Is 30 protein too much for a puppy

Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats How Much Does Your Puppy Needs?

Having a pet can be a life-changing experience, especially if you decided to own a dog. They are credited as the most loyal companion of a human for reasons since they will love you unconditionally and dedicate their whole life to you. However, growing up with one furry friend is not an easy task. You need to take care of them seriously to have a healthy and long life. Therefore, it is very important to make sure you give the correct food and nutrients to your dogs since they are puppies. Note that the needs of protein for puppies are different from the adult dogs, and so does the other nutrients. Here are several tips that can help you give the best portion of the meal to your dogs since they are too young.

What Are The Nutritional Requirements For a Dog?

Your canine friend is naturally an omnivore, so it can live eating almost anything. However, if you want a healthy and good-looking dog, you should plan its meal carefully. The canine ancestral diets mostly consist of protein, since they are a natural hunter. But they also need fat, carbohydrates, and mineral to function well.

a) Protein

As explained above, a dog needs a lot of protein. Their ancestral diets consist of 56% protein that usually comes from smaller mammals and sometimes even insects. However, the domestic dog does not need as much protein, since they live more comfortably.

b) Fats

There are a lot of natural fats in natural canine prey; therefore it used to have 25%-30% fats. But the domestic dog usually has less activity than their ancestral due to a limited living area and owner habits. That much intake of fats can make your pet suffer from obesity.

c) Carbohydrates

Canines actually do not naturally eat carbohydrates. Surely they need some in their diet for additional energy resources and fiber, but their meal should not consist of more carbohydrates than proteins and other nutrients.

Dog Nutritional Requirements Table

If you want to compare the number, check the dog nutritional requirement needed below for an adult dog:

How Much Protein Does a Dog Need Per Day?

The requirements of protein daily intake for dogs vary depending on the breed, weight, and activity. The larger and more active dog, of course, needs more protein than the smaller breed. However, you need to make sure that your dogs meal consists of 30% or more protein. This number is actually hard to achieve if you only depend on pre-made dog food, such as kibble or canned dog food. They usually consist of more carbohydrates than proteins. Make sure you add genuine meat, such as chicken, beef, or lamb as additional sources of proteins.

Too Much Protein in Dog Food Cause Diarrhea

Even if dogs need a lot of protein, too much intake of protein can cause diarrhea. That is why you need to make sure that your dog has a balanced diet. An unbalanced diet can also damage its kidney since the dog cannot store the protein for later use. The body will excrete the excess protein through urine and feces and will make the kidney and digestion system work harder.

Senior Dog Protein Requirements

When your dog reaches senior age, its movement will slow down naturally. Protein is needed to build the muscles, bones and necessary for daily function. However, the senior dog stop growing is body muscles and bones long ago, and their daily activity is also limited. You will need to adjust the protein intake to avoid its kidney work too much. Replace the portions of protein with natural fiber and mineral to boost its immune system and maintain healthy digestion.

Puppy Protein Requirements

In contrary, a puppy needs more protein than an adult dog. Puppys meal should have more proteins than fat and carbohydrates. Just like kids, growing up requires a lot of nutrients. Protein is very important for the developments of organs and body parts. They also need more fats and fiber. The fats will help the puppy grow healthy skin and shiny fur. The fiber will help them digest the meal easier since their stomach is still tender. Try to feed your puppy more kibbles than moist food since they need to train their teeth. Wet dog food also usually contain more fat than protein that can cause early obesity in your pup.

What Does Crude Fat Mean?

The label behind the box does not really help because it sometimes does not tell the truth. You may often find the words crude fats or crude protein on the label along with other natural ingredients. The term actually refers to how the fat is tested to measure to amount of fat in certain ingredients, not the natural ingredients itself. It means that basically, the fat can come from any ingredients, including animal fats, offal, and even leather residual.

What is a Good Level of Crude Fat in Dog Food?

Dogs need fat in their diet because it helps them to grow and transport fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. The right amount of fat can also make them grow stronger and promote healthier skin and fur. However, since the crude fat is quite questionable regarding resources, it is better to pick food that has the least amount of crude fats. Provide natural resources of fats to your dogs such as fish oil, canola oil, and lean meat.

Do Dogs Need Carbohydrates

As mentioned before, dogs actually are not natural carbohydrates eaters. It is better to keep their meal consist of more protein and fat than carbohydrates. Unfortunately, many mass production dog food contains more carbohydrates because it is cheaper than actual meat. You can substitute the carbs by giving plant-based fiber that contains carbohydrates as well, like pumpkin, green beans, and rolled oats. Having enough carbs on a diet can help the dog and especially puppies channeling the protein for body development and using the carbs as an additional source of energy.

Conclusion

The most important thing is making sure your dogs have a well-balanced diet plant. If you still not sure how much proteins for puppies or adult dogs, consult with your veterinarian. It will be better if you can provide a homemade food and not only depends on mass production dog food. This way, you can make sure that your pups and dog has enough and balanced protein, fat and carbohydrates in every meal.

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The Dangers of High Protein Dog Foods

By Ashley Gallagher, DVM

Choosing what to feed your dog can be an overwhelming decision. Pet food stores are packed with row after row of different brands of food all containing clever marketing slogans to convince you they are the best for your dog. Many of these dog foods boast about containing extremely high levels of protein that claim to satisfy your dogs instinctual need for meat as well as make them healthier and live longer.

Are Dogs Carnivores?

Marketing tactics by some pet food companies have fueled a common misconception among pet owners that dogs are obligate carnivores and require a diet that consists mostly of meat. This is not true. Dogs, like people, are omnivores and do best with a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Excessive protein consumption is unnecessary for dogs at best and for some dogs with medical conditions can actually be harmful.

Proteins are the building blocks of the body and an absolute necessity for daily function. However, when a dog consumes too much protein in a meal it cannot all be utilized at one time, nor can it be stored for later. The body will then excrete the excess protein through the kidneys and out of the body via urine. Thus the quality of the protein actually becomes more important that than actual amount as a high quality protein is more bioavailable and can be better absorbed by the body.

Another issue is that the meat in these diets acting as the protein source contains other nutrients that you do not want in excessive amounts. For example, when a diet is mostly meat it becomes very difficult to maintain a proper calcium-phosphorus ratio. When this ratio is out of balance disruptions in bone growth or kidney damage can occur. Well formulated dog foods have an appropriate balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates to prevent this from happening.

Is Excessive Protein in Dog Food Bad for My Pet?

Protein is a calorie dense nutrient and many of the high protein diets are extremely high in calories and can quickly lead to weight gain. With over 50% of dogs in the U.S. considered overweight or obese, dog owners need to be aware of where those extra calories are hiding. If a dog has kidney or liver issues consuming too much protein can increase the workload on these organs and upset the balance of nutrients leading to exacerbation of disease.

Rather than look for a dog food that contains excessive levels of protein you should find one that is specifically formulated for your dogs lifestyle, life stage, and size. A working sled dog, for example, will have significantly different nutrient and caloric requirements than the average pet dog that ventures outside for a few walks a day and spends the rest of the time lounging. These two dogs should not be fed the same diet.

Puppies, meanwhile, require more protein than adult dogs because their bodies are busy growing. Among breeds of puppies there are different requirements for nutrients as well. For instance large breed puppies like Labrador retrievers need a much different diet than a Yorkie for optimal growth. Feeding large breed puppies something that is too high in protein may make them put on weight too quickly causing abnormal joint development and making them more prone to issues like arthritis in the future.

The safest diets are those that have been developed by pet food companies that invest in scientific research, consult with veterinary nutritionists, and perform feeding trials to develop their diets. This will provide a pet food that is properly balanced without any excess nutrients that are unnecessary and in some cases harmful for your dog.

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Hi hassiman

Your breeder could not be more incorrect. You cant feed a dog too much protein excess protein that is not used by the body is passively excreted though the urine causing no stress on the organs. Protein is very important for all dogs and especially growing puppies. I wouldnt even feed a food with 21% protein to an adult dog, let alone a puppy. I always recommend picking a dry food with at least 30% protein and topping with high quality canned foods, raw foods or healthy people food (sardines, eggs, lean meat, etc.) to boost protein further. I have 3 bloodhounds an 8 month old puppy, a 2 year old adult and a 7 year old senior that all eat a raw diet with protein levels in the 45-55% range. It is now known that reducing protein levels does nothing to prevent renal failure and that protein levels should only be reduced in the late stages of renal failure. Orijen is a wonderful food (the best dry food available in my opinion) and I think you made a great choice that you should stick with regardless of your breeders (incorrect) beliefs. If you go to the library on Orijens website they have some wonderful articles about the importance of dietary protein and the myths surrounding high levels of dietary protein. Id highly recommend you read these articles to ease your mind. The three Id recommend you read are: Myths of High Protein which was written by Kenneth C. Bovee, DVM, MMedSc at Penn States veterinary school; Effects of High Protein on Renal Function by Delmar R. Finco, DVM, PhD for the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Georgias school of veterinary medicine; Pet Food Safety: Dietary Protein by DP Laflamme, DVM, PhD, Dipl ACVN. To get to the articles from Orijens homepage click FAQ on the top menu, then click Library on the new top menu that appears. You may also want to refer your breeder to these articles before he/she provides any more unknowing puppy buyers with such misguided advice.