Dog Feeding Practices

How much food is good dog feeding practice?: Adult dogs can normally control the amount of food that they eat and will only eat what they need when they need it. However the American kennel Club (AKC) suggest that you feed your adult dog once or twice a day. So how do you plan out your dog's menu? Believe it or not smaller dogs need more calories daily (for their weight) than larger dogs as they burn more calories per kilo. A five kilo dog burns about 42 calories for every half kilo of body weight as compared to a 35 kilo dog who only burns about 26 calories for every half kilo. There are also other factors involved that affect the metabolic rate of your dog. For example age, activity level, environment, breed, health, reproductive cycle. The AKC suggest that you set up a regular time for feeding your dog also to help keep him in good health.

Puppies require almost four times the amount of calories as adult dogs but unfortunately some pet owners unwittingly over feed their puppies to try and induce them to grow faster. This should be avoided as it can cause problems later on in the dog's life.

Climate is of course an important factor in planning out your dog's calorie needs. During cold weather your dog will need more food in order to stay warm and maintain his optimum weight. In very warm climates your dog may not need quite so much food but he will still need about the same amount of protein as his counterparts in temperate climates.

Convalescing dogs or those who are sick or suffering from malnutrition should only be fed small amounts of easily digested food such as rice or chicken broth so as not to cause undue stress on their digestive system. As they improve you can increase the amount that they are served.