Keeping your working dog healthy
Working dogs need a high energy diet to meet their working lifestyle because:
- They require higher levels of fat from their diet, as fat is a preferential source for endurance work
- Use carbohydrates for sprint type activities
- Need 10% carbohydrates from diet
- Require good quality protein for repair and recovery
- Require more than 20% protein from their diet
Keeping your working dog healthy
- Home prepared all-meat diets can be deficient in carbohydrates which can cause mild to chronic diarrhoea
- All-meat diets can be deficient in calcium. Raw bones don't provide sufficient calcium
- Bones pose a threat of choking or obstruction and can seriously damage teeth
- Risk of infection from food-borne pathogens to both dogs and humans from raw meat and bones
- Deficiencies of selenium in farm dogs, who are fed meat based or improperly balanced diets*
*Jolley et al, NVVJ 50[3], 115-116, 2002 Disorders of NZ Farm Dogs.