Keeping your dog’s diet rich in protein

Your dog is scientifically categorized as a carnivore by the shape of his teeth. He isn’t a vegetarian. He needs meat to be healthy and to maintain his proper protein levels. His teeth are quite different from yours they’re made for ripping and tearing meat. Also, his digestion starts in his stomach, not in his mouth as does a human. All the enzymes in his system are geared toward breaking down meat and raw foods.

The dog food packages tell you how much protein is in a specific food. The amount of protein is important, but the source of that protein is even more important. The manufacturer has choices as to what kind of protein to put into the food. The percentage of protein on the package generally is a combination of proteins found in plants or grains, such as corn, wheat, soy, and rice, plus an animal protein, such as chicken, beef, or lamb.

  Different types of meat have different levels of protein, with beef being low and chicken and fish being high in protein. Lamb is in the middle. Venison has the highest protein content and should be fed sparingly. Feeding Buddy a food too high in protein is as dangerous as feeding a diet too low in protein.

Long-term use of a high-protein food can damage the kidneys. We recommend beef-based foods for most dogs as a maintenance diet, chicken-based food for dogs that have had surgery or are healing from some disease, and lamb-based food if your dog doesn’t like beef. Fish-based foods are too high in protein for regular use and make the kidneys work too hard.

By law, the heaviest and largest amount of whatever ingredient contained in the food has to be listed first. By looking at the list of ingredients, you can easily discover the protein’s origin. For example, if the first five ingredients listed come from four grains, the majority of the protein in that food comes from grains. The more grains in a dog food, the cheaper it is to produce. We wonder what Buddy — the carnivore — thinks of such a food.

The activity level of your dog is likely to correspond with the amount of animal protein he needs in his diet. The majority of the Working breeds, Sporting breeds, Toys, and Terriers need a higher level of animal protein in their diets. For instance, the busy little Jack Russell is apt to need more animal protein than a pooch that spends his time lying around the house.

  Amino acid is the name given to the building blocks of protein. When amino acids are heated, they’re partially destroyed. All dry and canned commercial dog food is heated in the manufacturing process. So, commercial food contains protein that’s chemically changed by heat and therefore deficient in amino acids. We show you how to compensate for that in the “Making choices as to how to feed Buddy” section later in this chapter. The freeze-dried, frozen, and dehydrated diets provide protein that’s in a more natural form.

Animal protein: Getting to know the signs of deficiency and excess

The signs of a deficiency and an excess of protein (or any nutrient for that matter) are almost identical. In other words, both too much and too little protein have the same symptoms. When Buddy doesn’t get enough protein or eats a food that’s too high in animal protein, one or more of the following may occur:

 ✓ Aggression

 ✓  Chronic skin and/or ear infections

 ✓  Compromised reproductive system, heart, kidney, liver, bladder, and thyroid and adrenal glands

 ✓  Excessive shedding and poor, dull coat quality

 ✓ Gastrointestinal upsets, vomiting, or diarrhea

 ✓  Impaired ability to heal from wounds or surgery, such as spaying and neutering

 ✓  Kidney problems

 ✓  Lack of pigmentation

 ✓  Poor appetite

 ✓  Some kind of epilepsy or cancers

 ✓  Spinning or tail chasing

 ✓  Timidity

 ✓ Weakened immune system that can’t properly tolerate vaccines

This is only a short list of the more common symptoms associated with animal protein deficiencies or excesses.

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