As humans, many of us spend a lot of time thinking about what we put in our mouths and the impact it has on our bodies. Whether that’s in relation to our weight, how different foods impact our energy levels, skin, mental sharpness… the list goes on and on.
We are lucky that we can make informed decisions for ourselves about what is right for us and our individual circumstances but unfortunately our dogs can’t do that so it’s up to us to do it on their behalf.
What we feed our dogs can often be a highly controversial subject! You will find that people get very passionate when they talk about it and that is great but here at K9 Nation, as with everything we do, we want to help give our community all the information they need so that they can make their own mind up about what is right for them and their dog(s).
The choice of what to feed our dogs in the UK market alone is vast!! Ranging from kibble/dry food, wet food, raw, home-cooked…. It can be a minefield and that’s not even looking into the realm of supplements and treats.
This month our focus is all about trying to break down that mountain of information and providing the community with a variety of different blogs, articles, infographics and podcast content from a range of experts.
Subjects will include an overview of the different types of food, what the benefits are, why choosing the right diet is so important for your dog, how much you should be feeding your dog, and what are some of the side effects your dog can suffer from if they don’t get the right diet.
On a personal level, this subject could not be more relevant to me at the moment. Buddy has been having a lot of issues with his anal glands and most recently they have become infected and he had to be put under anaesthetic for them to be flushed out and a medicated gel applied internally. It’s a lot of information I know, sorry, but the point is this has been a side effect of the diet he has been on and as a result, I have now had to swap him to a hypoallergenic diet to prevent it from happening again.
Not only has it been impacting his anal glands but it was also one of the possible reasons why he has been licking a lot more than usual recently as this is an apparent symptom. The last thing I want is for Buddy to ever have to undergo another anaesthetic for something that I can help mitigate by providing him with the right diet.
This story from my own life is just one small example of the impact diet can have on our dogs and we hope that with the content we share with you this month you will have all the information you need to be able to consider what is best for your dog and their individual lifestyle and circumstances.
