by Debbie Brookham, Clinical Pet Nutritionist.
You just met the love of your life! You are bringing your new love to its new forever home. No, really! People that get a dog have a human-animal bond like nothing else.
Your newly adopted dog will count on you for everything. A place to sleep, a time for fun and most importantly what you choose to feed him. That in itself can be the scariest decision of them all. Today new pet parents can be absolutely overwhelmed at food choices.
As a Clinical Pet Nutritionist, I can share with you that this one decision will play the most important role as you prepare to adopt a dog and its future health. What we feed our pets today is key to the very foundation of their existence. That’s why we humans need to get it right.
Each dog is different and each human is different in what they are choosing for their food and how it can change a life.
More often than not, I’m helping people with their dogs who have a chronic disease, but wouldn’t it be awesome if our dogs could live their longest lives ever, healthy and happy in optimum wellness? Nutrition is the key to that path, starting with the adoption day.
Here are the top three ingredients to stay away from:
1) Wheat
2) Corn
3) Soy
All of these ingredients have been genetically modified and do not even remotely resemble what are farmers planted years ago.
Number one ingredient for Treats:
· A Single source protein. Forget the sugar, honey, molasses, corn gluten and whatever else hidden ingredients can be in that treat bag. Remember, treats should be no more than 10% of a dog’s daily diet. Think SMALL.
Top things to know when looking for a pet food:
· Can you read & understand the ingredient label? Can you pronounce them and know if they are good for your pet?
· What’s the expiration date? Why can that food last so long?
· Is there ingredient splitting? That means if you added up all the different ways the manufacturer’s state an ingredient it would add up to about 60%-80% of what’s in the bag i.e., lentils, beans, peas, pea fiber, pea gluten, garbanzo beans. Remember the old question, “where’s the beef?”
· How many carbohydrates are you buying in your dog’s food in either grain-free or grain-in foods? Since our dog’s do not require carbohydrates, why are we feeding them so many? Fact, carbohydrates turn into sugar, which turns into inflammation in the body, which can contribute to every chronic disease.
· Do you know how to figure out the ratio of carbs in that bag? Most manufacturers do not state it on the bag!
· Decisions of food vary from kibble in a bag, to a homemade fresh diet. How do you know if you’re giving that precious fur baby the right stuff?
The internet has so much bad information, please make sure you are listening to an expert, not just someone making a video that somehow you stumbled on. Look to a professional who has dug deep into the science of nutrition and who believes that as Hippocrates said the most quotable of quotes, “let food be thy medicine.”
If you are a first-time pet parent, preparing for adoption, or an experienced pet parent who knows there are so many food options, and feel overwhelmed, talk to an expert. The love of your life is counting on YOU!
About the Author
Hi, I’m Debbie Brookham and I am a Certified Clinical Pet Nutritionist, Dog Nutritionist, Cat Nutritionist, Raw Food Specialist, and Healthy Pet Coach. I can help with generalized food questions, special needs diets, and recommendations. I can share my knowledge with you when it comes to allergies, weight loss, kidney diet, pancreatitis diet and more. If you’re struggling with an itchy dog there are food and supplements that I can recommend. If you have been to the Vet for allergy testing, I can help you get your dog on the right food!
