Highly trained guard dogs are often called out for high profile duty like rescue, crowd control, riot control, and even airport patrol. They work long hours, and don't get many breaks. Because they are used for such important items and duties, they need special care in diet. This means that a good diet is needed to keep their energy levels up and keeping them from getting out of shape.
All guide dogs need a high level of energy to do their jobs properly. They tend to be on duty for quite a long time and that means that there is no room for a lack of energy. Anything could happen and the dog would need to be able to jump in at any time when needed. Also, they are always under some form of stress, especially in riot situations. Let's take a look at some of the things to getting good quality diet habit for your guard dog.
You would think that a guard dog would be better suited to high caloric foods which have 1500 to 1600 calories per pound, but unfortunately not even these foods are good enough. The guard dog needs food that has over 1600 calories per pound. Usually guard dogs are only fed once a day and that means that they need to eat a small amount in that sitting and it has to have an extremely high caloric intake to be sufficient enough to carry them through the day.
This means that the food has to have the right nutrients as well as high energy levels too. You should also take a good look at the nutrient listing on the bag. Talk to your veteranarian to find out their recommendation on what is the right balance for guard dog feeding.
Another thing that you are probably thinking about is the fact that guard dogs are stationed in one place with you, and what they eat has a great effect on what their stool will smell like. If you are stationed with your guard dog, then feeding him alot of food that his body will not digest is what will cause the pungent odor. There is a way in which this problem can be controlled however and that is to stick to a food which is high in energy but low in dry food. Again, it is the indigestible dry matter which causes the problem and if you reduce that then you should be fine.
So, make sure that your guard dog is fed high calorie foods so they have sustained energy. Make sure you feed your guard dog foods that are low in dry content. This way they will keep their maximum performance and their energy levels will be up all day.
