Just like the people who love them, dogs need a balanced diet with the right amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements to keep them healthy. Dog diets are like those of their owners. They go through cycles in popularity according to the latest trends in nutritional knowledge. The table-scrap diet or commercial dog food in vogue when you owned your first dog as a child are now considered inadequate and out-dated. Today, there is much controversy about dogs' dietary needs. Some experts view dogs as carnivores, while others consider them omnivores that do best with a wide spectrum of foods, including protein, grains, vegetables, fruits, and other natural substances. Those who espouse the omnivore theory note that when our dogs' progenitors had to survive on what they hunted, they ate much more than just meat. They also consumed the bones, internal organs, stomach contents, skin, and hair of their prey, providing them with essential nutrients that would be lacking in a meat-only diet.

Current Trends in Dog Nutrition

The current trend in dog nutrition favors whole foods. Minimally processed, whole foods get their name because they contain no nutritionally useless by-products. In other words, the less processed they are and the fewer chemical additives they contain, the better. Many owners also now opt to feed their dogs raw foods, supplementing with essential fatty acids, fruits, veggies, vitamins, and probiotics, enzymes that keep the flora of the dog's relatively short intestinal tract in balance to prevent gas, diarrhea, and constipation.

What are by-products, anyway? According to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), they are “nonrendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered animals.” This would include heads, tails, feet, horns, hooves, beaks, feathers, hide, viscera (internal organs e.g., the heart, lungs, thorax, and intestines.) By-products are not necessarily bad. After all, dogs in their primitive state ate such items when they killed their own food. But in a high-quality dog diet, whether based on meat, poultry, or fish, the main protein source should be the real deal, not the stuff that gets thrown away when food is processed for human consumption.

When you read the ingredients of today's premium dog food, along with the protein and grain sources listed, you may be surprised to see such ingredients as fish oils, sweet potatoes, eggs, blueberries, cranberries, carrots, spinach, alfalfa, yogurt, flaxseed, and a host of vitamins and minerals. Chalk it up to advances in veterinary nutritional science. Over the last twenty-five years, we have learned to fine-tune the nutritional needs of our canine companions, adapting their food to suit their size, age, activity level, and physiology.

Essential Nutrients

Dogs need a myriad of essential nutrients every day. Water tops the list. The loss of only 10 percent of a dog's body water can cause death. Next comes protein, the raw material for bones, muscle, nerve structure, and all other living tissue. The best proteins contain the essential amino acids that synthesize them, making them usable. Next comes fat, the fuel burned for energy and a big taste factor as well. Fats vary in nutritional value depending upon the content of essential fatty acids. These include omega-6, found mainly in vegetable oils, and omega-3, found in fish oil. Both are important for keeping cells healthy and for nourishing the skin and coat. Carbohydrates are available in the simple sugars found in fruits, milk, and honey (simple carbohydrates), as well as in starches and dietary fibers found in plants, including grains (complex carbohydrates). Also required in a balanced dog food is a full range of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements.

Whether you buy your dog's food or make it yourself, it is essential to provide a balanced diet appropriate for your dog's size, age, and physical condition. The right diet will have a huge bearing on your dog's quality of life and longevity.