• Nutrition
• Dermatology
• Preventive Care
• Gastro-intestinal
• Grooming
• Behavior

Doing Your Part

It's diet, genetics and luck that will make a difference in your pet's life. We can't control the genetics and we can't control the luck, but their diet is something you can control. Remember, your pets count on you their entire lives for their nutrition. If you feed them a high quality food and supplement when necessary, your pets have the best chance to live healthy, vital lives.

Choosing A Good Pet Food

Dogs need to eat a higher protein diet with quality protein from high quality, bio-available animal sources. It is important that a named animal protein source is the first ingredient listed, so you know the origin (e.g. turkey as opposed to meat meal). Many companies use less expensive protein sources such as vegetable protein (corn and soy) which are not as bio-available to animals with shorter GI tracts.

Read the ingredient statement, the first five ingredients are the most important as ingredients are listed in descending order by how much is used in the diet. The best premium foods also offer our dogs the nutrients provided by fruits and vegetables, and are fortified with vitamins and minerals. Look for brands that do not contain by-products, corn meal, corn bran or corn flour, or white rice. Look for natural preservatives like vitamin E, rather than chemicals like ethoxiquin, and avoid artificial food colorings.

It is also important to look at the claims the company has listed on the package. Manufacturers will usually highlight what's special about their food to differentiate from other brands. The better the claims the more nutritious the food should be.

Grain Free

It is good to feed a grain-free dog food as dogs lack the ability to produce salivary amylase and cellulase, the digestive enzymes necessary to convert starches and cellulose into sugars and enable them to be absorbed by the small intestine, or in the case of cellulose, be further fermented to develop usable food macronutrients.

In addition, dogs have a much shorter digestive tract. Therefore the grains in their food turn into glucose, which is sugar. Too much of it can lead to medical issues such as hypoglycemia, hyperactivity and diabetes.

A diet consisting of low starch and high meat protein works best for them. Corn, soy and white rice are inexpensive grain sources for dog food manufacturers, but they are not easily processed by a dog's system.

Corn, Wheat and Soy

Many companies use less expensive protein sources such as vegetable protein (corn and soy) which are less bio-available as the canine digestive tract cannot absorb these ingredients as well as animal-based proteins.

Wheat is a grain, and dogs lack the ability to produce salivary amylase and cellulase, the digestive enzymes necessary to convert starches and cellulose into sugars and enable them to be absorbed by the small intestine, or in the case of cellulose, be further fermented to develop usable food macronutrients.

In addition, dogs have a much shorter digestive tract. Therefore the grains in their food turn into glucose, which is sugar. Too much of it can lead to medical issues such as hypoglycemia, hyperactivity and diabetes.