I’ve always had German Shepherds who would eat whatever food you put in front of them...most times. Havanese....not so much. Maybe it’s the small dog trait but I’ve had my fair share of challenges trying to find the food I can put in front of my little dogs and they’ll gobble it up like dogs do in the commercials. I never have found that dry kibble...
Feeding a high quality food has always been a priority to me. Sorry but no dog food from the grocery stores or places like Wal-Mart for me. No offense, but manufacturers reduce the quality of their product in order to make it affordable to sell in the grocery markets. With reduced qualities come more fillers and fat which some dogs can handle well, but the Havanese stomach isn’t like the Shepard.
At first I tried to feed kibble and found my Havanese don't like to eat the same food every day. After a few years of frustration I tried the RAW diet and was alternating between RAW and kibble. I used to have to 'switch up' the kibble in the winter and used puzzles, games or Kongs for them to ‘find’ their food every so often. Also since Havanese are so treat driven, I use high-end treats such as heart, bits of chicken or other real meats for training which impacted my dogs and their noses up at kibble. Getting them back to kibble was a challenge as my Havanese can and did go on strike. The saying 'they will eat if they are hungry' doesn't extend to my dogs and I know I'm not alone.
In 2011 I experimented with a RAW diet and have become a huge fan of Tripe. Not the canned stuff but the frozen tripe. There are many advantages to RAW or the B.A.R.F. diet and today I'm feeding K-9 Choice to all my dogs twice a day now. We have seen an increase of energy, a happier attitude, cleaner teeth, smaller and odorless stools, softer, longer and thicker coats and an overall improved general health.
So what should you feed your dog? First you need to assess your dog, it's age, activity level and even breed. For my Havanese I have had success with Orijien 80% 20%, Acana, and Evo to mention my favorites and in order of preference. However I have also fed Go, Harvest, and Taste of the Wild with some success.
With all the focus on recalled dog foods over the past few years, the reading that I have done and my own trial and error, I have come to the conclusion that most commercial dry dogs food will, at some time, no longer provide the optimum health for your dog.You'll have several options but the onus comes back to you as you're the one feeding the dog. I encourage all owners to research and understand what you're feeding your dog or you will be facing feeding problems such as obesity, stool eating, loss of teeth, heart conditions, cancers and the list goes on....
At first I tried to feed kibble and found my Havanese don't like to eat the same food every day. After a few years of frustration I tried the RAW diet and was alternating between RAW and kibble. I used to have to 'switch up' the kibble in the winter and used puzzles, games or Kongs for them to ‘find’ their food every so often. Also since Havanese are so treat driven, I use high-end treats such as heart, bits of chicken or other real meats for training which impacted my dogs and their noses up at kibble. Getting them back to kibble was a challenge as my Havanese can and did go on strike. The saying 'they will eat if they are hungry' doesn't extend to my dogs and I know I'm not alone.
In 2011 I experimented with a RAW diet and have become a huge fan of Tripe. Not the canned stuff but the frozen tripe. There are many advantages to RAW or the B.A.R.F. diet and today I'm feeding K-9 Choice to all my dogs twice a day now. We have seen an increase of energy, a happier attitude, cleaner teeth, smaller and odorless stools, softer, longer and thicker coats and an overall improved general health.
So what should you feed your dog? First you need to assess your dog, it's age, activity level and even breed. For my Havanese I have had success with Orijien 80% 20%, Acana, and Evo to mention my favorites and in order of preference. However I have also fed Go, Harvest, and Taste of the Wild with some success.
With all the focus on recalled dog foods over the past few years, the reading that I have done and my own trial and error, I have come to the conclusion that most commercial dry dogs food will, at some time, no longer provide the optimum health for your dog.You'll have several options but the onus comes back to you as you're the one feeding the dog. I encourage all owners to research and understand what you're feeding your dog or you will be facing feeding problems such as obesity, stool eating, loss of teeth, heart conditions, cancers and the list goes on....
When the Canadian Kennel Club offered a Nutrition course to their membership, I was anxious to see what I could learn. You can take the course yourself and I do recommend any dog owner educate themselves on nutrition.
Although I knew that the canine sense of smell was much higher than humans, I was surprised that there is currently no evidence that dogs are able to taste their food. Instead, once a dog begins to eat, its taste sensation is similar to that of a human suffering from a cold. It’s important for a food to smell good in order for a dog to want to taste it but after that the food doesn't matter.
So then, it’s up to you to read the label and make sure the ingredients are of good quality. I don’t know about you but I’ve read ingredient labels and wondered what does it all mean??? I am by no means an expert and this topic is something I'm still learning about, but since nutrition has always been a priority for me, I wanted to share the little bits I have learned.
Biologically Appropriate is a term that has been established by pet food companies which use owner appeal as its marketing strategy. Manufacturers claim the biologically appropriate diet matches the foods and nutrient sources that dogs would have consumed in the wild. Does that mean the food ingredients are equivalent to the consumption of minimum food items necessary to merely survive, much like an animal in the wild? Modern canine nutrition has shown us that a dog’s diet can not only ensure survival, but has the power to promote optimal health and prevent illness.
By-Products are anything that is left after the desired component is extracted from a raw material. If a manufacturer wants to produce high-fructose corn syrup, that is the product; whatever remains after processing is the by-product. In this case, the by-product is highly nutritious corn gluten meal, full of protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. By-products are not necessarily unhealthy as it is popularly believed. Animal by-products must be clean and edible, and may not contain any inedible material, such as feathers or beaks in the case of chickens and hair or hooves in the case of beef. If muscle meat for human consumption is the product desired by a manufacturer, what is left behind, such as the organ meats, are the by-products. Many organs meats, such as liver, heart, kidneys, lungs, etc., are very nutritious, providing many dietary essential nutrients as well as a palatable flavor.
It is important to note, however, that not all “animal by-products” are created equal and that they vary in nutritive value or digestibility. The contents of “animal by-products” found on a dog food label can vary from product to product, depending on what the dog food manufacturer deems as appropriate for their formulation.
There is a difference between by-products and co-products, examples of co-products include: glucosamine, chondroitin, and sulfurated amino acids.
Fresh Meats such as “Chicken”, “Lamb” and “Fish”, can be found in the ingredient decks or dog food packages. These meats generally consist of around 65% water, the same as animals bodies. “Meat” ingredients can include muscle, skin, fat, and some connective tissue. When listed in an ingredient deck, these ingredients tent to appear near the top of the list where the heaviest ingredients are listed. Water is responsible for the majority of the weight of the fresh meat. Most kibble is dried to a maximum of 10% moisture, meaning most of this water content is removed through the cooking process. This leaves behind only a small proportion of that ingredient in the finished kibble.
Grain-free pet foods do not contain cereal grain. Dry pet foods, however, still contain sources of carbohydrate, as without them, kibble could not exist in the shapes that it does. So grain-free foods use other sources of carbohydrates, such as potato, sweet potato, pea, tapioca, root vegetables, etc., and don’t include grains from the wild. The only way wild canines would get grains would be through secondary ingestion when consuming the gastrointestinal content of their herbivorous prey. Moreover, published scientific literature has proven that dogs are able to digest cereal grains when properly cooked and easily absorb the available nutrients.
Holistic is a generic term appealing to the trends and fads in the human food industry. The food is said to be unprocessed and contains no additives or artificial enrichment. As in the human industry, there is virtually nothing controlling the application of this term in pet food marketing. As such, they have no meaning when it comes to classifying pet foods or their ingredients. In contrast, a term like “organic” has associated certifying bodies which audit the manufacturers making these claims and ensure consumers are in fact getting the organic ingredient content they expect. No such guarantee is associated with the term “holistic”.
Raw or BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food diet or Bones And Raw Food diet) foods consist of uncooked ingredients. They are often home-prepared although commercial varieties exist. Raw diets require the addition of nutrient supplementation as the food itself does not provide sufficient levels or the levels of nutrients cannot be guaranteed. There are lots of different thoughts and opinions on RAW versus MANUFACTURED and before any owner choosing feeding RAW, I recommend lots of research. The best place to start is with Dr Ian Billinghurst who has been educating the world about proper nutrition for your dog.
A couple other terms that often confuse owners when reading labels are:
CRUDE: The term “crude” refers to the specific method used to analyze the nutrient content of the food and does not refer in any way to the quality of the nutrient itself. Some manufacturers include guarantees for other nutrients as well.
ASH: The word “ash” may be found in some Guaranteed Analyses, although it is more typically associated with feline foods. Ash refers to the total amount of all minerals in the diet and is so named because of the specific method used to analyze these nutrients. Ashes represent the leftover after a product has been burnt in a caloric bomb.
How can you decide what is right for you? I have a few methods to determine if my dogs were getting the right nutrition. The first is the absence of ‘bum baths’ which basically means the stools are firmed and well formed. It’s amazing the difference of play level when the dog is eating properly and is my second way of determining their diet. Next I judge coat especially since my dogs are in long show coats. The texture needs to remain silky, the color true (no fading or dulling) and easy to groom. The most important way to determine health for me is the ‘Healthy Hug’ which is a quick way to note Body Conditioning, and I love to hug my dogs.
