Many people ask why
I so adamantly insist that Cockers be fed a high quality (read more
expensive!) pet food and why I specifically tell Cocker owners to stay
away from Science Diet products. This article will explain my
reasoning behind my feeding recommendations. (This article is
intended for the average pet owner and is an explanation of personal
observations from my years of breeding Cockers, being a professional
groomer and working in a vet clinic. This is NOT a presentation
of specific scientific data on canine nutrition!)
To start with, my
recommendations for a regular, dry kibble food are Purina Pro Plan
chicken and rice formulas (including small breed and performance
formulas) or Eukanuba's maintenance, small breed or performance
formulas. For those whose dogs may have a food sensitivity and
that are looking for a "natural" kibble type food, I will sometimes
recommend Solid Gold Hund-N-Flokken Adult food or Hundchen Flokken
puppy food. (I strongly recommend using the Solid Gold Seameal
supplement listed below when feeding this food.) For dogs that have
contact or airborne allergies or other skin conditions in which a diet
supplement may be helpful, I recommend Solid Gold Seameal Powder
w/Flaxseed Meal or The Missing Link.
There are other
products that I occasionally recommend for specific problems or
conditions, but the above choices are good for most Cockers. Of
course, the amount of food to fed your dog and a feeding schedule for
your dog will be a personal decision as each dog's needs are
different. You will need to base your dog's feeding routine on
your own observations of what works best for your dog and your family.
Dogs are generally considered
to be meat eaters (carnivores), but for optimum nutrition, dogs must
also consume a variety of grains and vegetables. Diets
consisting of only meat (even when supplemented with vitamins and
minerals) are not recommended as they may not provide a balance of
required nutrients.
An average, normally active dog
will require a minimum of 22% protein in its dry dog food.
This level of protein is only adequate for basic maintenance
however. Pregnant or lactating bitches and performance
animals will require higher levels of protein. Certain
individuals with special needs and/or certain "types" or breeds of
dogs may also require higher levels of protein than what is
considered normal.
While excess fat is stored in the
body, most excess protein is degraded and excreted through the
kidneys. Due to the body's inability to store protein for
future use, your dog needs a consistent, reliable, daily source of
protein for growth, to provide energy, to help repair the body and
to prevent protein depletion. Should your dog become
protein depleted (suffer from insufficient intake of dietary
protein), his body will begin to utilize protein that should be used
for normal cellular processes. This can cause anemia,
increased susceptibility to disease, loss of body weight and
eventually death.
While it is generally agreed that
high protein levels are essential for dogs with high energy output
(performance dogs, breeding dogs, etc.), there is also evidence to
suggest that high protein levels are to be avoided in large breed
puppies which are likely to have rapid growth phases. Allowing
large breed puppies to consume unlimited amounts of a high calorie,
high protein diet may increase the incidence of nutritional skeletal
disorders such as hip dysplasia.
The recommended minimum for fat in
dry dog food is 5%, but most dry commercial dog foods contain about
10% fat. Fatty acids are necessary for growth, reproduction
and maintenance of healthy skin and coat. They also play a
role in inflammation and immune regulation. Since fat contains
twice as many calories per weight as protein; and since performance
dogs may require up to twice as many calories as the average dog;
fatty acid supplements are often used to increase the caloric intake
of performance dogs without having to increase the amount of food
given. Fat supplementation should only be used under the
direction of a veterinarian however, as excessive fat
supplementation can lead to obesity, flatulence and degeneration of
red blood cells and the heart.
Normal, healthy dogs fed a good
quality dry dog food rarely require vitamin or mineral
supplementation. Pet food manufacturers generally do not skimp
in this area of pet food production as the ingredients are cheap and
easy to include in the production process. Admittedly this was
not always the case, but with research and experience, most pet food
manufactures have learned that there is no cost savings to be had by
skimping in this area of food production. Unfortunately, many
pet owners and breeders still supplement their dogs' diets based on
myths of a continuing lack of vitamin and mineral content in
processed pet foods.
The use of a calcium supplement when feeding a quality dog food,
particularly when combined with vitamin D, is not recommended.
Over-supplementation of calcium and vitamin D may contribute to
increases in skeletal disorders of growing puppies as discussed
above. This is generally due to imbalances in the
calcium:phosphorus ratio which can lead to increased re-absorption
or mineralization of bone. Vitamin D increases calcium
absorption by the gastrointestinal tract, so imbalances in the
calcium:phosphorus ratio may be increased if calcium is supplemented
with vitamin D. Over-supplementation with calcium is also
associated with skeletal disorders such as osteochondritis.
Excess calcium may also inhibit the body's absorption of zinc and
this can lead to zinc deficiency in the dog. Calcium supplementation
of a pregnant bitch may decrease the bitch's calcium production once
she begins to lactate.
The National Research Council's
Nutrient Requirements of Dogs outlines recommendations for daily
nutrient intake for dogs to assure proper growth and maintenance.
This is a handy reference.........HOWEVER....... the nutrient
information included on dog food labels can be misleading. While
a dog food label may claim to meet or exceed NRC recommendations for
nutrients, it may not be possible to determine the quality (and thus
the digestibility) of some nutrients. Sometimes the source
of nutrients is actually more important than the percentages listed on
the side of the bag of food. For instance, your dog can
digest and utilize animal protein sources (meat) better than plant
protein sources (soy). Thus, a pet food with a 28% crude
protein which is derived from soy, would NOT be a better source of
nutrition than a meat based dog food with a 22% crude protein
percentage.
Due to these label discrepancies, it
is recommended that consumers look for labels that state that the food
in question has passed American Association of Feed Control Officials'
(AAFCO) feeding trials. These trials are feeding tests on live
animals and can be a more reliable assurance of nutritional quality.
Unfortunately,
there is no clear cut winner for the "best" dog food on the market.
Nutritional requirements vary from dog to dog and are influenced by
age, breed, genetics, environment, level of activity, body weight and
breeding status. These factors must all be taken into account
when choosing a commercial dog food to assure that the chosen food
will provide the necessary levels of protein, fats, vitamins and
minerals.
When choosing a brand of food for your pet, the most important aspect
of your dog's diet is feeding him a quality food, made from quality
ingredients. I cannot stress this enough. Cheap foods are
made from cheap ingredients and many of these cheap foods have
unusable protein sources (added animal hair) or are made with
other ingredients that the dog cannot digest or from which nutrients are not
readily available. Remember, especially in cheap dog food
brands, many of the ingredients are scrap material from the human food
industry. These cheap ingredients may be considered unfit,
unsafe and/or have been condemned for human use and are shucked off to
be used in those cheap pet foods! Cheap protein sources
(meats) often include dead, diseased, dying or disabled slaughter
animals and/or moldy, rancid or spoiled meats. Cheap grain
ingredients may also have been deemed unfit for human consumption and
can include wet and/or moldy grains or grains that are contaminated by
a fungus or chemical. (Not a pretty picture, huh?)
While most
manufactured pet foods have some less than perfect ingredients due to
the fact that they must be processed, preserved and artificially
engineered, the higher quality dog foods at least make some effort to
use ingredients that have readily available nutrients that a dog can
utilize. These kibble foods may not be the perfect diet
for every dog (and your dog would undoubtedly prefer a good juicy
rabbit carcass to hard, round, dry kibble bits!) but a decent quality
manufactured dog food can help you keep your dog healthier than he
would be on a cheaper, lower quality food. Believe me, a high
quality diet is MUCH cheaper in the long run than having to pay a
veterinarian to "fix" all the problems that can result from feeding a
poor quality diet!
If you are
acquiring a puppy/dog from a knowledgeable breeder, he/she should
discuss his/her feeding recommendations and guidelines with you and
should be able to explain why they recommend one food over another.
Unlike a salesperson who may have a vested interest in selling the
most expensive brand of dog food in their pet shop, a breeder will
usually recommend a specific brand of dog food based on their
experience with the feeding of that food to their own dogs. A
knowledgeable breeder will have taken note of his/her dogs' physical
appearance and stamina, mental alertness, appetite, elimination
habits, weight gain or loss and the health of skin and coat while on a
particular food. These indicators will have shown a careful
breeder that a food is or is not capable of providing the necessary
nutritional requirements for their chosen breed.
There
is another avenue of pet feeding that is growing in popularity and
which I think makes a lot of sense. This is the natural or RAW
feeding belief. Those that follow this type of feeding program
are generally quite adamant about the benefits and improvements in
their dog's health, but I do
not recommend this unless you are willing to devote a
significant amount of time to research before you
begin. I believe that it's also important to continue learning
about canine nutrition as you shift and maintain your dog onto this
type of diet. Feeding a RAW or natural diet can be very tricky for beginners, so caution
and education are a must. I also recommend that
owners wishing to feed their dog a natural diet find a
number of e-mail groups or lists that they can be a
part of and from which they can receive support, help
and information.
I do believe that a natural
diet can be beneficial for many dogs, but this type of
diet MUST be carefully orchestrated and followed to
ensure the dog receives the correct balance of
nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Since each dog
is different and a dog's needs may change
significantly over time, feeding RAW can be
challenging.
Please do not attempt an all natural diet for your pet
unless you have the time to thoroughly educate
yourself as to the benefits and risks involved.
If you are interested in feeding your Cocker a natural
diet, I suggest joining the
CockersNaturalDiet list.
One of the first
things to consider when deciding what to feed your Cocker is that
these dogs carry a tremendous amount of coat. The second thing
to consider is that this coat grows non-stop for the life of the dog.
(Of course, some Cockers carry more coat than others, but my dogs
usually carry a full show coat that grows all the way to the ground,
all the way around the dog.) The fact that a dog has a lot of
hair may not seem significant or appear to have any bearing on what
you need to feed your dog, but read on and you will begin to
understand that there is a simple connection between the amount of
your dog's coat and what he needs in his diet!
One reason that a
Cocker's heavy coat can influence what you need to feed is that hair
is largely made up of protein. A heavy-coated Cocker will
require extra amounts of quality, useable protein just to support its
daily hair growth. If a heavy coated Cocker doesn't
receive adequate amounts of protein in its diet, normal hair growth
may pull vital nutrients from the body. Since Cocker hair never
stops growing, it should be obvious that your Cocker will need to be
fed a quality food that provides high levels of usable protein.
Another fact
about hair growth that has a bearing on what you decide to feed your
dog is that your dog's skin must produce a significant amount of oil
for each shaft of hair. Each hair follicle produces a
lubricating/cleaning oil that coats the hair shaft and helps keep the
hair healthy and shiny. This never ending oil production by your
Cocker's skin requires higher-than-average levels of specific
nutrients. Among these needed nutrients are fatty acids.
Like the increased protein needed for hair growth, the nutrients
needed for the skin's oil production must be present in sufficient
quantities to support normal body function AND to meet the demand of a
heavier-than-average Cocker coat.
If your Cocker
doesn't get a quality food with sufficient levels of readily available
and usable nutritional ingredients to support his hair growth, then
the coat may rob his body (internal organs, bones, skin, etc.) of
needed nutrients. This scenario is a common cause of health
problems in Cocker Spaniels. Ear and skin infections,
"allergies" and many other persistent, on-going health issues in
Cockers are directly attributable to poor diet.
You can prevent
nutrition related health issues by always feeding a high quality
dog food with readily available and usable proteins and fats and
the correct balance of essential vitamins and minerals.
The Pro Plan Chicken and Rice dog food that I feed and recommend has
26% protein and 16% fat. I have found that this formula works
well for all of my adult dogs. I rarely have skin or coat
issues and my dogs maintain excellent coats, weight and energy.
I feed puppies and lactating bitches either the Pro Plan Chicken and
Rice Puppy formula or the Performance formula and, again, am pleased
with what I see. My bitches maintain weight and condition
through whelping and delivery and my puppies are fat and healthy.
As stated above,
I advise all of my puppy buyers to avoid Science Diet products.
In my opinion, this food does not meet the nutritional requirements of
my dogs. Additionally, a number of my dogs that were sold and
which were fed this food by the new owners, developed serious health
issues. (Health issues that went away and never returned once
the dog was switched to another food!) These health issues
included urinary track problems (infections and bladder/kidney stones)
and skin/coat disorders (ear infections, hot spots, "allergies").
