Dogs are amazing and beautiful creatures that never stop to fascinate us and bring smile to our face. They are passionate and lovable living beings, loyal and devoted to their human friends, unlike any other animal. Families with a dog member are happy families, many would say. Since early beginnings of our coexistence, dogs have crossed the line of just being our helpers and work buddies. They’ve became our best friends.
Nowadays, dogs are still used in some professions and as our protectors. However, many of them are simply our lovely, fluffy friends.
If you have a dog, you are familiar with all the joys this beautiful creature has to offer. However, it needs something in return. You have to take good care of your dog, if you want it to be happy, healthy and satisfied. Dogs are sensitive beings and they require certain attention. If you think having a dog is simple, you’re wrong.
You have to be ready to devote a lot of your time, effort and patience to nurture a dog. A dog needs your unconditional love and a proper health care, in the first place. This means you have to provide your new friend with proper living conditions, activities, medical care and good food.
Nutritional needs of a dog
Lets us return to the beginnings of human civilization, for a moment, in order to understand the dogs’ today’s nutritional needs. The world has much changed, since those times, especially in terms of food resources, living and eating habits. Those changes had affected all living beings. In particular, animals living with humans were mostly affected by humans’ habits changes. Dogs have been living with people since far past, so they’ve got used to our way of living and feeding.
Once upon a time, dogs have hunt with us and we’ve shared the same food, for millenniums. Naturally, dogs’ organisms have evolved, in order to process and utilize different types of food and get the most of it.
Dogs could eat various types of food, but there are certain elements all dogs need, in appropriate amounts. Their food should consist of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and other useful materials. Therefore, a dog’s meal should be varied, in terms of nutritional content. Their intake of meat can also include fish. Since it would be very difficult to prepare meals that would always contain all the nutrients your pet needs, it is best to choose some high quality commercial products. There are great products of dry, canned and vacuumed dog food. Get informed on your dog’s individual needs, based on its breed, age, gender and other characteristics.
Use commercial food as a basic food on the menu and occasionally feed your dog with some homemade meal and some fresh food. It is ok to make some meat for your dog, for example. It is also fine to use vegetables, fruits and some other plant origin viands in your pet’s diet plan. Fruits and vegetables are great option for snacks. Avoid humans’ processed food.
Dogs are not adapted to digest many products we normally eat. They cannot digest sugar very well and spices would upset their stomach. Feeding dogs human snacks, leftovers and sweets would do them serious harm, in long term. It leads to obesity, diabetes and other health issues you certainly don’t wish to happen.
Fruits in dogs’ diet
In general, fruits are ok for dogs, but you have to choose them wisely. Not all fruits are fine and not in large amounts. For example, do not feed your dog grapes, cherries and avocados; those fruits posses characteristics that are bad for dogs. Apples, pears, peaches, all sorts of berries and other fruits are fine for dogs, in moderate amounts, of course.
Get informed on each fruit’s properties, in order to determine which are fine for your pet and how to serve them. Fruits are not to be dogs’ basic food, neither should they take up large parts of their nutritional plan. However, used as a treat, fruits are welcome.
The reason why fruits are good is that most of them contain powerful antioxidant properties and are full of valuable minerals and vitamins that could improve dogs’ health. They could be good for a dog’s fur, vision, teeth, energy level, immune system and so on. Unlike cats, for example, dogs could utilize some material from fruits. Fruits also help digestive issues and promote digestion, if served in proper amounts.
On the other side, fruits contain sugar, which is not so good for dogs. This is the reason why you should always be cautious about the amounts. Too much sugar would upset your dog’s stomach and it could make it sick. It could get your lovely friend serious stomach ache, diarrhea, make it vomit and so on. Even though fruit sugar is natural and generally a good one, it is still sugar. Feed your pet fruits in small amounts, once in a while. Use fruits as a treat and delicacy, your dog would love it! Small amounts of right types of fruit would make your dog happy and benefit its health.
Delicious healthy raspberries
Raspberries are delicate and of a mild taste. They are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, in general. Therefore, they are very good for both human and dog health. If you’re thinking of including some fruits in your dog0s nutritional plan, raspberries are an excellent choice! All types of berries are fine for dogs. They posses amazing antioxidant properties, so they are considered good for immune system boosting and body defense. In addition, raspberries are high in fiber, which is very good for dogs’ digestion.
Raspberries are especially fine for older dogs, because they have anti-inflammatory properties, which are good to ease the pain and pressure in bones and joints senior dogs could suffer from. Raspberries are low in calories and sugar, which is good for dogs. We’ve already mentioned sugar is very bad for dogs, even that coming from natural food. Therefore, raspberries should be fine for your pet. However, you still need to take care of the amounts.
Raspberries contain a small amount of xylitol, which is a toxic material. Therefore, you have to limit the amount of those delicate berries for your pet. A dog should eat large amount of raspberries to experience bad effects of this compound, but it is best to take precautions.
Serve raspberries in small amounts, about half a cup of them or so. Don’t feed your dog any types of fruits too frequently and never use it to replace its basic food. Fruits, raspberries as well, should be considered delicacy and a healthy occasional pet treat.
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