The importance of proteins
The proteins are essential for the excellent cuisine of our dog; they are the nutrients and provide the essential amino acids, so we will have to provide them accurately.
First of all, we must know that dog food should not be based solely or mainly on meat consumption or, consequently, on meat protein consumption. The dog is omnivorous,, and the vegetable foods provide it with a series of proteins that, indisputably, must be part of its diet.
Not all proteins are equal there are certain essential amino acids for the development of the dog that is not synthesized by the animal’s metabolism. We will pay particular attention to ensuring that food contains and is rich in essential amino acids, and we will check on food labels; we will also ensure that it ensures a complete diet. The dog’s food needs are not the same at every stage of life. Old dogs, for example, need more protein, so we will need to know the different needs according to the ages to give our dog the proper food.
What kind of food to give?
The kinds of food we’ll find in the stores are wet food, semi-wet food, and dry food or feed. Dry food or feed is the most recommended by experts as it is the most nutritionally complete: it contains a significant amount of calories; as for protein it is the type of food that includes the most: about twenty-five percent; and the practical part is that it is cheaper and we can buy it in large quantities and keep it.
Semi-moist food does not have such a high percentage of proteins, they are about 21 percent, but they also have fewer kilocalories; having a relatively high humidity level, their texture is soft and comfortable to chew. Dogs like this kind of food very much, both for taste and texture, but it is more expensive, and rations should be more abundant than dry food.
Wet food contains three-quarters of the water and a lower amount of protein, which is between eight and fifteen percent, according to the feed. They are the ones preferred by our dogs because they are very tender and tasty. As for calories, they have less than dry or semi-moist meals, so the dog should eat more to get the calories it needs. It is necessary to store them in the refrigerator once they are open, and they are more expensive.
Knowing this data, we will choose the food we will give to our dog but also knowing that we cannot make simple comparisons a priori between the contributions of one or the other. For example, although wet food has proportionally less protein, we should not think that it is better to give it dry because it has more, but what we will do will be to increase the amount of wet to provide you with the same amount of protein.
Each of the types of food can ideally provide a complete diet, so, let’s choose the one we want, what we have to care about is providing the proteins, calories, and items needed for our dog, with more or less amount depending on the type of food.
The breed of the dog and its routine will also influence the decision: if it is a dog that does enough exercise, or even more, if it is a working dog, we can give it more protein and fat, for example, than to a dog that has a more sedentary life, that does not burn so many calories as it could develop obesity. Even if our dog prefers to eat fat and moist food, it will also be content with dry food; on the other hand. It helps prevent the scab in the teeth.
In practice, we will also be influenced by the fact that the type of food we give is adapted to our economy, and that it is easy for us to buy in our usual shop. If we don’t know what kind of food we decide on, we’ll consult the vet and ask him for advice.
Practical Advice:
If we observe that our dog has a tendency to enter the kitchen and devour everything he finds, or break the sacks of his food to eat until he is fed up, we will take him to the vet. This tendency can cause you some health problems, such as obesity, or even behavior.