In recent years, dog owners have increasingly begun to switch to feeding their pets dry ready-made mixtures. There are a huge number of them on the market. Which one to choose, and whether to feed your pet only with dry feed.
Can dogs dry feed
Experienced dog breeders began to transfer their pets to feed exclusively prepared dry food. There are several reasons for this choice:
1. Save time - do not waste time preparing food for your pet. It is very convenient, pour the right amount from the package and that's all, nothing more needs to be done. Human food must be cooked constantly fresh, or stored somewhere, then reheated. You can only rinse the dog bowl after the feed and not wash the greasy plates.
2. In good feeds, all vitamins, mineral complexes and nutrients are balanced.
3. Many people think that such feeding is too costly, it’s cheaper to treat the dogs with home cooking. But, do not forget that a portion of the dry mixture is many times smaller than the usual portion. And eating homemade food, animals need to be given vitamin and mineral complexes.
4. When buying ready-made mixtures, you can choose the one that is needed directly during this period of time. Perhaps the pet is pregnant or feeding babies. Maybe the dog is getting ready for the competition and he has a special diet and great physical exertion. Such food is just a salvation for dogs allergic or obese.
Is it possible to constantly feed dry food to dogs
A lot of caring owners still do not trust the producers and slip a bowl with something tasty to their favorite. They do not think about the consequences of mixed nutrition.
Of course, you can give a small piece of goodies to your pet as an encouragement during training. This happens a small piece of cheese or cracker, dried fruit or a tiny cube of boiled beef. But not regularly and in small doses.
If you add boiled meat to dry mixes, this will lead to an excess of protein in the body. The consequence will be kidney disease, the manifestation of allergic reactions and dystrophic changes in the liver.
Mixed types of nutrition upset the proper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, which leads to indigestion and gastritis.
If you additionally give seafood to dry foods, there will be an excess of phosphorus in the body. What will contribute to the inflammation of the genitourinary system and the development of urolithiasis. Bone tissue will actively gain phosphate and lose calcium. For puppies, such a change threatens rickets and osteoporosis. In older individuals, it is fraught with lesions of the intestines and liver. Anemia will develop, small hemorrhages will appear.
If you mix dry mixes with cereals, then obesity is guaranteed for the dog. Excess carbohydrates in the body leads to a rapid accumulation of fats and excess weight.
What is fraught with constant feeding of a dog with dry food
In some cases, doctors still recommend giving up mixtures and feeding pets homemade food. But only in those situations if the pet has inflammation of the digestive tract. Then of course you need to switch to homemade food for the health of your four-legged friend.
There is no other reason to refuse ready-made food. This food has been tested for more than one year, and by dogs and other animals. Therefore, feed from trusted and conscientious manufacturers is both tasty and healthy.
Is it worth soaking dry feed
If the manufacturer did not indicate this on the food box, then it is possible. And some even need to. Water is added to the mixture for elderly dogs and those suffering from diseases of the oral cavity, as well as small puppies under the age of 5 months.
To soak food, you need to add granules of ordinary warm drinking water (temperature above +40 degrees). Do not boil it before this.
If they are young puppies, they will use kefir, boiled milk or yogurt as a liquid. Mature dogs should be bred in a 1: 2 ratio. Such food should be consumed immediately or no later than 2 hours after preparation, this is a perishable product.
Proper feeding of dogs with dry food, depending on their size
The daily food norm for a small breed dog depends on the weight and how active the little dog is. The calorie content of food for babies should exceed the number of calories in food, large and large dogs. Dwarf rocks are very mobile, so they need additional vitamin B and linoleic acid. On average, the daily rate should not exceed 200 grams.
Large dog breeds, on the contrary, need less calorie and more nutritious food, because they have a slow metabolism. Therefore, you must strictly adhere to the dosage indicated on the package or follow the recommendations of a veterinarian.
Puppies have a special feeding schedule, since they have an actively growing organism, their portions are larger than their adult relatives of the same breed.
In six-month-old young puppies, the daily food norm is one and a half times higher than the norm of an adult individual, the number of feeds is also greater.
On each box, the manufacturer must indicate the line of standards (in grams) depending on the breed of the dog, its weight and physical activity. According to such tables, it is very easy to calculate how many granules a pet should eat in one day.
Do dogs need water while feeding dry food
Drinking water should stand constantly, only it needs to be changed periodically so that it is fresh. A bowl of water is usually placed next to a feeding plate, so that if necessary a four-legged family member can immediately get drunk.
How much water a dog needs to drink while eating such granules is 50 grams per 1 kg of animal weight. It will be a big mistake on the part of the owner to give the dog only a certain amount of water and nothing more. Let the animal get plenty to drink.
The amount of fluid consumed also depends on how active the pet is, what temperature is in the room, where it stays or how much food it eats.
