The dog is a carnivore and in the wild meat was the normal diet but it should be realised that at this time the dog usually ate the whole of its kill to supply protein , fats, minerals and vitamins that it needed.

Today, when there is a world wide meat shortage and an increase in price, substitutes for the protein part of the dogs diet must be found and these not only include fish, eggs and cheese but also vegetable protein such as that derived from soya bean.

Large dogs, especially working dogs or those that get a considerable amount of excercise are able to utilise quite a lot of carbohydrates in their diet in the form of bisuits or meal to supply energy and warmth. It is difficult these days to generalise about the quantities of food which should be fed to a dog as even with the different breeds there are great differences in the individual requirements.

It is worth remembering though that if you are feeding more than the dog actually needs to replace tissues, heat and energy to the body, it will be stored as fat and a fat dog is not usually a fit or happy one. It is equally true to say a dog which is underfed will lose weight but it is perhaps a tribute to our kind hearts that overweight is now much more of a problem in dogs.

The dog is naturally adapted to eating at a fairly infrequent intervals and tyhe food tends to remain in the stomach  for a considerable time before digestion takes place. For the healthy dog, one or two meals are quite sufficient, given as far as possible at a regular time on a daily basis. A big mistake is that people get into the habit of leaving a dish of biscuits for the dog to nibble ate thorughout the day. It is not necessary if the dog is receiving a properly balanced diet. The habit of eating throughout the day is just as bad for your dogs figure as it would be for our own.

You should never give your dog scraps at  meal times or worse still, feed the dog at the table. If you feel that you must give your dog scraps then incorporate them in the dogs correct meal time.

A dog that perpetually begs at the table is a nuisance (and the owner is to blame) and a dog that gets extras throughout the day will more often than not become more particular and refuse meals. A healthy dog which is getting sufficient excercise and the right quantity of food should be ready for meals and inturn clean up at meal times. If your dog is choosy over food then this is probably down to being overfed. If this is the case with your dog, cut down on the quantity that you are feeding for a couple of days which should get your dogs appetite back on track. Having said that, if your dog is receiving the right quantity of food and at the right times and eating well suddenly refuses its food, then this could be a sign of illness. If this continues for more than 24 hours, you should seek professional vetenary advice.