Post by DogGoneGood on Jun 7, 2009 13:49:27 GMT -5
Here's what you guys have been waiting for 
These are the answers to members questions that were sent to Susan Lauten of Pet Nutrition Consulting.
Q: Can a dog’s diet be supplemented with green beans to help them lose weight?
A: Yes, green beans can make the dog feel less hungry and the owner feel better about feeding less food. You can reduce the current food intake by 20% (e.g. regular food = 4 cups daily, reduce to just under 3 1/4 cups daily) to induce weight loss. Don't forget to look at treats. If your household has several people, all feeding treats, it can add up. You can put part of the daily kibble into a ziplock, and feed them as treats. You can control the calories eaten that way. Be sure to enlist your veterinarian in this to obtain an ideal body weight for your dog.
Q: How can you get a dog to eat raw vegetables, if he doesn't like them (are there any tricks to get him to eat them)?
A: I don't know of any particular tricks other than sharing pieces of raw vegetables with your dog. Often they will think anything you are eating must be great stuff. Repetition is helpful too. Multiple dogs is another help. I only had one dog that would eat banana. Now it is hard for me to get any as they all want some.
Q: What are some signs that your dog isn’t getting enough, or the right nutrition?
A: A healthy dog has a great shiny coat, bright eyes and energy. The body weight should be trim with ribs easily palpable. The skin should not be dry and flaky, and their gums should be pink.
If any of this is missing, take your dog to your veterinarian to be sure there are no health problems, before you blame the food, and ask your vet for feeding advice.
Q: What dog food or dog foods do you think are best?
A: I always look for a food that has gone through AAFCO testing protocols. Foods that are "formulated" to meet AAFCO requirements must have been on the market for several years before I would consider feeding them. If the company formulating the food doesn't have it tested before marketing it, they are essentially asking the consumer to pay for an unproven product and asking them to allow their dogs to be guinea pigs for their product. Hmmmm.
Q: What are some things pet owners should look for in a good dog food?
A: This is essentially the same as question 4.
Q: Is a raw diet better for your dog and, if so, is there any way to make it less expensive while keeping it effective.
A: There are many feeding options available. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no scientific evidence to show that feeding raw food is better than feeding prepared foods. There are risks associated with feeding raw, particularly if you have small children, elderly people, or immune compromised people around a dog that has just eaten a raw diet. The dog may handle any pathogenic bacteria just fine, but the other family members may not. Regardless of what method you choose to feed your dog, the most important part is that the diet should be complete and balanced.
Q: When using meat based dog foods, does one meat have more benefits over the others, such as lamb over chicken or beef?
A: Not that I am aware of. Some dogs have food intolerances or allergies to certain proteins, but dogs can eat pretty much any meat protein (meaning beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, bison, venison, etc.).
Q: Should supplements such as vitamins be added to a dog’s diet?
A: I think the answer to this involves the individual dog. Is this a working dog? Hunting dogs, show dogs, agility dogs, working dogs, etc. all have high nutritional requirements which may benefit from some supplementation. If this is a couch potato dog that does minimal exercise, the need for supplementation is probably nonexistent. However, a high quality dog food should be fed, regardless of the job or lack of job a dog has.
Supplements do not make a bad dog food good, and they cost more. Spend your money on a high quality food. With older dogs there is scientific evidence that antioxidants, fish oil, and/or joint supplements are beneficial.
Q: Is diet and proper nutrition more important at a certain age?
A: Yes, great question! Nutrition for the young and the old is of utmost importance. During growth and development, there is only one chance to get it right, so feeding a proper, high quality puppy formulation is essential. When the dog matures, they are the easiest to feed. As the dog ages, (just as with people), body systems become less efficient, so the importance of good nutrition emerges again. High quality, easily digestible proteins are important. Tissue turnover or replacement occurs more frequently, making it necessary to provide adequate nutrition for older dogs who are showing their age.
Q: What are the benefits of good nutrition and the end results of bad nutrition?
A: The benefits of good nutrition are healthy dogs with optimal life spans. Genetics has a big role here. Poor nutrition starts with poor growth and development, inadequate immune sytems, susceptibility to disease, and shortened life spans.
Q: Are table scraps bad if you only feed boneless meat, vegetables, bread and gravy?
A: Table scraps of boneless meat, vegetables, and bread are acceptable, provided the dog is fed a high quality diet, and that the table scraps don't add up to more than 10% of the dogs regular food intake. This includes treats as well. 10% is the guideline we use for treats or other foods. If the dog receives more than 10% of his diet from treats and/or scraps, the balanced diet you were feeding becomes unbalanced. Nutrients are required in proper proportions, which is why balanced diets are so important. Oh, and gravy isn't good for any of us, so I'd leave that out.
Q: Some people like to buy their dog fast food. Will the occasional Big Mac hurt your dog?
A: Well, I guess that depends upon the dog. A 50 pound dog eating a Big Mac is like a 150 pound man eating three Big Macs. Sometimes it is hard for us to scale down proportions properly. I recently adopted a dog that had been given 2 whole hot dogs per day as a way to administer an antihistamine tablet twice daily. This dog should have weighed about 15 pounds, so do the math....2 hot dogs for a 15 pound dog is equal to 20 hot dogs that 150 pound man who had to eat 3 Big Macs; plus the regular food.
Q: If a dog was eating on his own in the wild, how much different would his diet be than the good foods we feed and which would make for a healthier dog.
A: Well, the life span of dogs in the wild is very short. Disease, humans, inadequate nutrition, predators, etc. make for very short lifetimes, so I think it is impossible to know if wild dogs would develop the same diseases associated with aging as our house dogs do because they never reach similar ages. Wild dogs would eat meat, fruits and greens, etc.
Q: Some people say putting a tablespoon of bacon grease in your dog’s food is good for his coat. What is your opinion on that?
A: Whoa, that depends on your dog. If you were to give that to a small dog, you may give your dog a life-threatening disease called pancreatitis. Arbitrarily adding fat to a diet can be risky, although many dogs handle it just fine. It's just hard to anticipate who can handle it and who cannot. Good nutrition will also result in a healthy. shiny coat.
These are the answers to members questions that were sent to Susan Lauten of Pet Nutrition Consulting.
Q: Can a dog’s diet be supplemented with green beans to help them lose weight?
A: Yes, green beans can make the dog feel less hungry and the owner feel better about feeding less food. You can reduce the current food intake by 20% (e.g. regular food = 4 cups daily, reduce to just under 3 1/4 cups daily) to induce weight loss. Don't forget to look at treats. If your household has several people, all feeding treats, it can add up. You can put part of the daily kibble into a ziplock, and feed them as treats. You can control the calories eaten that way. Be sure to enlist your veterinarian in this to obtain an ideal body weight for your dog.
Q: How can you get a dog to eat raw vegetables, if he doesn't like them (are there any tricks to get him to eat them)?
A: I don't know of any particular tricks other than sharing pieces of raw vegetables with your dog. Often they will think anything you are eating must be great stuff. Repetition is helpful too. Multiple dogs is another help. I only had one dog that would eat banana. Now it is hard for me to get any as they all want some.
Q: What are some signs that your dog isn’t getting enough, or the right nutrition?
A: A healthy dog has a great shiny coat, bright eyes and energy. The body weight should be trim with ribs easily palpable. The skin should not be dry and flaky, and their gums should be pink.
If any of this is missing, take your dog to your veterinarian to be sure there are no health problems, before you blame the food, and ask your vet for feeding advice.
Q: What dog food or dog foods do you think are best?
A: I always look for a food that has gone through AAFCO testing protocols. Foods that are "formulated" to meet AAFCO requirements must have been on the market for several years before I would consider feeding them. If the company formulating the food doesn't have it tested before marketing it, they are essentially asking the consumer to pay for an unproven product and asking them to allow their dogs to be guinea pigs for their product. Hmmmm.
Q: What are some things pet owners should look for in a good dog food?
A: This is essentially the same as question 4.
Q: Is a raw diet better for your dog and, if so, is there any way to make it less expensive while keeping it effective.
A: There are many feeding options available. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no scientific evidence to show that feeding raw food is better than feeding prepared foods. There are risks associated with feeding raw, particularly if you have small children, elderly people, or immune compromised people around a dog that has just eaten a raw diet. The dog may handle any pathogenic bacteria just fine, but the other family members may not. Regardless of what method you choose to feed your dog, the most important part is that the diet should be complete and balanced.
Q: When using meat based dog foods, does one meat have more benefits over the others, such as lamb over chicken or beef?
A: Not that I am aware of. Some dogs have food intolerances or allergies to certain proteins, but dogs can eat pretty much any meat protein (meaning beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, bison, venison, etc.).
Q: Should supplements such as vitamins be added to a dog’s diet?
A: I think the answer to this involves the individual dog. Is this a working dog? Hunting dogs, show dogs, agility dogs, working dogs, etc. all have high nutritional requirements which may benefit from some supplementation. If this is a couch potato dog that does minimal exercise, the need for supplementation is probably nonexistent. However, a high quality dog food should be fed, regardless of the job or lack of job a dog has.
Supplements do not make a bad dog food good, and they cost more. Spend your money on a high quality food. With older dogs there is scientific evidence that antioxidants, fish oil, and/or joint supplements are beneficial.
Q: Is diet and proper nutrition more important at a certain age?
A: Yes, great question! Nutrition for the young and the old is of utmost importance. During growth and development, there is only one chance to get it right, so feeding a proper, high quality puppy formulation is essential. When the dog matures, they are the easiest to feed. As the dog ages, (just as with people), body systems become less efficient, so the importance of good nutrition emerges again. High quality, easily digestible proteins are important. Tissue turnover or replacement occurs more frequently, making it necessary to provide adequate nutrition for older dogs who are showing their age.
Q: What are the benefits of good nutrition and the end results of bad nutrition?
A: The benefits of good nutrition are healthy dogs with optimal life spans. Genetics has a big role here. Poor nutrition starts with poor growth and development, inadequate immune sytems, susceptibility to disease, and shortened life spans.
Q: Are table scraps bad if you only feed boneless meat, vegetables, bread and gravy?
A: Table scraps of boneless meat, vegetables, and bread are acceptable, provided the dog is fed a high quality diet, and that the table scraps don't add up to more than 10% of the dogs regular food intake. This includes treats as well. 10% is the guideline we use for treats or other foods. If the dog receives more than 10% of his diet from treats and/or scraps, the balanced diet you were feeding becomes unbalanced. Nutrients are required in proper proportions, which is why balanced diets are so important. Oh, and gravy isn't good for any of us, so I'd leave that out.
Q: Some people like to buy their dog fast food. Will the occasional Big Mac hurt your dog?
A: Well, I guess that depends upon the dog. A 50 pound dog eating a Big Mac is like a 150 pound man eating three Big Macs. Sometimes it is hard for us to scale down proportions properly. I recently adopted a dog that had been given 2 whole hot dogs per day as a way to administer an antihistamine tablet twice daily. This dog should have weighed about 15 pounds, so do the math....2 hot dogs for a 15 pound dog is equal to 20 hot dogs that 150 pound man who had to eat 3 Big Macs; plus the regular food.
Q: If a dog was eating on his own in the wild, how much different would his diet be than the good foods we feed and which would make for a healthier dog.
A: Well, the life span of dogs in the wild is very short. Disease, humans, inadequate nutrition, predators, etc. make for very short lifetimes, so I think it is impossible to know if wild dogs would develop the same diseases associated with aging as our house dogs do because they never reach similar ages. Wild dogs would eat meat, fruits and greens, etc.
Q: Some people say putting a tablespoon of bacon grease in your dog’s food is good for his coat. What is your opinion on that?
A: Whoa, that depends on your dog. If you were to give that to a small dog, you may give your dog a life-threatening disease called pancreatitis. Arbitrarily adding fat to a diet can be risky, although many dogs handle it just fine. It's just hard to anticipate who can handle it and who cannot. Good nutrition will also result in a healthy. shiny coat.
