How much food does your dog really need? Along with the general population of people, dogs are also suffering from obesity from eating the wrong food and eating too much food.
It is relatively easy to control the amount of food your dog is eating and it is essential that you gauge its weight on a regular basis to ensure that it doesn’t get obese. Dogs can suffer from many different ailments due to obesity including diabetes.
There are an increasing number of dogs suffering from this disease and in most cases this could have been avoided through the correct nutrition and monitoring the amount of food the dog has been eating. Having a dog with diabetes will necessitate the injection of insulin or in some cases taking of pills to assist in the maintenance of the correct sugar levels in their blood.
Obviously this involves additional expense and inconvenience and there is also a danger that should the insulin level be incorrect your pet could die. It makes sense then that your dog should only eat what is good for it and in quantities that won’t result in it developing health problems later in life.
Working dogs will need more food for the energy that they will expend in the course of the day but a dog that lays around the house all day and doesn’t get any exercise will not need to eat the same portions of food. You should weigh your dog on a regular basis and see whether it is gaining or losing weight and adjust the amount of food it is eating accordingly.
Please note: This article is from a contributor. Opinions expressed may or may not agree with those of Master Dog Trainer Adam G. Katz. When in doubt, please refer to the advice given in Adam’s dog training book. This article is provided for your enjoyment, only.