THE DOG

Dog Care

Dog Identification
Collar your dog and attach an ID to it, with the dog’s name, your name, address, and telephone number written on it. The ID will prove to be a great help if, and when, your dog ends up getting lost. Through the information provided on the ID, someone will able to bring your pet safely back to your home.

Periodical Grooming and Bath
Bathing your dog at regular intervals is necessary. However, giving it a bath on an exceedingly frequent basis can dry out its skin and coat and result in skin infections. The best bet would be to bathe your dog once in a month. In case it gets too dirty in-between, rub it with a damp towel or wash just the paws.
While bathing the dog frequently is not advisable, you should definitely groom it on a daily basis. Move a brush or comb through the hair of your dog, ensuring that its coat remains smooth and free of tangles. Grooming of a dog can be started when it is 3-4 months old and continues throughout its life.

Periodical Physical Examination
It is necessary to undertake a proper physical examination of your dog on a monthly basis. Check the pad of its feet for any injuries and also undertake an oral examination of its mouth. At the same time, make sure to keep its ears as well as teeth clean. You need to take your dog for regular veterinarian check-ups as well, say every 2-3 months.

Balance and precise nutrition
Remember, a nutritionally balanced diet, with constant access to fresh water, is as good for your dog as it is for you. Before deciding on the proper diet for your dog, it is advisable to consult a veterinary doctor.

Regular Exercise
If you want your dog to remain fit and healthy, then you need to make sure that it gets a lot of exercise. Keeping its busy physically will also help keep behavioral problems at bay. You can take him for walk twice a day or play with him. In this context, remember that the level of exercise that your dog should get depends upon its breed and age.

Neutering or spaying
If you do not want to breed your dog, get it neutered, after consulting a veterinary doctor. It will help the dog live longer, be healthier and have fewer behavior problems.

Periodical Vaccination and deworming
You should also get your dogs vaccinated against rabies and other diseases. It is also necessary to ensure that your dog is getting dewormed against common internal parasites.

Dog Kennel
You need to provide proper shelter for your dog, mainly in the form of a dog house (and fence yard, in case of large and active dogs). However, most of the dogs crave companionship and do not like to be alone for long periods. So, try to spend as much time with your dog as possible and make it go into the dog house at night only.

Dog Nutrition

Dogs have simple stomachs and short digestive tracts for digesting meat. They also lack the saliva enzyme amylase, which is necessary for pre-digesting starch. Dogs have adapted to foods with high vegetable protein levels, however they perform better when fed foods high in meat protein and animal fats.

Animal Protein
Checking the label of a Super Premium or Performance food an animal protein will be listed as the first or second major ingredient. These should include either chicken, or turkey meat, or poultry by products meals, meat or pork meals or other animal by products. A least two sources of fat or oil should be included for adequate energy and essential fatty acids.

Fat
Fat in food is the dog’s source of energy. Animal fat contains essential and non-essential fatty acids as well as provides a highly digestible and easily metabolised energy source. Generally, poultry, turkey or chicken fat are higher in quality because they have more unsaturated fatty acids and are more digestible than animal tallow.
Vegetable oils, such as soybean oil, lecithin corn oil, wheat germ oil, sesame seed oil or linseed oil all contain high levels of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid for dogs. These should be combined with animal fats for the best long-term results of a glossy haircoat and soft pliable skin.
Omega3 and 6 Fatty Acids, including Linoleic acid – Provides complete and balanced nutrition, promotes a healthy immune system and helps keep your puppy’s skin and coat healthy

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the third most important nutrient and ingredient class in modern Super Premium and Performance foods. Simple carbohydrates in dog food come from quality sources like rice, oatmeal, corn or wheat. These are easily digested when properly cooked.

Fibre
Fibre,a complex carbohydrate is essential for proper digestion and stool formation. Beet pulp and tomato promace are both high in fibre. Other sources of fibre include rice, soy hulls, oat hulls, wheat bran and peanut hulls. All these come from the external portion of the seed coat. These sources except peanut hulls have microscopic sharp edges, which can cause small cuts in the intestine. This reduces the intestine’s effectiveness in nutrient digestion. Peanut hulls on the other hand, have the potential of being contaminated with aflatoxins and should never be used in a quality dog or cat food.

Vitamin and mineral
Vitamin and mineral fortification is an absolute necessity in nutritionally balancing any food for dogs. While the vitamins and minerals generally, make up less than 2% of the total food by weight, they provide some of the most crucial nutrients. These include 12 to 16 vitamins and 15 to 25 minerals. Often the list of these micro nutrients is much longer than the list of major ingredients. Expect this list in all dog foods. Super Premium usually feature more than one source for each vitamin and mineral.

Antioxidants
Antioxidants help normal body cell to fight against oxidative cell damage by highly active free radicals. They are pivotal for healthy and strong immune system