Welcome to ‘Debarking Pet Myths’, our monthly series that tackles common myths, misconceptions and old wives’ tales about dogs and cats.
Canine “athletes”, like human athletes, may have different nutritional needs than the average family dog. But do these different nutritional needs mean that it is necessary to have a special and efficient diet? Or could your athletic dog eat an adult maintenance food?
The answer is “It depends on the dog and the activity”. Read on to learn more about the factors that influence your dog’s nutritional needs and to determine if you should give your dog a food specifically designed for sporting and working dogs.
Many factors affect daily energy needs
Dogs are an incredibly diverse species in terms of weight and size (think Chihuahua versus Great Dane). It’s no surprise, then, that the daily energy requirements (DER) of dogs cover a wide range of calories. But while you might think that a dog’s size accounts for a large part of the difference in DER, it’s actually differences in activity levels between dogs that are responsible. Other factors that contribute to differences in energy requirements include:
- Breed
- Stage of life
- Age
- Gender
- Neutral status
- Skin and coat insulation
- Ambient temperature
According to Justin Shmalberg, board-certified specialist in veterinary nutrition, sports medicine, and rehabilitation at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, the DER for companion dogs with an average activity level can be approximated by this equation:
(90 to 110 kcal) x (body weight in kilograms)0.75 Calories (kcal) every 24 hours*
*1 Calorie = 1 kilocalorie (kcal) = 1,000 calories
But what is meant by “average activity” level? Good question.
Exercise, or activity level, can be grouped into types
We’ve all known a canine couch potato, the indoor companion dog that gets little to no daily exercise. These are the dogs with low activity levels, and if they are not overweight, they are at serious risk of becoming overweight or obese. Canine couch potatoes don’t need a performance-oriented dog food. Instead, they would benefit from high quality adult maintenance food and controlled feeding. And if they are overweight, these dogs would benefit from a weight management formula and a low-intensity walking program.
Then there are dogs that are active or exercise regularly. These active dogs can compete in performance trials as varied as obedience, agility and field trials. They can be working dogs such as police and military dogs, search and rescue dogs or assistance dogs. Or they may not compete or work at all, but run with their owners, hunt with their human companion on occasion, or regularly play fetch games in the backyard.
Functionally, exercise can be divided into three types based on intensity and duration:
- Sprint – high intensity activities that last less than 2 minutes (eg greyhound racing)
- Intermediate — activities of low to moderate intensity and lasting a few minutes to a few hours
- Endurance — low-intensity activities that last several hours (e.g. sled dog racing)
Most canine athletes participate in intermediate physical activities. Although most of these activities are low to moderate in intensity and only last a few hours, the intensity and duration can vary considerably.
Activity requires a dog to burn more calories than rest, but the key question is “How much more?” Studies indicate that the increase in energy used by working dogs is directly related to the distance traveled during this work. When the effects of exercise duration are taken into account, some activities will require smaller increases in calories than others. Indeed, many canine sports require a constant amount of exercise from canine athletes.
According to Dr. Shmalberg, short bursts of explosive activity, such as those seen in flyball or agility, require only small bursts of energy. However, endurance activities such as field trials, hunting, and cart pulling require more calories given the distance and duration of travel. The National Research Council’s energy recommendation for racing greyhounds is 140 x (body weight in kilograms)0.75 kcal/day, and this recommendation may also be appropriate for dogs that regularly practice or train lure racing, flyball, dock jumping and agility, according to Dr. Shmalberg. In other words, a high-quality adult maintenance diet may be sufficient for dogs that participate in intermediate activities. For dogs participating in more intense and longer duration activities, a performance diet may be a more appropriate choice.
Pet food companies helped eliminate some of the guesswork and math
Adding a food’s calorie content to the package helps dog owners and veterinary professionals determine how much to feed an active dog if they choose to do their own energy requirement calculations . Of course, the feeding guide on the food packaging also makes it easy to determine how much food to give.
But there’s one more thing you’ll want to do: monitor your dog’s body condition. Assessing your dog’s body condition regularly and tracking his body condition along with his body weight can help you determine if your dog is getting too much or too little food. And in the case of canine athletes, although you want to keep them lean, they still need energy to perform and recover from exercise. If your lean athletic dog is losing weight, you’ll want to speak with your veterinarian to rule out any potential underlying health issues. If your dog is healthy, it may be time to consider a dog food formula specifically for sporting and working dogs such as Diamond Pro89 Beef, Pork & Ancient Grains Formula for Adult Dogs, Diamond Performance , Diamond Hi-Energy or Diamond Premium Adult.
So can canine athletes and companion dogs eat the same dog food? Yes, they can. But it depends on a number of factors, including exercise intensity and duration.
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