Dog Nutrition Series - The Importance of Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Dogs =2

 Dog Nutrition Series - The Importance of Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Dogs

***   Vitamin and mineral supplements

Vitamin and mineral supplements are the most important components in any dog’s feeding. If there is a balance in the vitamin and mineral supplements, then the animal will have a healthy life and hence, the immunity is not compromised in an unwanted way.  This simply means that there the dog will be more disease-resistant to various diseases. 

Pet owners should know that vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins and others are water-soluble vitamins.  Vitamins like thiamine, pyridoxine, and cyanocobalamin are important for the functions of the nervous system.  Deficiency of vitamin A leads to night blindness and skin lesions and deficiency of vitamin D leads to the softening and weakening of the bones. 

These problems are many a time encountered by dog owners. Among these, vitamin A toxicities may occur if you feed them in excessive amounts, like vitamin D. Hence, give emphasis on this while you are using these vitamins in the dogs. Cod liver oil from selected fishes has more vitamin A in them and are universally good feed for dogs.  

All dogs may not need supplements of minerals or vitamins to live well for the moment, but it is important for their future.  If they become sick or aged or very young without proper feeding, supplementations are required for the upkeep of their health status in them.  However, one has to follow the instructions of the veterinarian in this regard.    

If the dogs are fed fish in frozen conditions, then they may be suffering constantly from vitamin B1 deficiency and hence, such dogs need to be given specifically B1. Careless supplementations of minerals may lead to diseases and hence, veterinarians always need to be consulted on the supplementation of minerals or vitamins.  

Minerals like calcium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, iron, copper etc. are given more emphasis in addition to sodium and potassium. Zinc is related to skin health and potassium is related to muscle health and calcium with phosphorus is related to bone health. 

However, if you feed the dog chicken, mutton or beef along with required vegetables, artificial supplementation of mineral or vitamin tablets may be highly reduced but supplements need to be thought of when you are not able to maintain a balanced nutrition as this happens with most of the dogs, due to multifaceted causes.  

***   Boredom and variety

Boredom and variety are always interconnected in the case of dog misbehaving. Yes. This is true. Many times, boredom can be managed with a variety of materials that will distract the animals to a greater extent.  Hence, the dog may not do the abnormal or unwanted activity arising out of the boredom experienced by it. 

Boredom-experienced dogs may have different types of behavioral patterns.  For example, some dogs will be seen barking continuously and some may be engaged always in some digging activities. 

There are many ways to get your dog out of its boredom activities. Many toys are available that simulate ducks, dogs, rodents, etc. 

These may be kept inside the crate and in particular, puppies love these items.  A buster cube with multiple treats may be placed in the dog’s shelter and the animal soon understands on how to roll the buster cube to get the treats it prefers. A Buster Cube is an ingenious toy used for simulating and activating your dog during play and feed time.  Instead of placing the food monotonously in one place, change the place of feeding suddenly. 

Such actions will be helpful for removing the boredom-like activity in your dog. Activities pertaining to boredom need to be redefined well by the dog owners.  This will help them to a greater extent to drive away the unwanted behavior patterns in their pet dogs. 

For example, some dogs may often have destructive biting characteristics and will be seen biting chairs, clothes, mats, and everything that can be seen. After ruling out the teething problem if it is a puppy, provide it with some large-sized balls, mineral mixture-based bone materials, etc. Such a variety of materials helps to reduce boredom-related activities.