How To Feed A Guard Dog So Minimal Waste Is Produced

Engaged in military as well as civilian occupations, guard dogs serve on sentry duty, patrol duty, shore watch, riot control, store and warehouse security and many other similar missions. Whatever the nature of their mission, all guard dogs have one thing in common: their high degree of training.

Every guard dog is trained to maintain a peak performance for the entire time it is on duty. Ordinarily this is for extended periods of time. Such sustained performance requires huge amounts of energy. The guard dog also needs large amounts of energy to cope with the extreme emotional stress that occurs while the dog is on duty. Often, during periods of sustained performance, a guard dog's energy needs exceed that of a female during lactation.

Because of this greatly increased consumption of energy, not even the bad dog foods or dry foods, with their 1500 to 1600 calories per pound, have a caloric density high enough to satisfactorily provide all the energy needs of a guard dog. Because they are customarily fed only once daily, guard dogs must eat great quantities of these foods to meet their energy needs.

To adequately supply a guard dog with enough energy it must be fed a diet that is more concentrated than ordinary maintenance diets. Such a diet must contain a large amount of energy in a relatively small quantity of food. At the same time, it must contain all of the necessary nutrients that are balanced to the increased caloric density.

One of the major problems with civilian guard dogs that patrol within a building or shopping center mall all night is the stool that they produce. Not only do these stools present a clean-up problem, but their odor often lingers several additional hours after the stools are gone. Most customers and employees do not enjoy smelling the odor of dog stools during their donuts and coffee every morning! Some guard dogs may leave as many as two or three odoriferous stools at different locations throughout the building, each night they patrol.

To reduce this stool problem to the barest minimum, a food containing large amounts of energy, in the least quantity of dry matter possible, must be fed. This can be accomplished by increasing the digestibility of the ingredients put into the food, or by reducing the amount of indigestible dry matter. When either is done, most of the food will be digested and absorbed to be used for energy, while only a small amount will remain to become stool. What's more, when the digestibility of the proteins and carbohydrates is improved, the odor of the small quantity of stool that is produced will be considerably less.

Continue Reading »

dog food recalls

Like hunting dogs, dogs that are on-the-go are consistently moving. These dogs come from the “round-tip” family as they were typically used to round up animals. Unlike hunting dogs, however, round-up dogs seldom get a chance to rest every couple of hours. They work continuously until they have recovered all the strays, brought in the last maverick, or are called off by their owners. As a consequence round-up dogs burn tremendous amounts of energy every day they are working. Many of them are performing at the upper limits of a dog's capabilities and endurance.

Always leaving food out and having these dogs self-feed more desirable than portion control. By allowing the dog to establish its own daily intake it will do a far better job of determining how much it needs, in relation to how hard it is working, than you could ever do.

Dogs that are on ordinary herd duty can be fed any time that is convenient to the herdsman. Like all working dogs, they should be fed twice daily, if at all possible. For herd dogs, about half of the daily needs should be fed at each meal. Round-up dogs should be fed their morning meal at least an hour before they begin, if that's possible, and should always be allowed to rest an hour or so at the end of the day before being fed their evening meal.

Guide Dogs

These are the dogs that act as a blind person's eyes. Much of their expenditure of energy depends on the activity of their masters. Active persons will have active dogs. In addition, psychological stress and tension play a role in the requirements for energy in guide dogs. Consequently, even guide dogs with owners who are reasonably inactive have a greater need for energy than dogs of the same breed that live as house pets.

Most guide dogs, like any other dog, must have their food intake adjusted to maintain their individual body weight. The convenience of the food is almost as important as its quality where guide dogs are concerned. Elaborate mixing of ingredients, or even moderate combinations, become impossible tasks for people who cannot see to read a scale or level a tablespoon. A single-food diet is most desirable for guide dogs, and the foods of higher caloric density (1600 to 2000 calories per pound) give the least trouble for the greatest performance.

Feeding guide dogs is best done by using portion control. It poses the least problem for a blind owner to simply measure out a fixed amount of food at each meal and throw away any food remaining uneaten. By having a sighted person weigh his dog at regular intervals, a blind master can make a judgment as to whether or not his dog's food should be increased or decreased for the next interval.

Continue Reading »