Sep 24
History of Dog Nutrition
Once upon a time the poorest fed dog in America was the farm dog left to fend for itself for food. These dogs, undernourished bags of bones, were once so common they almost became symbolic of impoverished rural America. Today vast numbers of those small farms have vanished. With the loss of farms have gone the gaunt, hollow-eyed canines that greeted every farm visitor with a hungry, ill-tempered bark.
The farmer has snored to the city, gotten a job, and become the suburbanite. With him have come his companion dogs. And, the suburbanite house-pet has replaced the farm dog as the most poorly fed dog in America. Probably 75 percent of all dogs in the United States owned by private individuals are household pets.
Most of these dogs are anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent overweight because the most frequent error made by feeders of house-pets is overfeeding. Unlike their predecessors, today’s poorest fed dogs are not underfed, but overfed. The irony of it all is the fact that, while they may be overfed and overweight, they may also be undernourished! Unfortunately, there is a widespread misconception among dog owners that any dog food that comes out of a can or box that they bought at the grocery store is adequate and nourishing enough for a dog.
This belief has led politicians, sociologists, and even some nutritionists to express the opinion that most American house-pets are better fed than most Americans. While these statements may grab sensational headlines, the accuracy of such a proposition does not stand up under critical exploitation. While it certainly is true that some house-pets receive far better nourishment than some people, it is also true that many dogs in this country are woefully malnourished. Some of the dogs suffering from the greatest malnourishment are those eating the very item to which the politicians and sociologists attribute such grandiose performance-commercial dog food.
Not all, probably not even most, of the canned dog foods in this country are guilty of malnourishing a dog, but some do exist, and they are being fed. Nowhere does a dog feeder need to evaluate the food he feeds more than he does when he is feeding canned foods to a house-pet. Yet, the number of pet owners who actually feed their dogs based on their evaluation of the foods available to them is practically zero.
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Sep 17
What Happens if I Still Want to Bake but…MY DOG HAS ALLERGIES?
Here are a few helpful hints for people who love to bake for their dog, but are faced with the realization that their dog does have allergies. You are able to make some very simple adjustments to almost any dog treat recipe with greatly successful results if you follow a couple of guidelines.
Remember that substitutes for whole wheat flour will add about 10-20 minutes to the baking time for the recipe. The best results are achieved when substitutes are used in combinations. Sometimes, experimentation is what serves as the best way to work with the recipe!
The addition of 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder per cup of non-wheat flour will improve the texture of the baked item.
Most baked goods that are wheat-free crumble easily, so making foods in smaller sizes assists in the retention of shape and body.
To substitute one cup of wheat flour, use any ONE of these suggestions:
1 1/4 oat or rye flour
3/4 cup barley, potato flour, oats, or rice
For dogs with no allergies to corn: 1/2 cup arrowroot flour, corn starch, ground nuts and seeds.
To thicken a recipe or bind ingredients, substitute for 1 TABLESPOON of wheat flour ONE of the following:
1/2 TABLESPOON cornstarch, rice flour, potato starch
1 TABLESPOON oatmeal or arrowroot
2 teaspoons quick cooking tapioca
You may need to experiment with the recipes a little bit to get the desired results, but it will definitely be worth it in the end!
Bone Appetit!
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Sep 10
The Relationship Between Diet and Brain Function
A 1996 study with dogs investigated a growing misconception among some trainers and veterinarians that low protein diets (16 to 20% protein) can improve the behavior of hyperactive or aggressive dogs. These were dogs that had formerly been fed what was erroneously called a high protein diet (28 to 32% protein) on a dry-matter basis.
The results suggested that lowering protein in the diet is not generally useful in treating behavior problems involving territorial aggression, dominance aggression and hyperactivity. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, a study was not done that reduced the carbohydrates (the major component of most dog foods) while increasing protein.
In a carefully controlled study, protein-starved animals were evaluated for the effects of protein depletion on various organs. Examination of the brain revealed only a 14% average protein loss, compared to gross depletion of 27-65% or more in other organs. Researchers concluded that, because it directs hunting/food-seeking behavior, the brain may have naturally evolved to be less susceptible to protein starvation.
Unfortunately, we must now cite rat studies for further data. Protein-starved experimental animals exhibited no serious learning deficits regarding responses to aversive (shock) stimuli or maze problems involving food rewards. However, the animals did have lower thresholds for electro-convulsive shock, that is, they convulsed at lower voltages than normal animals. The researchers tentatively concluded that a protein depletion of up to 14% in the mammalian brain does not appreciably affect learning, but slightly reduces excitability thresholds. This study raises interesting questions about the effects of protein, carbohydrate and fat ratios on the general level of excitability in mammals, particularly in problem dogs, many of which are excitable.
Studies on rats indicate that carbohydrate-rich diets can significantly increase levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) is an essential but still poorly understood chemical neurotransmitter found in greatest concentrations in the nuclei of the medulla oblongata, which has a role in determining the general levels of excitability. What is pertinent is that the ratios between carbohydrate, protein and fat intake may produce both immediate and long-term changes in the excitability of dogs. It now remains to relate this empirically to certain behavior problems.
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Sep 03
Give The Dog a Bone, Biscuit, Crumb…
Until very recently, most dogs could get by on table scraps. With the advent of modern merchandising methods, both the quality and the quantity of the usable scraps has declined. Meats are sold already trimmed and boned, carefully wrapped in cellophane and cardboard, and ready for cooking without additional alterations. Frozen foods have eliminated trimmings from vegetables, and dairy and poultry products come from cartons and coolers, not cows and chickens. Everything is prepackaged in convenient quantities so that purchases can be adjusted to family appetites with almost no leftovers.
The scraps from a meal made from these pre-trimmed, pre-battered, pre-buttered, pre-cooked, and pre-packaged foods consists of only bits and pieces which are either inedible or unwanted by human beings. Such bits and pieces make neither a balanced nor an adequate diet for a dog.
The true value of today’s table scraps are succinctly brought home when the dog owner who feeds his dog table scraps asks himself, ”What would I do with these scraps if I didn’t own a dog?" lf his answer would be to save them in the refrigerator for his own next meal then a dog can probably eat the scraps, too. However, If he would throw the scraps into the garbage can, then he is literally feeding his dog garbage when he feeds table scraps.
There is an even greater danger in table scraps. In spite of their poor nutritional quality, table scraps frequently are quite palatable to a dog. All too often such table scraps are used with the idea of increasing the palatability of a less palatable, but better balanced, commercial food. Unless the scraps are finely chopped and blended with the commercial foods, most dogs will simply pick out the table scraps and leave the balanced food behind.
Most table scraps are fats and carbohydrates, providing lots of calories and little else. As a consequence, the dog obtains a sizable portion of its daily caloric need from the useless scraps and loses his appetite entirely for the commercial food. By refusing to put table scraps on the food, a dog owner may feel he is forcing his dog to eat a food it does not want. But, in the long run, most dog owners will agree that it is better to starve a dog with concern than to kill it with kindness.
Think about how the scraps that taste so yummy to you may, in fact, contribute to additional weight gain as well as related health issues including stress. For more details, view Stress and Your Dog’s Diet.
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