We always want our dogs to look great and to perform at their very best. We want our working dogs to have steady endurance and drive. We want our tracking and search and rescue dogs to hold the scent and stay on the trail. We want our agility dogs to have the energy and balance to make the jumps, go through the weaves smoothly and effortlessly, and to handle each obstacle with precision. We need our obedience dogs to stay focused and our Schutzhund dogs to have stamina, courage, and stay on task. We want our conformation dogs to have ground covering side movement and to be happy and confident in the ring. And we all want our dogs to have lean, muscular and fit bodies. A good diet provides the energy, strength, lean muscle mass and mental focus that is needed to achieve these performance goals. Let's take a look at the different diet components and how they help with each of these performance goals. Carbohydrates “It takes a lot of energy to digest food, so it is very important to feed foods that are easy to digest, provide the most nutrients, and use the least amounts of energy. For dogs, that food would be fats and protein. The foods to stay away from are carbohydrates.” Carbohydrates are found in plant based foods, which include vegetables, grains and fruit. The two main components in plant based foods are sugar and fiber. Dogs have short and simple digestive tracts which are not designed to ferment high fiber foods and cannot break down the cell walls which are composed of cellulose. The dog's digestive system struggles to digest these foods which takes greater energy, creates more gas and produces large stools of undigested food matter.” Carbohydrates are also made up of sugar and sugars can cause the blood glucose levels in dogs to go up and down. This in turn causes a dog's energy level to rise quickly and then drop suddenly. This can create inconsistent energy spurts which can cause your dog to tire out more rapidly. Additionally, fiber binds up the digestive tract which results in a loss of valuable energy. Fat and proteins are much easier for the dog to digest and produce smaller stools. Harder to digest foods mean a full colon, which Dr. Kronfeld, DVM equated to an extra 20 pound handicap on a race horse: https://www.purinaproclub.com/resource-library/todays-breeder/issue-75/feeding-for-performance Fats Fat is the most important energy source for dogs. Fats are dense in calories which are needed when dogs are working hard and burning large amounts of calories. Fat also helps protect their cells from damage. The fat a dogs needs is animal fat. These fats are found in meat, eggs and dairy. High fat diets have been the secret for successful sled dog racing teams for years: http://www.livescience.com/2898-iditarod-dogs-endurance-secret-revealed.html |