Feeding your dog is an essential part of your dog’s overall development and well-being. Dogs can eat almost as much as they want to, they can develop a very big appetite. If unintentionally mistreated, a dog will act so that you’d give him a lot of treats and dog food to eat. But this can lead to some serious problems. All the calories that dog foods contain might eventually build up inside his body. If this excess energy is not utilized successfully, it will turn into fat reserves on your dog, essentially making your dog obese and unprecedented gain of weight. This, in turn, will lead to different health issues like respiratory, digestive problems and even heart problems.
So how much should you feed your dog? We as pet owners regularly put food on our dog’s bowls almost every day. But apparently, dogs do not necessarily need to eat every day. A recent research showed that domestic dogs can go almost relatively safe without eating for as long as four days as long as they had eaten healthy food and has a supply of fresh water.
A survey stated that about half of the number of dogs in America is in some form obese. But this shouldn’t let you decide to try and feed your dog with monumentally less food, far from it. You should consider the age group your dog is in, there can be major differences in the food necessary for different aged dogs, breeds and current style of living should also play a crucial role in modifying your dog’s diet.
Puppies should be given at least 3 respectably small meal sizes every day. They need regular feeding because they are still developing but should not be given too much because their stomachs might not handle it. Older dogs that have just entered adulthood and are relatively small in size should be given only about 2 meals of small servings every day. Adult dog breeds with a medium build need more food intake so you can feed them 2 meals that are appropriately sized for them each day. While those very large dog breeds should only get one well-sized meal every day to reduce the risk of obesity. And finally, old senior dogs are recommended to be given about one to two relatively small meal servings each day to reduce health concerns.
But age isn’t the only thing you should consider when feeding your dog. You should also check how much activity they are performing each day. Those hyperactive dogs that move a lot should have their diets adjusted with more food to reduce the risk of fatigue induced hunger. Playful dogs basically become hungry faster. If your dog is getting a lot of exercises you should also try and compliment the training with healthy and frequent feeding. While those dogs that don’t move a lot should not be given too much dog food, inactivity means that they are not spending too much energy and feeding them too much would inevitably lead to obesity.
To make sure that your dog is getting the right food servings per day, consulting a vet is the best course of action a pet owner should do.
