You are what you eat, and this applies just as much for your pet as it does for you!
A balanced, healthy diet is essential for your dog and how well you feed them will have a very direct bearing on their quality of life and behavior. Paying attention to what is suitable for your dog is a key factor in your pet's happiness and ability to enjoy life and a happy dog is going to give you and your family a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure plus keep your vet bills to a minimum.
You should look to feed your dog once or twice a day and not leave food out in their bowl all of the time. When a dog is healthy they will eat their allotted amount with a vigorous gusto and a dog that is off its food is sure sign that something is affecting your pet's health; leaving food out all of the time is not good practice, however, there may be occasions when your pet needs to be fed more frequently, for instance, when they are suffering from poor health or have digestion issues and need smaller, regular meals.
Feeding your dog one type of food alone is to be avoided; canned dog food tends to contain higher levels of protein and fewer grain filler than dried food but can be more expensive, while giving your pet something to crunch on at meal times helps with providing variety and adds to your pet's enjoyment of food. You should mix foods together to help ensure that a balanced diet is more readily achieved and your dog will appreciate the variety.
It is a common misconception that dried food helps to clean your dog's teeth; quite simply it does not! More than this, simply using dried foods will add to the strain on your pet's urinary system and especially the kidneys and can lead to the formation of stones and in male dogs, serious medical issues with passing water and the accumulation of toxins within the body. Water must always be available for your dog if you have them on a dried diet and in any event, this is good practice no matter what the diet consists of.
No matter what commercial dog food you use, you should also look to add other ingredients. Dogs will readily eat vegetables and fruit but they are unable to digest raw vegetables which should be cooked to allow their digestion to extract the full nutritional value from the food. Depending on how much you are supplementing commercial feed, you will need to pay attention ensuring a balanced diet is being delivered; supplementing commercially produced feed to a high extent (25% or more) will require you to carefully plan your pet's diet to make sure they are getting all of the essential vitamins and minerals they need for a healthy life.
You may also consider using supplements to top up your pet's diet and especially if your dog is ill, elderly, pregnant or nursing. Commonly given supplements include Vitamin E (particularly alpha tocopherol), Vitamin C (look for Ester C, Calcium Ascorbate and Sodium Ascorbate), acidophulus (a probiotic) and digestive enzymes.
There is also a growing trend towards making dog food at home which does have many advantages such as you know exactly what is going into your pet's food and are generally accepted to be superior to commercially produced dog food.
