Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats – How Much Your Puppy Needs

Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats – How Much Does Your Puppy Needs?

Having a pet can be a life-changing experience, especially if you decided to own a dog. They are credited as the most loyal companion of a human for reasons since they will love you unconditionally and dedicate their whole life to you. However, growing up with one furry friend is not an easy task. You need to take care of them seriously to have a healthy and long life. Therefore, it is very important to make sure you give the correct food and nutrients to your dogs since they are puppies. Note that the needs of protein for puppies are different from the adult dogs, and so does the other nutrients. Here are several tips that can help you give the best portion of the meal to your dogs since they are too young.

What Are The Nutritional Requirements For a Dog?

Your canine friend is naturally an omnivore, so it can live eating almost anything. However, if you want a healthy and good-looking dog, you should plan its meal carefully. The canine ancestral diets mostly consist of protein, since they are a natural hunter. But they also need fat, carbohydrates, and mineral to function well.

a) Protein

As explained above, a dog needs a lot of protein. Their ancestral diets consist of 56% protein that usually comes from smaller mammals and sometimes even insects. However, the domestic dog does not need as much protein, since they live more comfortably.

b) Fats

There are a lot of natural fats in natural canine prey; therefore it used to have 25%-30% fats. But the domestic dog usually has less activity than their ancestral due to a limited living area and owner habits. That much intake of fats can make your pet suffer from obesity.

c) Carbohydrates

Canines actually do not naturally eat carbohydrates. Surely they need some in their diet for additional energy resources and fiber, but their meal should not consist of more carbohydrates than proteins and other nutrients.

Dog Nutritional Requirements Table

If you want to compare the number, check the dog nutritional requirement needed below for an adult dog:

NutrientAncestral DogDomestic Dog

Protein

56%

30% – 35%

Fats

30%

25%

Carbohydrates and others

14%

40%

How Much Protein Does a Dog Need Per Day?

The requirements of protein daily intake for dogs vary depending on the breed, weight, and activity. The larger and more active dog, of course, needs more protein than the smaller breed. However, you need to make sure that your dog’s meal consists of 30% or more protein. This number is actually hard to achieve if you only depend on pre-made dog food, such as kibble or canned dog food. They usually consist of more carbohydrates than proteins. Make sure you add genuine meat, such as chicken, beef, or lamb as additional sources of proteins.

Related Articles: A Handy Guide to Calorie Calculation for Dogs Based on Science

Too Much Protein in Dog Food Cause Diarrhea

Even if dogs need a lot of protein, too much intake of protein can cause diarrhea. That is why you need to make sure that your dog has a balanced diet. An unbalanced diet can also damage its kidney since the dog cannot store the protein for later use. The body will excrete the excess protein through urine and feces and will make the kidney and digestion system work harder.

Senior Dog Protein Requirements

When your dog reaches senior age, its movement will slow down naturally. Protein is needed to build the muscles, bones and necessary for daily function. However, the senior dog stop growing is body muscles and bones long ago, and their daily activity is also limited. You will need to adjust the protein intake to avoid its kidney work too much. Replace the portions of protein with natural fiber and mineral to boost its immune system and maintain healthy digestion.

Related Topics: How to Take Care of Your Senior Dog

Puppy Protein Requirements

In contrary, a puppy needs more protein than an adult dog. Puppy’s meal should have more proteins than fat and carbohydrates. Just like kids, growing up requires a lot of nutrients. Protein is very important for the developments of organs and body parts. They also need more fats and fiber. The fats will help the puppy grow healthy skin and shiny fur. The fiber will help them digest the meal easier since their stomach is still tender. Try to feed your puppy more kibbles than moist food since they need to train their teeth. Wet dog food also usually contain more fat than protein that can cause early obesity in your pup.

Similar Article : The Ultimate Guide to Canine Nutrition

What Does Crude Fat Mean?

The label behind the box does not really help because it sometimes does not tell the truth. You may often find the words “crude fats” or “crude protein” on the label along with other natural ingredients. The term actually refers to how the fat is tested to measure to amount of fat in certain ingredients, not the natural ingredients itself. It means that basically, the fat can come from any ingredients, including animal fats, offal, and even leather residual.

What is a Good Level of Crude Fat in Dog Food?

Dogs need fat in their diet because it helps them to grow and transport fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. The right amount of fat can also make them grow stronger and promote healthier skin and fur. However, since the crude fat is quite questionable regarding resources, it is better to pick food that has the least amount of crude fats. Provide natural resources of fats to your dogs such as fish oil, canola oil, and lean meat.

Do Dogs Need Carbohydrates

As mentioned before, dogs actually are not natural carbohydrates eaters. It is better to keep their meal consist of more protein and fat than carbohydrates. Unfortunately, many mass production dog food contains more carbohydrates because it is cheaper than actual meat. You can substitute the carbs by giving plant-based fiber that contains carbohydrates as well, like pumpkin, green beans, and rolled oats. Having enough carbs on a diet can help the dog and especially puppies channeling the protein for body development and using the carbs as an additional source of energy.                                                      

Conclusion

The most important thing is making sure your dogs have a well-balanced diet plant. If you still not sure how much proteins for puppies or adult dogs, consult with your veterinarian. It will be better if you can provide a homemade food and not only depends on mass production dog food. This way, you can make sure that your pups and dog has enough and balanced protein, fat and carbohydrates in every meal.

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