What is Colostrum?

Image via Wikipedia

What is Colostrum?

No matter how close a puppy’s formula resembles the mother's milk, there is one ingredient that the dog owner cannot provide his puppy. This formula is the colostrum. Colostrum is found in the first few days of the mother's milk and protects her puppies from disease while their tiny bodies are learning to protect themselves.

There is no substitute for colostrum. Whenever possible, every newborn puppy should nurse a newly freshened female dog, even if she is not the puppy's own mother, for at least the first 24 hours of the puppy’s life. The losses among hand-fed puppies that fail to get colostrum during that first 24 hours are incredibly higher than among those that do. On the other hand, even colostrum cannot protect newborn puppies against the more dangerous bacteria. Also, colostrum cannot protect the puppy against overwhelming numbers of the less dangerous ones, such as numbers that come with unclean utensils and feeding equipment. When colostrum-filled milk is not available, the necessity for cleanliness and proper handling of all items used to house and feed the newborn puppies is increased ten-fold.

Puppy Feeding Program

Image via Wikipedia

Puppy Feeding Program

The best time to determine the proper feeding programs for your pet is during puppy hood. Meanwhile, the average time for the dog owner to assume the responsibility of feeding a dog is at weaning. Sometimes, this task begins at birth or shortly right after. In some unfortunate circumstances where a puppy is orphaned, or in situations where the mother whelps so many puppies that she cannot feed them all, the dog owner may have to begin his feeding chores while the puppy is still only hours old.

Bur whether the puppy is five hours, five weeks or five months old, there are three basic feeding steps that are essential in any puppy feeding program. The first step is to weigh each puppy. A record of his weight and the date it was taken should be kept on a separate record for each one. The second step is to determine the type of diet to give to the puppy. This will depend on the stage of growth the puppy has attained. The third and final step in puppy feeding is to determine the quantity of food needed to start the program. This will depend on the age of the puppy, his weigh, and the caloric density of the food.

Setting Good Eating Habits

Image via Wikipedia

Setting Good Eating Habits

A dog's eating habits are controlled by three things: its brain, its experiences, and its environment. The very first experiment in behavioral psychology was done by a scientist named Pavlov who taught dogs to get ready to eat when they heard a certain sound. Since that initial experiment, scientists have observed over and over how important the things happening around, and to, a dog are when it comes to affecting the dog's eating habits.

Once, when dogs were wild, most of their daily activity was devoted to obtaining a meal. While the need for this activity has practically disappeared, mealtime still constitutes one of the most important events in a dog's life. And, many of a dog's behavioral responses are still linked to its eating routine.

Today's dogs have become creatures of habit. They thrive on monotony and are most comfortable when things remain the same. Few dogs appreciate a sudden change in their sleeping quarters or the surprise of a new food in their bowl. The more that can be done to prevent change in a dog's feeding program, the better it will be for both the dog and its owner. Regularity in feeding promotes good appetite, good digestion and regular eliminations. Therefore, the first general consideration to be made when feeding any dog should be the establishment of a regular feeding schedule and should stay that way without being altered.

Puppies have conventionally been fed small portions of their daily diet at frequent intervals during the day. The rationalization behind this is sound, but the frequency of feedings often is too high. Even newborn puppies do quite well when fed only four times daily. Some breeders even reduce this to three times daily, but unless your schedule absolutely prohibits it, a minimum of four feedings should be the limit. The feedings need not be separated exactly six hours apart, but it is desirable to space the feedings as evenly as possible throughout the 24-hour time period. For example, my own schedule usually works out best when I feed around 7:00 A.M., 12:00 Noon, 6:00 P.M., and 1:00 P.M. Yours may be different.

The frequency of feedings should not be reduced to three a day until the puppies are weaned. Whether you are feeding newborn puppies four times daily, or older puppies three times, once the pattern of feedings has been set, it should not be changed, but should occur at the same time every day.

How To Feed The “Outdoor Dog”

Image via Wikipedia

How To Feed The “Outdoor Dog”

The dog that is kept outdoors all of the time, or an exclusive diet of dry food, does not need to be restricted to portion control feeding. These dogs will do quite well when self-fed. One precaution should be pointed out about outdoor pets that are put on self-feeding programs. If they have not been eating dry food, their water consumption will jump considerably when they begin to eat it. A special effort should be made to keep plenty of cool, fresh water before these dogs at all times.

Outdoor dogs require even more water during the summer because a dog's body-cooling processes that depend on water. When outdoor pets are individually fed they can be fed by either ad libitum or portion control. The feeding location should be under some kind of shelter. This will keep the direct sunlight, dust, and dirt to a minimum.

Outdoor feeding locations should also be located away from garbage cans. A back porch, back steps, or corner of the garage may be convenient, but if there are garbage cans nearby such places are unsuitable as dog feeding locations. First, such places allow flies of all descriptions to contaminate the food. Flies are not particularly objectionable to a dog. Most outdoor dogs go through life snapping up and swallowing a fly now and then. Ordinarily this is no cause for alarm, but around garbage cans flies become so numerous in a dog's food that they constitute a disease danger.

With dogs that are fed outdoors, it is of particular importance to pick up any food remaining uneaten after 20 or 30 minutes. Food served at room temperature, then allowed to stand outdoors, quickly warms to temperatures at which contaminating bacteria rapidly multiply. Most dogs do not find the odor of over-ripe dog food unpleasant. Many, in fact, consider the smell quite desirable. The toxins and other waste products produced by bacteria, at the same time they are creating that smell, may have a distinctly detrimental effect on the dog.

There is perhaps more important reason for feeding an outdoor house-pet at the same time and place every day and allowing the food to remain before the dog only 20 or 30 minutes. It is to train your dog to eat only at that time and at that place. lf the dog does not, it learns quickly that it must wait until the next feeding before it gets anything more to eat. Your dog will soon become accustomed to eating at only a specified time, and will come to the specified place every day around that time anticipating its food.

How To Change A Dog's Diet

How To Change A Dog's Diet

There are five basic steps when it comes to changing your dog's diet. They are as follows:

Step 1: lf a dog is in a new environment, has a new owner, or is being required to undergo some other emotional or physical strain, food changes should be postponed until the stress has been eliminated or the dog has adapted to it. With changes in ownership, the diet fed by the previous owner should be obtained if at all possible and fed until the dog becomes accustomed to its new surroundings.

Step 2: Once the dog is in a proper emotional state to accept a dietary change it should be accomplished without delay. Start by substituting 25 percent of the old food with new food. Mix the two thoroughly making every attempt to conceal the new food within the old. This mixture should be fed until the dog eats the mixture with the same relish that it ate its previous food. For some dogs this may be the first time the mixture is fed; for others it may take several days or even weeks. Don't hurry the procedure. After all, the dog may have had 24 months to get accustomed to its old diet. Don't expect it to change all of that in just 24 hours. Once the dog is eating the 25:75 mixture as well as it did its previous food, proceed to step three

Step 3: During the third step, 50 percent of the old food is replaced by new food and slightly less effort is made to conceal it within the old food. Again, when the dog is eating the 50:50 mixture with the same gusto it did its previous food, proceed to step four.

Step 4: Now 75 percent of the new food is present in the mixture being fed, and little if any effort is made to conceal the new food except to mix it evenly with the ordinal food. By now, most dogs will readily accept the increased mixture the first time it is fed. If the dog accepted the 50:50 mixture at the first feeding, step four can be eliminated and you can proceed directly to step five.

Step 5: This is the final step, the one in which all of the old food is eliminated from the dog's diet. One hundred percent of the new food is fed from then on. For some dogs this procedure may take only three days and require only steps two, three and five. For others it may take longer and must progress through each step separately. Do not become discouraged. With dogs, food likes and dislikes are mostly learned from previous experiences. Changing a food is a process of unlearning and relearning, and such things cannot be hurried.
The third general consideration that should be made by all dog feeders any time they feed a dog has more to do with human behavior than it does with a dog's.

Determining The Amount Of Dog Food Needed For Your Dog

Image via Wikipedia

Determining The Amount Of Dog Food Needed For Your Dog

The pet dog has the same nutritional needs as any other dog. The only difference is the reduced number of calories it uses because of the type of life a dog leads as a household pet. The house dog living exclusively indoors is probably one of the least active animals in the world. More inactive, even, than its owner.

Most of a house dog's time is spent sleeping. Its greatest effort, in many instances, consists of a 10-foot walk from the back door three times a day for eliminations, and a 10-foot walk from the family room couch to its food bowl in the kitchen. As a consequence the house dog is the most overfed and suffers from the greatest overweight problems of all the house-pets.

The dog that spends most of its daylight activities outdoors, but comes in at night, has a higher energy need than the pet kept indoors constantly. Not only does it get more exercise, but it requires extra energy to maintain its body temperature during cooler weather outdoors. Even with such additional requirements it is not uncommon to find indoor/outdoor pets that are fed too much and are borderline overweights.

The dog that stays outdoors all of the time is the pet least likely to develop obesity. As an outdoor dog it enjoys the same, or more exercise as the indoors/outdoors dog. In addition, outdoor dogs have a considerably increased need for energy to maintain body heat.

This need for extra energy for body heat becomes especially high at night and in colder weather. In fact, there are occasional instances where outdoor dogs, when improperly fed, begin to appear just like the undernourished farm hounds of a past era of dog feeding.

Calculation: The quantity of food a house dog needs is determined by the same things that determine the amount of food any other dog eat, which is its optimum body weight and the caloric density of the food it eats. The amount is calculated in the same manner as for other dogs. Determine the number of calories a dog needs daily to maintain its optimum weight. Then divide that number by the number of calories in a pound of food you are feeding. The results will be the quantity of food you should feed, measured in pounds.

Diarrhea Associated With Changing Your Dog's Diet

Image via Wikipedia

Diarrhea Associated With Changing Your Dog's Diet

In some dogs it is not unusual to notice a mild diarrhea following a change in food. This is particularly true in younger animals. In most instances it persists only until the dog's intestinal tract adjusts to the new food. In rare instances the diarrhea resulting from a change in diet lasts longer and may precipitate more serious forms of diarrhea.

To prevent diarrhea from developing during a dietary change, make the change gradually. A gradual change allows the intestinal tract to make a slow transition from the ingredients and physical characteristics of one food to those of the other.

Should diarrhea develop despite the precautions taken, reduce the amount of food being fed by one-half for a day or two. If this fails to correct the upset stomach then return to feeding the old food until the stool is normal again. Should the addition of the new food a second time also precipitate diarrhea, it is probable that the new food does not agree with your dog. If a third food is available it may be best to try an alternative method rather than to continue to subject your dog to a food that fails to agree with it.

2 Important Dog Feeding Tips If You Have Two Or More Dogs

Image via Wikipedia

2 Important Dog Feeding Tips If You Have Two Or More Dogs


Tip 1: Uneaten food should not be left around for more than 30 minutes. lf you feed only one or two dogs, removing the uneaten food within 30 minutes should offer no problem. You should begin to pick up the food containers just as soon as you have completed feeding the last dog. Pick up the feeding containers in the same order that they were put down. Don't get in such a hurry to get them, however, that you forget to record each dog's food intake.

Tip 2: Dogs should have regular elimination times. Dogs that are kept in relatively close confinement should be taken out for eliminations immediately after feeding. This will establish a regular pattern. Such a pattern promotes regular eliminations, stimulates better digestion, and increases food utilization. Perhaps equally important from the multiple dog owner's viewpoint is the fact that a regular elimination time allows you to keep your dog well-trained to know when it is time to go, and without having accidents inside.

Too Much Dog Food Can Be A Bad Thing

Image via Wikipedia

Too Much Dog Food Can Be A Bad Thing

A common cause of disease of excess food is the unwise use of vitamin and mineral supplements. A dog's cells use most vitamins and minerals at only so fast a rate. Once the cells are using them at the maximum rate, the cells cannot use these Vitamins or minerals any faster, regardless of how much of them is
present.

Any excesses due to too much in the diet will either accumulate in the body or will be excreted by some organ. If the excess nutrients build up so rapidly that the organ cannot keep up, the same substances that are vital in small amounts, may become deadly in excess amounts.

A dog does not eat to meet its need for vitamins, minerals, protein, or any other nutrient. It eats to meet its need for calories. If too much vitamins, minerals or protein are fed in relation to the number of calories in a diet, the dog will consume an excess of these nutrients. If too little is fed, the dog will develop a deficiency, yet will not seek out more of the deficient nutrient as long as its energy requirements are being met.

Diarrhea Associated With Changing Your Dog's Diet

Image via Wikipedia

Diarrhea Associated With Changing Your Dog's Diet

In some dogs it is not unusual to notice a mild diarrhea following a change in food. This is particularly true in younger animals. In most instances it persists only until the dog's intestinal tract adjusts to the new food. In rare instances the diarrhea resulting from a change in diet lasts longer and may precipitate more serious forms of diarrhea.

To prevent diarrhea from developing during a dietary change, make the change gradually. A gradual change allows the intestinal tract to make a slow transition from the ingredients and physical characteristics of one food to those of the other.

Should diarrhea develop despite the precautions taken, reduce the amount of food being fed by one-half for a day or two. If this fails to correct the upset stomach then return to feeding the old food until the stool is normal again. Should the addition of the new food a second time also precipitate diarrhea, it is probable that the new food does not agree with your dog. If a third food is available it may be best to try an alternative method rather than to continue to subject your dog to a food that fails to agree with it.

Gradually Changing Your Dog's Diet For Better Results

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Gradually Changing Your Dog's Diet For Better Results

lf it becomes necessary to change the time at which a dog is fed, the most satisfactory way to do so is by making gradual time changes from the old time to the new time. For example, suppose you change jobs, and start getting home an hour later than when you usually fed your dog. It is far better to start about two weeks before you make the change and feed the dog live minutes later every evening for twelve days, than to abruptly offer your dog its food 60 minutes late the first day you start the new job.

Probably the most often changed item in any dog's feeding routine is the food itself. There are occasions when circumstances dictate that you must make a change in a dog's food. Whatever the reason for making the change, if it is made too abruptly it may cause a digestive upset.

The micro-organisms growing in a dog's digestive tract become accustomed to one diet. So does the dog's digestive tract itself. An abrupt change does not allow sufficient time for either to re-accustom themselves to the new diet.

Vitamin & Mineral Sources: Part 2 (The Magic of Liver)

Image via Wikipedia

Vitamin & Mineral Sources: Part 2 (The Magic of Liver)

Milk and cheese are probably the only important sources of calcium and phosphorus among the foods that are not fed as much as they should to dogs, especially as sources of these minerals. Magnesium is found in nuts and beans, potassium in almost any natural ingredient. Most trace minerals in a natural diet are derived from the natural ingredients.

Liver: Newborn puppies, dying from the ''failing puppy syndrome", have a tablespoonful of chopped liver added to their mother's diet. Overnight, the pups snap out of it and start gaining again. Orphan puppies, stunted because their formula is inadequate, have a little liver puree added to that formula and those same puppies suddenly begin to grow and gain weight.

A young adult male, starting his second year at stud is listless, uninterested, and underweight. A daily teaspoon of raw liver returns the stud to his original luster and aggressiveness. A dog struck by an automobile fails to respond even though surgery has successfully corrected its injuries. About a week after the operation a tablespoonful of liver is prescribed three times weekly. By the end of the third week all of the dog's lost weight has been regained and healing of the external wounds appears complete.

All of the dogs described above had one thing in common; liver was added to their diet. Perhaps liver should be called a "miracle" food rattler than a mystery food. But whatever you call it, the recoveries described were the results of liver, and whatever it is that enables liver to produce such ''miracles'' remains a mystery.

For years veterinary nutritionists have referred to the ''unidentified liver fractions'' and their seemingly miraculous effects. Whatever it is in liver, known or unknown, few canine nutritionists deny that liver does something special when it comes to a dog's diet. If there is one single food that every dog should have in its diet, that food would have to be liver.