This post is sponsored by Shameless Pets.
Dogs, like the humans that care for them, have unique and important dietary needs. For this DJANGO Dog Blog article, we partnered with popular U.S.-based pet treat brand Shameless Pets to offer a comprehensive overview of our four-legged furends' specific nutritional requirements. By better understanding how to offer our pups a balanced diet, we can ensure they live their longest, happiest, and healthiest lives by our sides.
Dogs need a well-balanced diet with the following building blocks:
There are many different perspectives on the right ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrates in a dog’s diet, but the team at Fetch by WebMD state that an adult dog’s diet should deliver:
Recommendations may vary if you have a puppy or senior dog since the number of calories often varies substantially based on dog age. The National Academies, for example, believes puppies should receive twice the caloric intake as a similar-sized adult dog; senior dogs, roughly 20% less than an adult dog of the same weight), not to mention size and activity level.
Vitamins and minerals are naturally present in many foods dogs eat, and typically it is unnecessary to provide your dog with supplements if you are feeding him or her a nutritionally-balanced and high quality dog food. Some of the most important vitamins and minerals for dogs include:
The typical dog should drink around one ounce of water per pound weighed per day, according to the Emancipet Clinics. This means that a 10-pound dog should drink somewhere between half and three-quarters of a typical 16.9 ounce water bottle, while a 60-pound dog should drink closer to 4 of them.
If your dog doesn't seem to be drinking enough water throughout the day, consider adding a few more drops to his or her breakfast and dinner bowl.
Dog treats can certainly be part of a balanced diet, although they should never take the place of high quality and nutritionally-balanced dog food. To ensure your pup is getting the highest quality calories from treats, consider reputable doggy treat brands like Shameless Pets.
Shameless Pets offers a varied selection of high quality, protein-packed, and drool-worthy dog and cat treats. All treats are made with natural and nutrient-rich ingredients such as chicken, duck, sweet potato, blueberries, banana, apple, and more.
Why is good nutrition important for dogs? With a well-balanced diet, your dog will be able to maintain a healthy weight, have plenty of energy, and realize several other health advantages throughout his or her life. Here we outline the benefits of proper canine nutrition and also highlight our favorite Shameless Pets dog treats that support these key qualities:
Although we have all been known to spoil our canine companions on occasion, we agree with veterinarians that pet treats should be a small part of a pet’s diet. Always make sure to review the back of any pet treat bag to confirm recommended daily quantities based on your pet’s size.
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Shameless Pets celebrates the triumphs of finding ways to waste less— transforming misfit and surplus produce into treats for cats and dogs. All Shameless Pets treats are a nutritionist crafted way to shamelessly make your pet smile and make a positive impact on the planet. You can find them on their website, many local independent pet stores, and major retailers including Amazon, Chewy, Whole Foods, Grove Collaborative, and more.
Hello,
What a sweet website & Django is adorable. I grew up with miniature doxie’s so I have a special spot in my heart for them! We now have a 19lb Australian Labradoodle who we dearly love. My question… what do you do for flea and tick prevention? Heartworm prevention? I am curious. Ive been doing a lot of research and would love to eliminate all the chemicals but also don’t want fleas, ticks, and especially not heart worms! We live in Ohio and are taking our girl on vacation next month to FL just for a week but when I saw all your travel, I wondered if you worried about this in the different climates/areas you visited with your “baby”? :-)
Thank you,
Susan
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Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) is a diagnosis that all dog owners dread. We (Mike and Steph) unfortunately saw our long-haired dachshund Django go through IVDD surgery earlier this year after suffering a serious back injury.
The path to recovery after an IVDD diagnosis is never easy. Dogs with IVDD always need strict crate rest, and many also need complicated and expensive back surgery like our dog Django. While recovering, your dog's movement must be restricted to a crate or pen, and he or she may not be able to walk without support. Your pup may also experience incontinence for several weeks and need help going to the bathroom via bladder expression. In other words, the recovery process can be difficult and daunting for us loving dog parents.
Fortunately, there are dog products on the market that help make your dog's IVDD journey and recovery easier. Here are 10 products that we found helpful and essential throughout Django's IVDD recovery.
DJANGO's Nolita Belt Bag is a modern, functional, and thoughtfully-crafted dog walking fanny pack. With a nod to trendy dog parents, the Nolita Belt Bag has numerous features that upgrade dog walking and outdoor adventures with four-legged family. From sustainably sourced fabrics to premium hardware to meticulous design details, everything about the Nolita Belt Bag is an upgrade from your standard accessory.
Learn more about DJANGO's Nolita Belt Bag here.
The popularity of raw dog food has exploded in recent years. More than ever, experienced dog owners are showing preference for the biologically appropriate, minimally processed, and nutrition-dense dog food. Many point to the health benefits of the diet. To name just a few, raw-fed dogs often have smaller and firmer stools, healthier skin and coats, better digestion, and fewer allergy symptoms.
We've always been incredibly picky when it comes to Django's diet. We only feed our hairy little sausage dog high quality and often organic foods. We tend to favor fresh dog foods and never hesitate to top his dinner bowl with wild alaskan salmon, boiled organic chicken, half an egg, or even fresh organic strawberries (his personal favorite!).
Recently, we decided to try We Feed Raw. This company is one of the more reputable ones in the raw dog food industry. It cuts out mystery ingredients and unpronounceable additives and replaces them with easily digestible, human-grade meat. Unlike other dog food brands whose recipes have endless and often unrecognizable ingredients, you can easily count and identify all We Feed Raw recipe components.
Here is an honest and in-depth review of We Feed Raw dog food. All opinions expressed are solely our own and are based on our personal experience feeding We Feed Raw to Django.
DJANGO
April 12, 2022
@SUSAN Hello! It’s so nice to hear from you, and thank. you for the kind comments about Django and djangobrand.com!
We presently use Nexgard for flea and tick prevention and Heartgard for heartworm prevention. While we were living in NYC (most of Django’s life so far!), we only gave Django Nexgard during the warm Spring/Summer/Fall months. We lived near Central Park and took Django in the park almost daily, but Django’s playtime was pretty limited to Central Park’s walkways, sidewalks, and even baseball fields (a popular meet up for neighborhood dogs!) :) We didn’t let Django run through the long grasses of Central Park where all the city squirrels and other vermin lived… We moved to the suburbs during the pandemic and give Django Nexgard consistently now since he’s always in the grass.
Obviously you shouldn’t necessarily do what we did in NYC since it is such a unique place to live with limited wildlife and grass! I would definitely speak to your vet and see what he or she recommends with regards to preventive flea/tick and heartworm medication.
Also… worth noting that when Django was a puppy, we took him to NC and let him run around the grass and woods for days… and he got fleas! I think it was a very short trip and he wasn’t on flea/tick prevention medicine at the time. It was a nightmare, and the experience definitely changed our mindset. Now we’re much more diligent with flea/tick prevention.
I hope this helps! Thanks again for reaching out to us!
- Steph and Django