Your beloved pup is an indivisible part of your life who offers you immense love and ecstatic moments. Being a passionate dog lover, you obviously try your best to evade any possible health issues that can harm his health. A balanced and wholesome intake is the prerequisite of his overall wellbeing. Besides physical activities, feeding the canine wholesome diet can bring the desired change in his lifestyle, help him live longer, and fight off potential diseases. You might be wondering and thinking, “do dogs need joint supplements?” Should you give him multivitamins? Well, depending on the conditions and requirements of the pup, you may need to supplement his nutrient intake besides feeding quality pet food.
Tips to Improve Your Dog’s Diet
A few improvements in his diet may have radical impacts on his health. With this in mind, we have come up with some super-effective and easy tips you can adopt to boost his diet.
Don’t Believe the Advertising Gimmicks
Do you feel compelling seeing the delightful canines in the commercials and buy pet food for your cherished pooch? These advertisements are created to attract people to boost their sales. Don’t get tempted with the happy faces of dogs and their masters of the commercials and buy food, especially when it is for your loyal pup. Instead of relying on what the company says, examine its quality and go with the brand, you feel the most reliable.
Be Careful of Shelf-stable Food
The 12-24 months shelf period of the processed pet food may appear helpful to many pet keepers. But have you ever thought about the awful health impacts they have on your pups? They may ensure to contain all essential elements that the dog requires. These products contain synthesized elements that lack many essential nutrients. Moreover, your pup’s body may fail to process these synthetic elements and cannot get what his body demands.
Avoid Meat By-products
Using meat by-products with high grains is a tacky practice of some retail pet food producers. These by-products may contain high protein, but obviously, it is not a reliable source of this nutrient. Go for the brand that contains real meats rather by-products and ensure you give your dog the wholesome diet you want.
Balance Constituents
For ensuring a wholesome diet, you have to buy dog food that offers a balance between meat and grains. Some commercial dog foods comprise a higher quantity of grains that may cause stomach issues in your canine. So, before you buy from any brand, make sure it has meat to meet the demand of protein with adequate grains.
Look for Antioxidants and Anti-inflammatory Properties
Antioxidants are a vital nutrient both for pups and humans. It boosts his immune system, slows cognitive age, and helps him fight off many diseases like cancer. It also works as an anti-inflammatory agent and improves his coat condition. Fruits and veggies like berries, spinach, yum are an excellent source of antioxidants and also go fabulous with pet food. Raw coconut oil is also a great source of antioxidants and saturated fat that also maintains his body weight.
Feed him Whole Fresh Food
These foods are fabulous sources of antioxidants, live enzymes, and fibers that boost his digestion. They get absorbed quickly and work as an anti-inflammatory agent to offset the potential inflammatory risk of processed food when mixed with them. Giving different whole and fresh food keeps your pooch fit and young.
Feed Vegetables
It’s not that you should feed your pet a pot filled with greens. But you have to feed him some veggies as the nutrients they contain are really great for your pup’s wellbeing. You can give your pet carrots, yams, beets, broccoli as a source of essential nutrients. But don’t feed your dog avocado, onions, asparagus or garlic as they can cause health problems in pets. Feed him natural and non-GMO veggies. If you give him non-organic produce, make sure you wash them thoroughly with apple cider vinegar before feeding the cherished pup.
Limit Servings
Never overfeed your pet as it may make him bulky. You have to give him a controlled intake depending on his weight and breed. Small breeds usually need less amount of intake than the large ones.
With the exact amount of nutrients, you can ensure a healthy and fit lifestyle. Overfeeding your dog may result in congestive heart collapse, breathing issues, Cushing’s diseases, etc. Again, feeding too limited can also induce serious health problems. The perfect meal size depends on the calorie content, metabolic rate, weight, and physical activities of the pet.
Monitor His Weight
Being overweight can also cause serious health issues in canines. Monitoring the pup’s weight can assist you to avoid overfeeding and obesity. If he gains excess weight, make sure you only give him the calories he requires. Feed him early in the morning so that he has enough time to burn the calories through physical activities.
Again, if your pet is underweight, give him a decent meal containing the right amount of calories. Feed your skinny dog at night so that his body can store the calories.
Keep Water in Mind
An ample amount of water intake helps your dog maintain good health. Your dog needs 1-ounce water per pound of his body weight daily. An adequate amount of water ensures the proper flow of blood, keeps his body temperature optimal, and excludes toxins from his body. If your dog doesn’t drink enough water, he may face digestive problems.