Feeding Your Fox Terrier
What goes into your dog is important to his health and happiness. Wire Fox Terriers especially have a problem with food allergies. It is the most common complaint we hear from their owners. Many things can cause this, environment, air pollutants, contact allergies and food are the primary reasons for these allergies. We will address how and what goes into your dog, and why it is so important.
People feed their dogs three different ways:
- Commercial kibble dog food or canned dog food
- Table scrapes
- The BARF diet which is Bones and Raw Foods (all raw meat, fish and veggies)
1. COMMERCIAL DOG FOOD
There are many dry and canned dog foods on the market. If you are planning on feeding this way, you should know what you are giving your dog. Most people use dry kibble, as there is little nutritional value in canned food. With canned food, many dogs end up with bad teeth as there is nothing to help clean them. They are also high in water content; that's what you are paying for.
Dry dog foods sold in supermarkets and discount stores are usually not high quality foods for your dog. We do not recommend any of them. They have a high content of fillers and artificial favors and coloring that are not good for your dog. It takes more food to satisfy your dogs needs and more stool going out. That only shows that much of what you are feeding is going though the dog and not into the dog.
We suggest that if you are going to feed a dry kibble that you research the top brands very carefully and find the one that your dog does well on.
- Look for foods that use vitamin E as a preservative and not an artificial preservative.
- You want a kibble that has a meat source as the first ingredient on the list of what is in that dog food. Not a by-product, but the actual meat.
- Avoid any dog food that uses artificial favoring or coloring. You dog doesn't care, it's only there to make it look "good" to you.
There are a few quality kibble foods that we feel are the best for your dog if you decide to use a kibble. We suggest that you go to the website for the Whole Dog Journal www.whole-dog-journal.com for information on commercial dog food and many other health issues. There are decent kibble dog foods, but they are not carried in many pet shops and never in discount stores or supermarkets. They are a bit more expensive, but you will see that far more goes into your dog and not though your dog. So you are not going to have to feed as much and that can make it even less expensive for you. And you are giving your dog a better food. 2. TABLE SCRAPS
Many of the foods that we eat are not good for you, let alone your dog. Processed, fried, artificial coloring or preservatives are not good for any of us. Giving your dog table scraps only encourages him to beg at the table and it doesn't give him a balanced diet. It will only lead to problems down the road. There are many "people foods" that are great for our dogs, but they should only be used in a balanced diet. You could be causing your dog some serious problems if you are not careful. 2. BARF DIET
This is going back to the basics. Feeding raw meat and bones, fish, and raw veggies.
There are many people that feel that all commercially made dog foods are no longer good for our dogs and have chosen to go back to feeding a natural diet. This is called the BARF (Bones and Raw Foods) diet. If you are considering trying this way of feeding it is very important that you do your research first. Just feeding a raw piece of meat from time to time is not a balanced diet. Putting your dog on a total BARF diet will take a change in your thinking.
There is no cooking for your dog as its all raw, but there is preparation needed. Once you get into the routine, it will not be that much unless you have a lot of dogs to feed. Once the preparation is done, the food can be frozen for future use.
We will be adding to this site more information and website links on the BARF diet. Be sure to check back soon. |
