Labrador Dog: What to Feed?

by Editorial Staff

Representatives of the Labrador breed are excellent companionable dogs that can accompany owners everywhere, babysit children, eat from the same table. They are not picky about food and can consume the same as the owners. But is it so good for the pets themselves? An animal of this size and exterior needs proper nutrition, saturated with important elements – vitamins, minerals, and the balance of all components must also be observed. The question remains open: “How to feed the Labrador?”

Features of feeding Labradors by age

Features of feeding Labradors by age
Features of feeding Labradors by age

If the acquired puppy is accustomed to dry food, and the owners do not want to change anything, then the task is greatly simplified. There are certain brands of food, all that remains is to find out the brand familiar to the puppy and get the necessary recommendations.

Before compiling a diet, you need to understand how many times a day to feed the Labrador. Recommendations speak of two meals a day. If the owner prefers feeding the Labrador with natural products, then you should heed the advice of knowledgeable and experienced people. And in this case, the breeder will help out, who will provide detailed information about the features of feeding the puppies of this breed. Puppies get stress from separation from relatives, as well as from a change of environment, you should not aggravate the situation with an upset stomach.

For normal health maintenance, a dog needs a ed amount of protein, lipid and carbohydrate substances, mineral components, and water. The needs of animals are different, it varies depending on age, physiological characteristics, season, climate.

Puppies and dogs carrying offspring need more food, the main component of which should be a building material – protein.

In addition, an excess of nutrients must not be allowed, since the excess does not always leave the body, being deposited in the organs and subcutaneous layers.

What to exclude from the diet of a Labrador retriever

To keep your pet healthy and cheerful, the following should be avoided when feeding:

  • hot food as well as cold;
  • the dog’s menu should not contain smoked meats, spicy, fatty, sweet, and salty foods;
  • it is not necessary to replace food with bones, since they have low digestibility, in addition, they can provoke constipation, perforation (through damage) of the intestinal walls, volvulus; long bones are the most dangerous;
  • the following products are also banned – pasta, legumes, potatoes, wheat flour baked goods;
  • Labradors, as, in principle, and other breeds of dogs, should not know what sausages are – sausages and sausages adversely affect the state of the dog’s liver, which can lead to the death of the animal;
  • no need to treat the puppy with sweets, as sweets disrupt digestion processes, destroy tooth enamel, disrupt the function of the lacrimal glands;
  • negatively on the condition of the stomach and pancreas is affected by the use of fatty meats – pork and lamb;
  • Labrador food should not be spicy, nor should you add sauces to it.

Owners should take care to keep their dog’s food fresh at all times. Food leftovers should not be in the bowl for a long time, they must be placed in the refrigerator or thrown away.

It is worth giving preference to such methods of cooking food, during which the maximum of useful substances is preserved.

Which food is better, raw or cooked

The question of whether to feed a Labrador – raw or cooked food – is very controversial. On the one hand, raw food products contain a greater amount of useful elements, but still more preference is given to cooked food.

Proper heat treatment allows you to destroy pathogens that are often found in foods, as well as worm eggs. Vegetable fiber becomes softer during cooking and is better absorbed by the digestive system of the animal. If you use gentle methods, such as steaming, you can preserve vitamins as much as possible.

Meat can be given raw, but first, freeze it.

In some cases, veterinarians recommend the use of raw foods, but this is only under certain circumstances and following the advice of specialists.

Meat in the Labrador’s diet

Meat in the Labrador’s diet
Meat in the Labrador’s diet

A dog is by nature a predatory animal, and a Labrador is also of decent size, requiring a lot of food for energy. Therefore, meat in the diet of representatives of this breed should be in the first place.

The menu for a Labrador pet can include beef, horse meat, chicken, turkey, rabbit, and various offal. If we talk about raw meat, then the safest is horse meat, since it is very rarely affected by brucellosis.

Feeding a dog does not require the most expensive meat; sinewy pieces – brisket, flank, and more – are much more useful for the animal.

If the pet prefers raw meat, then you can satisfy its taste, but first, you need to keep it in the freezer for several days, before serving it you can pour boiling water over it. The main thing is that the meat is fat-free. You can alternate, give meat raw for a couple of days, and boiled for two or three days. Give the dog a product cut into pieces.

As for the by-products, it is recommended that they be cooked for a long time.

Separately, it must be said about the rumen (stomach), which contains large quantities of digestible protein, which is useful for the dog’s digestive system. It is recommended to give it to your pet raw and without preliminary purification.

Most experts do not advise including bones in the diet of Labradors; you can supplement the dog’s menu with soft cartilage, but only as an additional treat.

Allowed Labrador Products

Among the acceptable products are the following:

Fish. Being a wholesome food containing a large amount of animal protein, phosphorus, and iodine, fish must be present in the diet of a Labrador retriever. Because of the bony nature, it is worth abandoning river fish in favor of lean sea fish. Pollock, hake, cod, and others are perfect. The dog can only be offered the product after heat treatment and without bones.

Groats. The carbohydrates included in cereals will give meat products more nutritional value. Dogs are advised to give buckwheat, rice, oatmeal. But barley, semolina, and millet are best excluded from the animal’s menu. You can add rusks of gray and rye flour to the porridge, as well as vegetable oil – sunflower, olive, flaxseed.

Dairy products. You can feed your Labrador puppy homemade calcined cottage cheese by adding calcium chloride to boiling milk. Milk is good for puppies, but it can weaken adult pets. Fermented milk products are good at any age of the Labrador – kefir, befit, yogurt, yogurt – they have a positive effect on the activity of the digestive tract. It is also recommended to give cheese to your pet, it can be rubbed into already prepared dishes.

Eggs. They will not be superfluous in the dog’s diet. Raw yolks can be added to dairy foods and cereals. There will be no use from raw protein since the animal’s body does not assimilate it. It is better to finely chop hard-boiled eggs, and use raw eggs for an omelet. If enough meat is allocated for the dog, then two eggs in seven days will be enough for her.

Vegetables and fruits in the Labrador’s diet

Among vegetables and fruits, the raw dog is recommended to give carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, beets. It is most convenient to finely chop or grate before serving, you can season with vegetable oil or sour cream.

Main dishes can be enriched with finely chopped fresh herbs – dill, celery, parsley, lettuce, onions, and garlic.

Porridge with pumpkin is an excellent dish for a pet, in addition, pumpkin has a prophylactic agent against helminths.

If your dog loves fruits, that’s great, they can be given in small quantities in any form. The only exception is grapes, it is forbidden to give it to dogs, as it can cause fermentation in the intestines.

The dog needs salt in very small quantities, so the food can be not salted at all, or you can add it just a little.

As for drinking, the animal needs a lot, especially if the dog’s diet consists of dry types of food. It is necessary to provide the pet with constant fresh drinking water. If it meets sanitary standards, then you can give it raw.

Labrador is a sleek dog with rounded sides and this is not an indicator of fatness. The pet must be active and eat well.

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