Slimming Dogs

January is the time that most people try and live a little healthier, maybe get a bit fitter. Don't forget your dogs! There's a program on itv that has celebrated pets that have slimmed down. Find more information about the program here. For overweight or obese pets, they've given advice and over the year tried to lose weight.

This is a fantastic thing, but while watching this program, I realised that a lot of the time people don't realise what is healthy and what isn't. What's healthy for us (low-fat protein, fruit and vegetables) isn't the healthy option for dogs as they have different systems. I then took it upon myself to have a look on the internet for treat recipies and food recipies to see if there were any actual healthy options out there. I was shocked at the lack of knowledge out there!

Treats are a fantastic way to train your dog, but a lot of people feel bad using lots of treats and I often get asked what treats to use. I suggest chicken, real meat or cheese because dogs love it. If they love it, they're going to work particularly hard for it. Chicken and meat are healthy, too. Roast or boil the meat, chop to the size of a pea and freeze until needed. But some people don't like handling a lot of meat so prefer dried treats. Well thankfully we're able to offer you healthy treats that your dog will love.

Time For The Science!

Dogs don't have the enzyme in their stomach to digest cellulose. Cellulose is the plant cell-wall, which means anything plant-life can't be digested. Things like wheat, grain, cereals, fruit and vegetables. Now the good news is, that because they don't digest it, it does them no harm - it just comes out the other end.

So think giving them a fruit-salad is going to help move that weight? Think again.

Think of where the dog comes from - wolves. Wolves eat prey animals, which consist mainly of meat, bones, organs and a tiny amount of pre-digested plant-life. Due to the fact that the prey has already broken down the cell walls of the plant-life, wolves can take a few nutrients from it. However, the main source of their nutrients comes from the meat and organs, and the bone helps with calcium intake, to clean their teeth and bind their poop together.

Think of where we come from - Apes and chimps. Their diet is mainly fruits, vegetables, insects and seeds. They eat a tiny amount of meat. Our stomach is made up similarly as well, which is why we have to cook our meat, because our stomach isn't designed to digest such large quantities of raw meat. That's why fruit, veg and low-fat protein are the healthier options for us.

So What Is Healthy?

Healthy food for a dog is meaty diet with a little amount of organs and bones. This is known as the Raw Diet. There are lots of websites that will put this in the right proportions for you so you only need to put it in the bowl! These are two examples:

Durham Animal Petfoods and Raw To Go.

Due to the meat we use, many people thing feeding your dog a meaty diet is super-expensive. These websites are amazingly cheap - we feed Zilla using this diet. He is 28kg in weight and eats 400g of food a day (plus treats). He only needs a small amount because it is full of goodness. Think of dieticians that tell us what to eat - wheat grains and pastas etc, you only need a small amount, it will keep you full for a long time and do you a world of good. This is the same principle.

Have you had a look at petfood ingredient lists and thought, 'What on earth does all this mean?' That's a bad sign in what is going into their food or treats. You should be able to know what your dog is eating.

So if you're thinking of feeding your dog a healthier diet, don't go mad for fruits, vegetables and other things that are considered healthy for us. Think more about cutting grains, wheats, fruits and vegetables out of their diet.

Exercise is also a key ingredient to a healthy, happy dog. If your dog is overweight, take it slowly as you can damage their joints making them move so much weight around. Once the weight starts to come off, you can increase the strenuousity of their activity. Do you want a personalised session where one of our trainers comes to you to help your dog lose weight? Contact us to book an induction.

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