The Aussie - Spring 2019

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Time to rethink fats Dietary fat has been given a bad rap as it’s associated with heart disease and strokes in humans. As a result many believe wrongly that we should restrict fat in our dog’s diets. Dogs naturally have more good cholesterol (HDL) than bad (LDL), meaning that dogs will not develop high blood cholesterol or thickening of the arteries from fat in their diet. In fact, we should ensure that our dogs in-take a regular dose of species appropriate essen?al faUy acids daily. Fat v Carbohydrates To fully understand why, we need to think about a wild dog with its wolf heritage. They would catch a rabbit and eat it with all its faUy skin. Dogs are programmed to eat this type of diet and metabolise the fat for energy, the protein to re-build muscle. They don’t have any need for carbohydrates. As an in-built safety mechanism a dog’s body will store energy for a rainy day. If a dog’s diet is fat deficient, but there are carbohydrates in the diet – well it will store the carbs for energy instead. Types of fat There are 2 types of dietary fats – facilita?ve and func?onal. What do we mean by Facilita?ve fats? – well these are the saturated fats found in meats, cheeses and eggs and these should feature as part of your dog’s diet. BY contrast the func?onal fats are also known as ‘Essen?al FaUy Acids’ and are needed as part of your dog’s diet. These cannot be produced naturally by your dog, so whatever diet you feed your dog, it is important these are included in the mix. How many of you have seen Omega-6 and Omega-3 fats listed on products for us as well as our dogs? These are the ‘Essen?al FaUy Acids’. The dog requires a good balance of both, but the Omega-3 has extra benefits when it comes to trea?ng a wide range of health condi?ons. To get the same amount of energy storage, a dog must store twice the amount of carbohydrates in terms of weight when compared to fat. Think about it. The chubby dog is not the fat that is being eaten, but the excess amount of carbohydrate that is being stored for that rainy day. Which doesn’t come so o\en in the domes?c home. Today’s processes pet foods are high in carbohydrates and the weight gain can be related to the increase in this component in the food being fed. What does fat do? Fat provides dogs with a vital extra layer of subcutaneous ?ssue under the skin. This they use as a thermostat to regulate their body temperature. Also it pads out the muscles and bones to protect them from injury. Fish is a great source of Omega-3
Omega-3 By ensuring your dog’s intake of Omega -3 takes place you are helping to balance and regulate their immune system, reduce excessive inflamma?on that creates allergy symptoms, joint pains and many other chronic condi?ons. There is also recent evidence to suggest Omega-3 helps turn round cardiovascular disorders, boost cogni?ve func?on and overall re?nol health. It is used to reduce the symptoms of osteoarthri?s and ageing both mentally and physically. How can we get this wonder addiJve into our dog’s diet? Foods that are rich in omega-3 are fish – marine sources like herring, sardines, mackerel, anchovies, salmon. Quality dog foods, will source these products form non contaminated sources. Natural sources are beUer than supplements. The recommended dose is 100-150mg of EPA and DHA (2 components of Omega-3) per 5 kilos of body weight. A fragile addiJve Care has to be taken by the food manufacturer and addi?ve suppliers with omega-3. It is inherently very delicate and highly suscep?ble to oxida?ve damage. Once this happens the omega-3 can do more harm than good. Bearing in mind the delicate nature of omega-3, it highlights the fact that commercial dog food claiming to be packed with omega- 3 may not be packed with the right quality. It is highly suscep?ble to heat damage, which many dogs’ food produc?on entails. The solu?on is to add Vitamin E that is fat soluble, it will help with the oxidisa?on issue. Always check the ingredients when you buy your dog’s food. Try not to just think of the price tag. Other sources of fat Recently there have been some new trends. The first is organic, raw unpasteurised buUer. T contains a healthy ra?o of omega-6 and omega-3. Plus it contains Butyric acid, which has shown great promise in studies to reduce diabetes, inflamma?on, cancer and diges?on issues. Coconut oil is another on trend fat. It is mostly saturated. Amongst the cons?tuents of coconut oil is something called caprylic acid. This is known for its ability to feed yeast and studies show that it has posi?ve results on diabetes. Dogs do seem to enjoy fish as the shopping bag with fish shows. It certainly has captured these dogs aUen?on. If you decide to use coconut oil in your dog’s diet, the recommended dosage is 1 teaspoon for every 5kg of bodyweight. All these fats are considered to be brain food as well. There are innumerable studies valida?ng this theory. The advice that seems to be related to all the dogs food these days is check out the ingredients and be aware of the diet and quan?ty that your dog should have. By doing this you can provide a balanced diet. So next ?me you think – fats no way – think again – they could have an important part to play in your dog’s health and well being.
Page 1 and 2: The Aussie Spring 2019 edition Lead
Page 3 and 4: The Aussie Well it’s countdown no
Page 5 and 6: The winners of each class then goes
Page 7 and 8: SCATC always strives to find ways t
Page 9 and 10: Scratch it! In the last ediJon of
Page 11 and 12: Ways to manage dog food allergies T
Page 13 and 14: It is poor policy to put a new bree
Page 15 and 16: Flying High Can Aussies fly? Of cou
Page 17 and 18: Who's smarter? At first glance, dog
Page 19 and 20: Although a dog show, Crufts is wher
Page 21 and 22: We’ve all been there—huddled in
Page 23 and 24: Urban Myths It is an urban myth tha
Page 25 and 26: Wimbledon Tennis is just around the
Page 27 and 28: Basic strategy How you respond to a
Page 29 and 30: The lull before the storm. The Auss
Page 31 and 32: This ‘poem’ was sent to ‘The
Page 33 and 34: The old saying is let sleeping dog
Page 35 and 36: Many of you will know that when you
Page 37: Caroline Nicholsson This ar?cle was
Page 41 and 42: Final Word Don’t forget…. Dogs

The Aussie - Spring 2019

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