Dog Nutrition 101

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Here at Animush Raw Pet Food, we know how much you care about your dog. In order to make sure that your furry friend stays as happy and as healthy as possible, it’s important to feed them a nutritionally balanced diet. In this article, we’ll go over the basics of dog nutrition to help you make informed choices about what to feed your canine companion.

Dog Nutrition 101

According to experts, dogs need six essential nutrients in order to remain healthy: water, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates.

  • Like all other animals, dogs need to stay properly hydrated to stay healthy. Water is essential for a wide range of bodily processes, including carrying nutrients to various organs, regulating body temperature, flushing out waste, and more. Most dogs can self-regulate their water intake and will keep themselves hydrated as long as fresh, clean water is available to them.
  • Another essential part of dog nutrition is ensuring that they get enough protein. Protein is a macronutrient, meaning that it is used to supply energy. Unlike fat, the body can’t store protein for later, so it’s important to regularly supply your dog with protein-rich foods. The best way to do this is to feed your dog meat-based food like what we offer here at Animush Raw Pet Food.
  • Fat is another energy-rich macronutrient and is essential to proper dog nutrition. Excessive fat can lead to health problems, but our team carefully balances the fat content of our dog food to ensure that your pet remains healthy in the long term.
  • Vitamins and Minerals. Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients, meaning that they are not a source of energy, and the body needs much smaller quantities of them in order to stay healthy. Vitamins are organic compounds, meaning they contain carbon, and serve a variety of essential functions such as boosting the immune system and ensuring the blood can clot properly. Minerals also serve a variety of essential life-supporting functions, such as forming the structure for bones and carrying oxygen through the body, but unlike vitamins they are inorganic.
  • Carbohydrates are another type of macronutrient, but one that is not strictly essential for proper dog nutrition. We at Animush Raw Pet Food focus on raw meat options, but we also offer All Complete options which include dog-friendly carbs in the form of fruit and veggies for the essential vitamins and minerals they contain.