Not all dog foods are created equal. While it may seem easy to grab the closest bag of food off the shelf for your pooch, their age makes a big difference as to what you should be feeding them.
Much like humans, dogs have different nutritional requirements during different stages of their life. You wouldn’t feed a 6 month old baby a pork chop, just like you shouldn’t feed a puppy adult dog food.
Poochie Moochie is proud to offer a selection of Acana Heritage dog foods for each stage of your dog’s life. Keep reading to learn the importance of feeding your dog according to their age in order to keep them in peak physical health:
Senior Dogs
Dogs over the age of 7 years are considered to be seniors. Even if your dog is over this age and still exhibits signs of vitality, physical changes require different nutritional requirements.
As a dog ages, it becomes harder for their bodies to maintain a healthy weight and lean muscle mass. For this reason, senior dogs require a diet rich in meat protein.
Senior dogs are also at risk for low blood sugars. A properly formulated senior dog food includes farm fresh vegetables and fruits, instead of grains and gluten, to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Overall, a good senior dog food is low in calories, high in fiber and provides adequate protein and fat for a dog's aging body.
For your senior dog, check out Acana Heritage Senior Dog Food. It provides high protein levels from free-run chicken, cage-free eggs and whole, wild-caught flounder.
Adult Dogs
Adult dogs are those between the ages of 1 and 7 years. It is during these years that a healthy dog should be in their prime.
At this stage in their lives, dogs require the proper nutrition to maintain their weight and muscle mass (as opposed to puppies who experience a lot of growth).
The best source of nutrition for adult dogs is found in meat proteins. It is these proteins that maintain lean muscle mass and peak physical conditioning.
A quality adult dog food derives more calories from protein and fat and fewer calories from carbs. They also do not contain grains or gluten (which are not required in a dog's diet).
Check out Acana Heritage’s range of Adult Dog Foods. Specially prepared to accommodate your adult dog’s diet, they offer special blends based on your dog’s size.
Puppies
From birth to one year of age, a dog is considered a puppy. During this age, growing puppies have different nutritional needs than adult dogs.
Not only are puppies burning a ton of calories to grow, but they also burn calories maintaining body heat and through a higher activity level. This is why they need to derive more calories from protein and fat than adult dogs.
When choosing a food for your puppy, look for ones that use more whole meats and smaller amounts of fruits and vegetables. These meat proteins promote development and growth.
Acana Heritage Puppy + Junior Food offers a wholesome blend of ingredients to promote your puppy’s peak development and conditioning. For different sizes and breeds, they offer a variety of specially formulated puppy foods.
The Right Food for the Right Age
Providing an appropriate diet based upon your dog’s age will help to ensure a happy and healthy life.
For more information on feeding your dog an age-appropriate diet, feel free to contact Poochie Moochie today!