Why Feed Unwanted & Excessive Carbohydrates to Your Dog?
By: Kelly Marshall
Submitted: 2009-03-05 16:31:10 | Word Count: 530
Do not make the mistake of preparing a ‘human’ diet for your pet dog. The digestion systems of humans and dogs are very different. Take this into consideration when deciding the diet of the dog. The points of distinction are given below:
a. Humans have a long digestive tract
[ advertisement ]
Dogs have comparatively shorter tract.
b. Humans have 32 teeth designed for grinding and breaking down the food
Dogs have 42 teeth built to tear flesh apart.
c. Human digestion begins in the mouth when the enzymes in our saliva act on the food.
Dogs gulp down the food and it is digested in the stomach.
We often make the mistake of feeding excess carbohydrates to our pet dogs. Simple carbohydrates are obtained from grains while complex carbohydrates can be obtained from brans, hulls etc. Dogs should be fed more animal protein than grain protein. Their quota of grain protein was filled by the predigested vegetable matter in the body of its prey.
Carbohydrates are needed for proper digestion and stool formation. However, the quantity required is not very high. Excess carbs lead to more time being taken for digestion, excessive amounts of stool and development of protein deficiency disease.
You are providing excess carbs to your dog if you feed it lots of dry foods. Dry foods contain large amounts of cereal grains because the grains are a cheap source of nutrients.
Further, determine whether your dog is allergic to grains. This is best ensured by preparing a diet that matches the diet fed to the breed in the country of origin of the breed. At the end of the day, avoid any food which your dog refuses to eat despite many attempts.
Dog Pheromones
While pheromones sound similar to hormones, the former is secreted externally while the latter is secreted internally. Further, the hormones affect the internal behavior of the dog while pheromones affect the behavior of other animals of the same species.
Dogs smell the pheromones of other dogs and this affects its behavior. Pheromones impact the behavior of your dog in:
a. Group integration
b. Fighting
c. General Aggressiveness
It is believed that pheromones are released in
a. Urine
b. Feces
c. Exhaled breath
d. Subcutaneous glands at base of tail
e. Subcutaneous glands at base of foot pads
This inference is supported by the fact that aggressive, fighting dogs are often compulsive urine sniffers and urine markers. Further, a comprehensive reduction on aggression is noticed when the dogs are not permitted to sniff and mark urine.
It is important to understand dog pheromones because it acts as a trigger or primer for certain types of behavior. Have you ever seen a dog attacking another dog for no apparent reason? The pheromones may be at work here. That may have caused the dog to treat the other as a threat.
Vicious biting dogs prefer brand strange territories with their own pheromones before attacking. Some dogs do this even when they are on home territory. Needless to say, this behavior can wreak havoc in your home.
Conduct remedial programs for your dog to correct this problem. Restrict urination to a particular area only to lower aggressiveness and prevent household urination.
Author Resource:-
Article by Kelly Marshall of http://www.ohmydogsupplies.com, your top spot to buy dog sweaters & sweatshirts online.
