Its a magnificently beautiful Sunday and while frolicking in the park with Five O (my black German Shepherd BFF, his name stands for cop like Hawaii Five O), I recalled some very cool new science explaining the differences between taking care of myself as an active human being, and nutritionally caring for my four-legged workout buddy. Check THIS out. News Flash: Dogs are NOT humans. If a dog is running for more than 30 minutes with you (especially if youre a fast runner--- I never run fast with Five O and take frequent breaks), then you need to make sure the dog is hydrated and fed well enough to maintain the work load. Humans and dogs use energy differently. As a human starts to walk briskly/jog/run/do any cardio exercise, we begin to burn glycogen (glucose) fuel. Dogs dont do this. Instead, they burn FAT as their primary endurance fuel---we should be so lucky :-). Carbs are not that important to them. Fascinating, eh? So what should a dog eat? Most commercial diets contain about 15-16% fat and thats fine. If your dogs running more (5 miles at a time) they need more fat in their diet. Your vet would know how to modify. You could just add a teaspoon of olive oil to their kibble and that gives them more fat safely. Sharing your sports gel or sports drink is useless for the dogs overall fueling and performance. Protein is super important for your dog as well and their diet need at least 25% protein (and YOU DO TOO) and for dogs, the source needs to be meat, not vegetable, per new research. Finally, dogs dont sweat like we do They pant to cool off. Like humans, they lose fluids while theyre exercising. Dogs are superb at perfectly rehydrating. They know just how much they need. I always wear a waist belt with a collapsable bowl, and a bottle of water for Five O. Dogs just need the water, NOT your Gatorade or electrolytes, which only give them GI distress. So, for your enjoyment, heres Five O and his Squeezey Toy, which is a real treat when youre trying to meditate, nap or sleep. He loves it and Im betting so will YOU! Have a great day and WALK YOUR DOG, EVEN IF YOU DONT HAVE ONE!!! :-)
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 16:41:52 +0000
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