Among veterinarians and breeders, disputes regarding what to feed dogs to and what food to give preference to - natural or dry do not cease. To answer this question, you should carefully understand the advantages and disadvantages of each type, and also clearly understand how one type of food differs from another.
Dry feed characterization
Dry food is a finished product that does not require additional preparation.
It is a granule or canned food for dogs.
Depending on the type of composition, several types of feed are distinguished.
Holistic
These feeds appeared relatively recently and do not yet have clear definitions. Manufacturers claim that the raw materials for their products are natural ingredients. Their quality is so high that, if desired, it can be used in human nutrition. The basis of holistic is animal protein - beef, pork, rabbit, turkey, as well as cold cuts. Chicken meat is generally not used. There are fish food options. The meat content reaches 80% of the composition.
The following ingredients are carbohydrates and vegetables. Carbohydrates are usually represented by rice, vegetables are used in dried form. The presence of dried fruits and berries, as well as herbs, is acceptable.
The presence of flavorings, coloring agents is excluded; vitamin E can be used as a preservative. The food is additionally enriched with vitamins and minerals, is highly nutritious and balanced. Naturally, such a feed has a high cost.The complexity is also the fact that it can not always be found in the public domain.
Super Premium
The feed of this class is not much inferior in quality to the holists and until the latter appeared it was considered the best. They also have a high content of animal protein, but often it is combined with high quality offal. The variety of meat base options provides a wide range of feed tastes. To increase the nutritional value of feed, rice, wheat, and corn are added to it. The last 2 ingredients are considered allergenic.
Not every manufacturer puts vegetables, fruits and herbs in the composition, animal fat can be added as a source of fatty acids.
Super-premium feeds are inferior to holists in their balance (often there is a "skew" in the direction of fat content). Manufacturers are not forbidden to use preservatives and flavorings, but these are only permitted additives in the appropriate amounts.
Premium class
These are feeds in which the content of animal protein is not up to standard, usually chicken and cheap offal. Protein deficiency is replenished with the help of soy, wheat, corn.
Often, in such feeds, fat indicators are exceeded, vegetables are extremely rare in the composition.
Manufacturers add bone meal, chicken legs, scallops and feathers to the composition, flavorings can be added to mask the ingredients, and preservatives can increase shelf life.
Economy class
This food is not recommended for dogs. The basis of the product is protein of plant origin - soybean, corn. Bone meal, processed legs, beaks, feathers and cheap trimmings supplement it. There are no vitamins and minerals, vegetables. But in large numbers - flavor enhancers, flavors and other "chemistry".
What you need to know about natural nutrition?
The main advantage of natural nutrition is its environmental friendliness. The owner knows exactly how to feed his pet, can evaluate the quality of the products. However, it is important to distinguish between the term "natural nutrition" and the concept of "feed the dog that I cook myself / feed from my table." Since the dog is a predator, the basis of its diet should be meat. Raw meat is 70% of the diet. Preference should be given to beef, lamb, rabbit, turkey. Pork is not recommended, because it contains a high content of parasites. Chicken often causes allergies (itchy skin).
The meat is given exclusively raw, and for disinfection, they are pre-frozen for 10-12 hours. Before giving the meat pieces to the pet, you can also scald them with boiling water.
Twice a week, you can reduce the amount of meat and replace it with fish. Only marine fish is suitable, it must be boiled.
Carbohydrates, such as cereals, provide energy to the pet. Rice and buckwheat cereals are preferred, but rice, due to its high starchiness, is not suitable for dogs prone to weight gain. Once every 1-1.5 weeks, you can give the dog oatmeal. But from feeding semolina, corn, barley porridge, barley should be abandoned. This is not only "empty" food that does not saturate, but also very allergenic. Porridge can be combined with meat or kefir. The dog should receive fermented milk products daily. It can be low-fat (but not completely fat-free) kefir, fermented baked milk, yogurt.
The dog’s daily diet should include vegetables - carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes. They are given fresh, cut into small pieces. No need to feed the dog with onions and garlic, cabbage and squash.
Several times a week, you can give half a raw potato or one potato, boiled in its jacket or baked in the oven. To obtain healthy fats, you can give a small amount of fatty meat (combine with more lean slices, porridge, vegetables), dairy products, fish oil. Once a week, a dog is recommended a raw egg or squirrels from a pair of boiled eggs.
Several times a week, the dog is recommended to give raw mosly. This is not a complete meal, rather, a toy and a simulator for teeth. No need to wait for the dog to completely crack and absorb the bones, just let it train.
It is strictly forbidden to give tubular and hollow bones, they can injure the respiratory tube, esophagus. Instead of Mosvol, you can use special calcium bones.
The presence of sweets, soybeans, sausages and similar products, salty, smoked, fried foods in the diet is unacceptable. Potatoes (as the basis of the diet), soup, pasta will not bring benefits to the dog and will not give a feeling of satiety. Bread can also be considered useless food for a dog, and soft buns and loaves can cause suffocation, provoke flatulence and even intestinal obstruction. An acceptable option is rye bread crackers.
Pros and cons of each option
Before talking about the advantages and disadvantages of "drying" and "naturalki", it is logical to determine the criteria for comparison and evaluation of feed.
Balance
For the health of the pet, its external attractiveness, it is important that the nutrition is balanced. This term refers to the correspondence of the daily caloric content of food to the age, weight, breed of the animal, as well as the optimal ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in food. From the point of view of balance, ready-made dry food of high quality wins. Typically, this criterion meets the feed of super-premium and holistic, rarely - "drying" of the premium.
Cheaper and lower-quality feeds (most super-premium and all economic options) do not give the animal a long-lasting feeling of fullness. Therefore, the dog either walks half-starved or overeats.
Moreover, the balance of BJU is also not discussed, as a rule, fats and carbohydrates prevail in inexpensive feeds. And the basics of dog nutrition as a predator, animal protein, are negligible.
If we compare the economic options of the finished feed with natural food, then the latter should be preferred. In this case, the owner will at least not feed the dog with obviously inappropriate products, will save him from flavor enhancers, preservatives and flavorings. However, the natural must comply with the requirements described above, given taking into account the age, state of health, weight of the animal. It is very difficult to calculate the exact norm of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This implies the following criterion.
The convenience of use
Of course, the natural type of food requires a serious time outlay from the dog owner. It is necessary to calculate the required daily calorie value and balance of the BZHU, make a varied and useful menu for the pet. When feeding natural food, you should also take care of the vitamin and mineral complex. Before each feeding, you have to cook food, the simpler option is to cook in the morning for the whole day (cook kazha, pre-freeze meat, peel and cut vegetables).
The use of finished feed in this case is much more convenient.
The only point is that some premium varieties are not always easy to find. - You have to order from distributors or in online stores. In addition, the finished feed is well stored for up to six months, while it does not deteriorate, all the useful ingredients of the composition are preserved. It is important that the actual storage conditions correspond to those required by the manufacturer.
Hypoallergenic, medicinal feed
On natural nutrition, dogs are much more likely to develop allergic reactions and stool disorders. At the same time, it is quite difficult to identify an allergen product. In addition, the slightest inaccuracy in nutrition is fraught with a sharp deterioration in the well-being or appearance of the fourth pet. Negative reactions are also possible when feeding by “drying”, but modern manufacturers include food for dogs with sensitive digestion in their line, for pets with certain diseases.Almost every reliable brand has hypoallergenic options.
Another important point is the feed of the necessary stiffness. The fact is that for the nervous system of the dog it is important for her to nibble.
Besides, the jaw system and teeth require solid food, it strengthens the jaw, removes tartar. If you choose the wrong food (granules of the wrong size or canned food as the main food), then the condition of the dog’s teeth may deteriorate. However, the same can be expected if the owner does not give the dog raw meat, tendons, does not acquire special bones.
Specialized Supplements
For those pets that are on dry food, some additional formulations are not required. High-quality feed contains all the necessary vitamin and mineral supplements. Hypoallergenic and therapeutic feeds, as well as products for puppies, can additionally be enriched with probiotics. However, this applies only to elite class feeds. Cheap and low-quality analogues do not have such an addition to the composition. If a dog eats a natural cow, then its diet should be supplemented with suitable vitamins and minerals, and fresh herbs should be included in the menu.
With the obvious advantages of “drying”, we must not forget that the food is obtained artificially, by sublimation.
This process cannot be called natural, which means that it is completely environmentally friendly.
No matter how high-quality or advertised the food may be, the owner of the dog cannot be sure of the quality of the composition and its compliance with the one stated on the package. He does not see the quality of the feedstock. In one form or another, at least preservatives are present in the feed, such as maximum flavor enhancers, flavors, and colorants.
By the way all this “chemistry” is addictive, so it can be difficult to transfer a dog from feed to natural food or from one species to another (this is especially often the case with food producers of economy class). When buying ready-made food, the dog owner always runs the risk of running into a fake. This can cause serious poisoning to the pet, up to the appearance of internal bleeding and death of the animal.
Is it possible to combine?
Most experts argue that combining dry and natural feed is unacceptable. First of all, this is associated with harm to digestion, with the inability to correctly calculate the required amount of feed, to talk about a balanced diet.
It is necessary to transfer the dog from one type of food to another gradually, each time replacing part of the usual diet with a new one.
Naturally, the content of the new product must be gradually increased, while strictly monitoring the condition of the animal. Switching to natural foods usually lasts up to 2-3 weeks. Go to the "drying" will be faster - in just 7-10 days.
How to decide?
When choosing this or that type of food, you should evaluate the convenience of each of them specifically for the owner according to the above criteria. It is important to understand that the combination of natural and ready-made feed is harmful to the health of the pet, and the transition from one diet to another is stress for the dog’s body, a waste of time and energy for the owner. As for financial costs, they are approximately the same. Of course, provided that the dog receives either high-quality dry food, or no less high-quality and balanced natural food.
Busy people should give preference to prepared foods. However, these should be high-quality products, not economy-class products. The choice of type of food depends more on the lifestyle and wishes of the owner.
There is no consensus among experts on this matter. Experienced breeders often prefer natural nutrition, as they have the ability to control the quality of food, regulate the volume of a product. They argue that when planning the menu in advance and purchasing all the necessary ingredients for a few days in advance, cooking natural food takes a little time.
The better to feed the dog, see below.
