DOGS NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Dog’s nutritional requirements are similar to that of man except the need of vitamin C. For dogs make their own vitamin within their own body.
Meat is the most important component of dog’s diet. Red meat containing muscle should not be considered as a complete food as it fails to provide enough of calcium resulting to bone diseases in young dogs. Muscle meat is an excellent source of good quality protein and appreciable quality of fat, and Vitamin B but deficient in Vitamin A and Calcium.
Raw meat is mostly unsafe because it contains parasitic worms, cyst, toxin or harmful micro-organism. Cooked meat is safe and less likely to cause digestive upset.

REQUIREMENT OF CARBOHYDRATE

Dogs can make use of the same carbohydrate as man, and there is no evidence that they develop any specific disease as a result of eating them. It is belief that starch/sugar leads to skin diseases when dogs are kept totally on carbohydrate diet, because such a diet lack most common vitamins and calcium.
Excess carbohydrate is store in liver and muscles as glycogen, carbohydrate provide glucose for about six (6) hours after each meal. Most common carbohydrates are rice, wheat, corn, oat and other cereals. Dogs can digest some raw starch, but they usually develop diarrhea and gas if they eat too much of it, due to fermentation of undigested starch in the large intestine.
Diarrhoea is often caused if a dog is fed a dry feed containing 5 per cent skim milk.

REQUIREMENT OF PROTEIN

Meat is the principal source of protein in the diet of dogs. They also get their supply of protein from eating plant foods, animal proteins are more complete than plant protein. However, dog may maintain prefect health on plant protein e.g. soy bean.
Dogs can digest and absorb only about 4/5 of the protein in the usual feed and 1/5 of the protein is excreted in the faece of dogs. Egg protein has the highest biological value and the value being scored as 100. Meat, liver, kidney, and Milk have proteins of high biological values whereas plant proteins have low biological values.
It has been seen that feeding of raw eggs is often followed by vomiting and diarrhea in dogs, when raw egg is fed to dogs it is often found in the stools and at the same time the dog suffer from diarrhea. Single egg in dog weighing 5 to 7kg produces no ill effect but two (2) given at a time will result in soften faece and 4 to 5 eggs will result to diarrhea.
The effect of raw egg is usually noticed 8 to 20 hours and 30 to 50 per cent of the raw egg can be seen from the faece. Boiled egg remains in the stomach for 2 to 3 hours until it digested.
Excess Fish Meal create bad odour in the faece of dogs and large amount of beans, even soya bean will result to the formation of gas and bad odours.
The recommended amount for an adult dog is 4.8mg/kg body weight/day. The requirement for growing puppy or lactating bitch will be twice the amount because the demand for food in this stage is two times greater. Puppies grow well on 20 per cent protein.
NOTE: Protein in excess should not be fed to dog, excessive protein may not be harmful in dog having normal renal function but in renal inefficiency it will be dangerous and if kidney is damage, urea would be accumulated resulting to accumulation of nitrogenous waste.
COMPOSITIONS OF MEAT OF VARIOUS ANIMALS
Animal
Protein/100grams
Fat/100grams
Minerals /100grams

Chicken
20.6
4.3
0.27

Beef
22.6
2.8
1.0

Pork
18.7
4.4
1.0

Source: Wealth of India, 1970

COMPOSITION OF MILK OF VARIOUS ANIMALS
Animal
Water
Protein
Fat
Sugar
Ash

Cow
97.4
3.4
3.8
4.8
0.8

Goat
84.1
4.0
6.0
5.0
0.8

Bitch
78.8
6.8
8.5
4.1
0.5

Source: Black Veterinary Dictionary

REQUIREMENT OF FAT
Fat is the essential source of energy and also act as insulation in the body of dog, but overfeeding of dog with feed containing excess fat will shortening it lifespan.
If a dog is too fat, fat should be restricted to small amount in the diet, but if the dog is thin , about 10%  of fat should be added to it diet. Dry feed are usually kept low in fat because they tend to become Rancid. Fatty food becomes rancid when it is exposed under oxidation. Rancid food should not be fed to dogs as it may destroy Vitamin A and E, and other nutrients. Continuous feeding of rancid fat may produce skin lesions, impair reproductive efficiency or may lead to muscular dystrophy, rashes soon spread over the body and ulcer formation and accompanied by loss of appetite. After period of constipation there severe diarrhea and the dog die.
The source of essential fatty acids e.g. corn oil or lin seed oil, palm oil, vegetable oil.

REQUIREMENT OF MINERAL

Minerals are required to preserve structural, functional metabolic and osmotic equilibrium in various activities during growth and reproduction. The skeleton of a dog contains more than 99% of all calcium found in its body.
Most of the skeleton is formed during the first nine (9) months of it life. Old dogs need more calcium in their diet than young ones since the maintenance of the skeleton is one of the major problems for dogs.
Dogs need various inorganic elements to build it body. These are Calcium, Sodium (salt), Potassium, Iron, Copper, Magnesium, Cobalt, Iodine, and Zinc.

MINERAL REQUIREMENT OF DOGS
FOR
GROWTH AND ADULT MAINTENANCE
Minerals
Growth
Adult

Calcium
320mg
119mg

Phosphorus
240mg
89mg

Potassium
240mg
89mg

Sodium
30mg
11mg

Iron
1.74mg
0.65mg

Source: Ref: Dogs Their Care and Treatment (Chakrabarti, Amalendu)

SOURCES OF MINERALS
Minerals
Source

Calcium
Bone, Milk, Corn, Soya, Cheese

Phosphorus
Bone, Milk, Corn, Meat. Wheat

Sodium Chloride
Salt, Fruits, Cereal

Magnesium
Cereals, Bone, Green vegetable

Iron
Soya, Wheat, Cereals, Meat, Eggs.

Copper
Soya , bean, Meat

Manganese
Food

Zinc
Foods, Cereal, Meat

Iodine
Soya, Dairy product

Selenium
Cereals, Soya, Fish, Meat

Ref: Dogs Their Care and Treatment (Chakrabarti, Amalendu)

VITAMINS

Vitamins are needed to run the vital functions of the body. Dogs need most of the vitamins, with the exception of Vitamin C which is synthesized within their bodies.
Vitamin A
Liver, kidney, Milk, Egg yolk, Fish oil are good sources of vitamin A.
Vitamin A is essential for the production of visual purples in the retina which are necessary for vision in dim light. A deficient diet causes poor growth, lacrymation, eye lesion, skin lesion and bone abnormalities.
Marginal deficiency may lead to retarded growth, diarrhea, nasal discharges, bitches may fail to come into heat and sterility in males (dogs).
Excessive feeding of Vitamin A (hypervitaminosis) may cause weight loss, abnormal bone formation (bowy legs) due to decalcification of bone and enlarged joints.
The dietary needs of vitamin A is 500 U.I/ 100grams of diet. For growing pups it may be 200 U.I/kg body weight. Cod liver oil contains about 600 U.I of Vitamin A per gram. The dog may be fed 0.5 to 10ml of cod liver oil.

Vitamin E
Egg yolk, Milk, Corn, Cereals and Vegetables are good sources of Vitamin E.
Vitamin E prevents rancidity of fat and stabilizes vitamin A in food.
Deficiency of Vitamin E in dog causes reproductive failure and muscular dystrophy. The requirement of Vitamin E for a dog is 5 U.I/ 100gram of diet /day.

Vitamin K
In healthy dog dietary supplementation of vitamin K is not required. Vitamin K may be required after prolonged antibacterial therapy or in chronic intestinal dysfunction.
Sources of Vitamin K are liver, fish meal soya bean and yeast. Deficiency of Vitamin K will impair prothrombin formation, prolonged clotting time and haemorrhage.

Vitamin D
Dietary source of Vitamin D are fish liver oil, egg yolk, milk. Sunlight is essential for the synthesis of vitamin D.
Vitamin D helps in the absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorus. Deficiency signs in pups are ricket and stunted growth.

Vitamin B
Cereals, Whole grains, yeats, liver and meat. Deficiency of thiamine may lead to loss of appetite, muscular weakness, and nerve degeneration. There may be stunted growth, heart failure and death.

Vitamin C
Dogs in normal health do not require any dietary source of Vitamin C. Deficiency of Vitamin C, dogs develop oral lesion, and retarded wound healing.

REQUIREMENT OF WATER

Requirement of water in dogs depends on the types of food, environmental temperature, amount of exercise and the physiological state.
Dog should have access to water supply at all times. The water requirement per kg of body weight for a dog is about 70ml provided the food offered is dry.

WATER REQUIREMENT OF DOG AS PER BODY WEIGHT
Weight of Dog
Water required per dog

15kg
355ml

25kg
709ml

35kg
1093ml

45kg
1448ml

Ref: Dogs Their Care and Treatment (Chakrabarti, Amalendu)
Ref: All About Dogs (Dr. Y.P.S Dabas)