Mary Allen
The questions of which dog food is the right one for man’s best friend and how much of this can be fed in what quantities are probably asked by most dog owners and rightly so.
The information on the different types of food often does not match the needs of the dogs, which are very individual.
Canned food in particular is very popular with both four-legged friends and dog owners, and of course not without reason.
Canned food for dogs is available in numerous flavors, from various manufacturer brands and it also tastes particularly good, so that even particularly fastidious fur noses cannot resist. But the same applies here – too much food is not healthy either.
It is therefore important to adjust the amount of food individually to the dog so that you can provide it with all the important vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients. In this article, we tell you about the different types of canned food, their advantages, and the contents as well as about the best dosage.
The benefits of canned dog food
Canned food for dogs has many advantages, which can be clearly seen and are noticeable both in terms of health and taste.
Wet food consists largely of water. To be precise, the average moisture content is 70 percent. This is particularly advantageous for four-legged friends, who belong to the “little drinkers”. Feeding these animals wet food can already cover a large part of their daily moisture requirements, which is particularly true for small and medium-sized dog breeds.
Due to the soft consistency, many dogs prefer wet food to dry food, which also applies to smaller dog breeds, as they have completely different anatomy of the teeth, so wet food, which is softer, is easier to eat.
Wet food, in contrast to dry food, is richer in energy, so dogs that are fed it are often better able to maintain their weight. This is because the four-legged friends can eat more of it, but absorb the same amount of energy as with dry food.
Furthermore, wet food has a large proportion of animal proteins. These are extremely important for the health of the dog. Here, however, you should make sure that these occur in different amounts in the different types of dog food. For this reason, it is important that you always pay attention to the ingredients of the individual products and always use high-quality canned food that has a high meat content.
Advantages of wet food at a glance:
- rich in animal proteins;
- Dogs suffer less from obesity;
- intense taste;
- high moisture content of 70% on average;
- covers a large part of the daily moisture requirement;
- many varieties to choose from;
- high meat content;
- long shelf life of sealed cans;
- easy dosing.
The dosage of wet food
As a dog owner, you have a great responsibility towards your dog. However, this not only applies to the quality of the feed, which should be very high, but also to the dosage. The dosage of canned food for dogs depends on various factors so that it depends on the individual dog and should be carefully considered. The amount of dog food is usually written on the individual types of canned food. This can be used as a starting point, but should always be individually adapted to the dog so that the information is only intended as a guide.
Rule of thumb: body weight divided by 30 is the daily ration of canned food.
It is important to adapt the dosage to the nutrient and energy requirements of the dog. Of course, this must first be determined, because it depends on several individual factors.
Age
The age of your dog is a particularly important factor in determining the daily amount of food. A young puppy has a completely different energy requirement than an adult or old dog, which is due to the fact that the little fur noses have to be supported by the food in their development and growth. Growth, which requires a lot of energy, is already complete in an adult dog, which means that it only needs enough food to maintain its weight on the one hand and to cover its energy and nutrient requirements on the other. As soon as the dog belongs to the seniors, the amount of food has to be reduced again, which is due to the slowed-down metabolism. The type of food with the different ingredients also depends on the age, so that there is, for example, special canned food for puppies or wet food for seniors.
The physical activity of the dog
As with us humans, it is also the case with dogs that after a long walk or physical exertion, the animals feel hungry and need to balance their energy levels. Active dogs, therefore, need a larger amount of food than animals that enjoy their lives more in a basket or lying in the garden. Less active dogs need less food, so you can avoid being overweight right from the start. However, this only means that the affected dog needs SOMETHING more food, but not much more. Here, too, it is important not only to adjust the dosage but also to select the type of feed accordingly and to adapt the ingredients of the feed to the physical activity of the animals.
Weight and height
Of course, the weight and size of the dogs also play an important role in the daily feed ration and should be taken into account as a matter of urgency. First of all, it is important to see if your dog is of normal weight, overweight or underweight. This is easy to determine. All you have to do is take a look at his ribs. As soon as your dog’s ribs can be clearly felt, it means that your dog is underweight. This is also the case when the ribs are already easily visible from the outside. As long as the ribs cannot be felt well and it takes you a long time to feel them, the weight is too high. Ideally, there is a light layer over the ribs. If your dog is overweight, the amount of food should be decreased slightly, while if your dog is underweight, it should be increased slightly. In both cases, it is important not to increase or decrease the feed too drastically, but to slowly get the dog used to the new feed ration.
Dog Food
The dog food itself is of course also crucial. The higher the quality of the food, the less the dogs need of it to satisfy their own needs. If dog food contains a lot of unnecessary additives, the animals usually need more of them, but often have a weight problem. For this reason, it is important that you pay attention to the ingredients.
| Dog | Ration of wet food |
| 2nd – 6th month | about 3 percent of the dog’s body weight |
| From the 6th month | 2-3 percent of the dog’s body weight |
| From senior age (due to the race, this starts from the age of 7) |
2 percent of the dog’s body weight |
Conclusion
When it comes to feeding wet food, it all depends on your dog. While the dosage information on the food cans can be used as a guide, you should customize this to meet all of your dog’s needs. If you don’t know exactly what these look like, you should consult the veterinarian to be on the safe side, which also applies if the dog is overweight or underweight.