Your dog can only behave and perform as well as possible if you feed it highly nutritious food and keep them well-exercised. Dogs that don’t receive their basic nutritional needs – such as protein and vitamin requirements – are more likely to be aggressive, lethargic, and unresponsive to training. Without changing your dog’s entire health regimen and dog food brand, you can still meet their needs by supplementing their diet with some of these highly nutritious and low-cost food additions.
Healthy Dog Food Additions
Before adding anything to your dog’s food, you should clear it with a vet to make sure that 1) your pup has a vitamin, protein, or nutrient deficiency that you can help supplement and 2) the food you use to supplement this deficiency does not provide another vitamin in high excess of their daily needed amount. Excessives of specific vitamins, like vitamin D, can cause organ failure in canines.
Within most of these categories, certain varieties – for example, onions within the vegetable category – are toxic to dogs. You should always do additional research and consult with experts before feeding them to your pet.
- Fish: Providing small amounts of fish, specifically sardines and salmon, can be a fantastic way to introduce fatty acids and minerals to your dog’s diet. Companies usually sell fish packed in water, oil, tomato sauce, or other flavorings, but sticking to water ensures you only provide the beneficial fish without introducing another factor that can disrupt and harm your dog’s body.
- Vegetables: Vegetables are a fantastic way to improve your dog’s vitamin and mineral intake without vastly increasing their caloric intake. For dogs as well as humans, cooked vegetables have more nutritional value, but you don’t need to get fancy with flavorings. Steaming or boiling vegetables makes them more digestible for your dog, and you can mix them with wet and dry dog food.
- Meats: Your dog will love and devour most of the meat you throw their way, and it will also provide beneficial protein and nutrients to their diet. Most dog food focuses on high-quality proteins, but the real deal can’t be beaten. Furthermore, organ meats, like livers and hearts, can make a great addition, but they may not be right for your pet. Excessive amounts of any specific organ meat can cause your dog to intake high levels of metals, leading to dangerous conditions and digestion problems.
- Eggs: A fabulous all-around addition to your dog’s diet is eggs. They are high in vitamins, beneficial fatty acids, and proteins every dog needs. Even egg shells, when slightly prepared, can introduce bone-strengthening calcium to your pet at high levels.While it may seem strange to cook up something like an egg or head of broccoli for your dog, there is no reason that they should be limited to only something that comes out of a dog food bag.
You can also use additional food supplements like these as part of your dog’s training. Even with how good eggs can be for their health, you can’t feed your dog three to four of them a day. Therefore, you can ‘reward’ your dog with a small taste of a new exciting food after they successfully learn a new trick or behave well around the company.
Gulf Coast K9 Dog Training provides professional dog training services to dog owners throughout the Sarasota and Bradenton area. Contact us today to learn how we can assist you with obedience and behavior training through one of our programs.
