Protein content is generally regarded as too high when it is above about 32% and primarily generated from red meat. When meat is dried it generates ash and when there is above 32% red meat protein then the ash content begins to interfere with the absorption of minerals. If fish protein or dried eggs protein is used then a higher level of protein is OK because the ash content of these protein sources is less. This also applies to vegetable proteins.
To go back to the problem of finicky eaters there are a few things to consider. Grain and white potato cause acid indigestion because they have the effect of sugar on the dogs system. When dogs digest food their stomach acid can be as low as PH 1 because they were designed to digest raw meat and bone. We on the other hand have stomach acid of between 6 and 8 so a dog’s stomach acid is 10,000 times more acidic than ours. If we were to eat white sugar as 50% to 70% of our calories we would develop awful acid digestion in quick order. Imagine how bad it must be for our little carnivores with 10,000 times more acid in play. So the smart ones associate dry kibble with acid indigestion and train us to feed them something else – and rightly so.
The flip side of the grain/white potato problem is that dogs can become “addicted” to the sugar high even though it’s very damaging to their system. More dogs have diabetes per capita than people at this point, and the wolf population (which eats no grain or white potato) has NO diabetes. Since the Mitochondrial DNA (which determines nutritional needs, digestion and cellular energy transfer) of your Yorkie is 99.8% identical to a wild wolf then it makes sense to feed your dog a diet without grain or white potato. What makes our Yorkie’s small, cute and adorable little buggers is their Nuclear DNA which is what has been used to breed the different dog types over the years but their Mitochondrial DNA is still almost identical to the wolf.
A little known solution for finicky eaters can be found through a dogs capacity to perform a process known as Gluconeogenesis. This is a dog’s ability to transform fat into glucose. A dog will begin gluconeogenesis after not eating for about 20 hours and at that point they will feel fine physically because they will have all the glucose they need for energy. It was nature’s way of giving them energy so they could hunt even if they hadn’t eaten for a week or more. A recent example occurred after the Japanese Tsunami when they found a dog on a rooftop in a debris field ten miles out at sea after 21 days. He had water from rain but no food and thanks to gluconeogenesis he was fine.
So since my three boys were hooked on grain/white potato (sugar), because their dad hadn’t yet learned enough about nutrition, they were completely finicky about food and the worse it got the more I tried different things. After researching, studying, and researching some more I knew what I wanted in a kibble and actually found a grain/ white potato free food that also had digestive enzymes and probiotics out of sheer luck thanks to a friend. Brothers Complete. So I held my breath and implemented my new gluconeogenesis plan. I put a bowl of Brothers kibble down at night and if they didn’t eat it I picked it up. Each day I would put it down and pick it up. On the second day the youngest one ate and by the third day the other two joined him. It kind of reset their appetites and now they all come running at meal time. But I am also vigilant about not feeding them treats with grain or white potato in them as well. So in the end it really all comes down to who is going to train who. Will your dog train you – or will you train your dog? |