Caloric Requirements for Dogs
Tailoring food to meet your dog's individual
needs
MetPet.com Staff Writer
Here are some general guidelines for your dog. Individual metabolism, exercise,
age, environment and overall health will determine what your dog really needs to be lean
and healthy.
Dogs, on average, need about 25 calories per pound of body
weight per day to maintain their current weight. Small active dogs, less
than 20 lbs. in weight, can use up to 40 calories per pound per day. Large
dogs, over 100 lbs., can use as little as 15 calories per pound per day.
Since your dog can only have so many calories every day,
it is important to pack lots of nutrition, bulk and appeal into those calories. It
is worth reading all the labels on commercial food and sticking to the highest quality
food you can find. Avoid low quality foods that pack in calories with corn syrups
and other sources of refined sugars. If you make your dog's food at home, you will
have to do some calculating to determine the caloric content of meals.
You can feed those calories in several meals rather than
in one large daily meal. It can be much easier on a hungry dog to have 2-3 meals a
day rather than waiting 24 hours in between meals. Smaller and more
frequent meals can also help prevent
bloat which is often a fatal condition in dogs. You can always add low-calorie
vegetables (carrots, broccoli, etc.) as treats at or in between meals.
Remember, a healthy dog is ready to eat at any time.
We have even raised some dogs that can eat while flat on their side and more or
less asleep! Therefore, it is pointless to use your dog's pleading behavior as any
indicator of how much to feed him. Knowing how many calories he needs and how that
translates into food will help keep him trim and healthy.
In laboratories, it has been shown that caloric
restriction can significantly increase an animal's healthy life span. In fact,
serious caloric reduction (approximately 30%) is the only dietary change that has shown to
have a significant effect (at least on mice). This research is still in its early
stages but older dogs will generally do better on fewer rather than more calories. Those
calories, however, have to be of the full rather than of the empty
variety.
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