More on Vitamin and Mineral Sources for Your Dog

In this post I continue the discussion of the importance of vitamins and minerals in your dog or puppy’s daily nutrition. Keep in mind that how and what you feed your dog will, to a great extent, determine its overall health, longevity, and enjoyment of life. By the way, one of the major points to take away is the importance of liver.

Milk and cheese are probably the only important sources of calcium and phosphorus among the foods that are not fed as much as they should to dogs, especially as sources of these minerals. Magnesium is found in nuts and beans, potassium in almost any natural ingredient. Most trace minerals in a natural diet are derived from the natural ingredients.

Liver: Newborn puppies, dying from the ”failing puppy syndrome”, have a tablespoonful of chopped liver added to their mother’s diet. Overnight, the pups snap out of it and start gaining again. Orphan puppies, stunted because their formula is inadequate, have a little liver puree added to that formula and those same puppies suddenly begin to grow and gain weight.

A young adult male, starting his second year is listless, uninterested, and underweight. A daily teaspoon of raw liver returns the male to his original luster and aggressiveness. A dog struck by an automobile fails to respond even though surgery has successfully corrected its injuries. About a week after the operation a tablespoonful of liver is prescribed three times weekly. By the end of the third week all of the dog’s lost weight has been regained and healing of the external wounds appears complete.

All of the dogs described above had one thing in common; liver was added to their diet. Perhaps liver should be called a “miracle” food rattler than a mystery food. But whatever you call it, the recoveries described were the results of liver, and whatever it is that enables liver to produce such ”miracles” remains a mystery.

For years veterinary nutritionists have referred to the ”unidentified liver fractions” and their seemingly miraculous effects. Whatever it is in liver, known or unknown, few canine nutritionists deny that liver does something special when it comes to a dog’s diet. If there is one single food that every dog should have in its diet, that food would have to be liver.

Discover more vital information in the guide I recommend for complete dog health and nutrition.

 

 

[tags]dog nutrition,puppy nutrition,vitamin and mineral sources for dogs,nutrition for puppies[/tags]

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1. Dog and Puppy Nutrition–Rough Guide to Vitamins and Minerals
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3. Dog Health and Nutrition | Fundamentals of Puppy Nutrition
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5. 4 Vital Tips on How to Feed Your Dog