall physical health of its subjects, whether they be dogs or humans. Because you feed your dog almost exactly the same thing every day, the quality of the food you give him should be as high as it can possibly be. Is it really necessary to spend so much money on your dog’s food?
YES! These foods for dogs are made with high-quality ingredients, which provide a number of advantages to your pet. Additionally, there will be advantages for you to take advantage of.
Take for example the difference between eating fresh spinach and taking a vitamin supplement, between eating fresh asparagus and eating canned asparagus, or between making your own ravioli and eating Chef Boyardee. The difference is found in two aspects: the first is the processing, and the second is the bio-availability.
The act of taking raw ingredients and subjecting them to heat constitutes a form of processing. This kind of processing immediately strips foods of the beneficial nutrients they contain. If the act of cooking alone destroys nutrients, just think what “processing” can do! The further a food is processed from its original source, the less nutrition remains in it; consequently, it must be “enhanced” with additional vitamins and minerals in order to make up for this loss in nutritional value.
It is always the case that the original food source is the one that provides the most “bioavailable” food. This indicates that the processing is being carried out by the body, which is taking the “ingredients” that it was designed to look out for and transforming them into healthy bones and tissue. Foods that have been processed typically contain less nutrition than their fresh, whole counterparts.
To look at things from a slightly different angle, recent research has shown that there may be serious health risks associated with consuming corn and wheat products, particularly when they have been refined. A variety of behavioral and health issues, including anxiety, hyperactivity, and skin allergies (including ear infections), have been linked to certain ingredients found in commercial dog foods.
There are now a wide variety of dog foods on the market, all of which are made from whole foods suitable for human consumption. Because of the product’s increased bioavailability, your dog will receive a greater nutritional benefit from a smaller amount of food, despite the fact that it will cost you a little bit more money. This makes them well worth the investment, even if you consider only their nutritional value. Because of the bioavailability, there is also significantly less waste because what is consumed is utilized, which results in stools that are more solid and less frequent. These won’t be as difficult to pick up, and they won’t have as strong of an odor. The real advantage, however, is that the dog will experience increased activity in their salivary glands as a result of their stool becoming firmer. This is just one more example of how proper nutrition can have a ripple effect throughout the body.
To ensure that you are getting the value for your money, the following components should be present in high-quality dog food:
- The first two ingredients both consist of animal protein (dogs cannot process soy as protein)
- Human-grade products
- Whole vegetables
- Few carbohydrates, but ones that are whole (not bran or hulls)
You wouldn’t subject your child to a diet consisting solely of fast food, so why subject your dog to the same thing on a daily basis?
This article was written by Marilyn Marks, who is a certified pet dog trainer and the owner of The Good Dog Spot in Bloomfield.
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