family diet of dog breeders. But in the process of growing highly valuable thoroughbred animals, other feeds have to be added, mainly from the protein group. Reinforced feeding is necessary mainly for producers, breeding bitches, growing puppies and working dogs during periods of intensive use.

The source of protein in the dog's diet is meat, fish, cottage cheese and other dairy products. Valuable stud dogs, as well as sick ones, are encouraged to feed eggs. The most complete, easily digestible protein is found in fresh, raw, unfrozen meat. The same should be said about fish. But the nutritional value of fish is lower and, replacing meat with it, the amount should be approximately doubled. Boiled meat and fish are nutritionally lower than raw. But nevertheless, part of the meat diet has to be given boiled for sanitary and preventive reasons, and also because dogs eat better porridge and vegetables, filled with broth with chopped pieces of meat (fish).

Salted meat and fish are given only boiled. And before cooking, soak in a large amount of water with its repeated change. But not all salt is removed by soaking. Part of it chemically binds to salty foods, enters the dog's body with them, and is subsequently excreted in the urine. Therefore, long-term feeding of dogs with salty foods is undesirable. And for young animals and whelping bitches, this food is simply harmful.

Many dogs greedily eat spoiled, rotten meat and fish. Adult healthy dogs that move a lot, have a good appetite and normal acidity of gastric juices, digest such a "delicacy" without harm if they eat it on an empty stomach. But, swallowing a piece of stale meat on a full stomach, the same dog can get indigestion. In this case, her gastric juice will be diluted with previously eaten food and will not be able to neutralize the putrefactive bacteria of the spoiled product.

Puppies who have secretion and, therefore, the acidity of digestive juices is less than in adult dogs, can be poisoned by stale meat or fish. There was a case in the Moscow zoo when even wolf cubs died from stale meat, although in nature adult wolves feed on carrion without any harm to health.

Meat and fish are fed to dogs in pieces, and not in the form of minced meat. The pieces dissolve completely in the stomach, while the minced meat partially passes into the intestines semi-digested, causing indigestion.

Usually, dogs are given cheap varieties of meat from various animals: beef, lamb, horse meat, sea animal meat, whale meat, etc. Only very fatty meat is not recommended, especially pork, which has a laxative effect. Pork, even low-fat, can only be given boiled, since it more often than meat of other animals contains trichina and tapeworm fins.

Raw entrails of hares, squirrels and other game animals should not be fed to dogs.

Animal fats are usually obtained from meat products in dogs. To dogs living in a house, they can be given only in a very limited amount, since excess fat causes indigestion, disrupts the activity of the liver and is simply not needed if the dog lives in warmth and does not expend much energy. It is useful to increase the amount of fats during the period of intensive use of the dog for hunting or in frosts if she lives in a booth. However, in these cases, you need to carefully monitor the digestion of your pets, reducing the amount of fat at the slightest upset.

Fats are absorbed better when the dog gets them mixed with other foods (porridge, vegetables, etc.).

Dairy products: milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, skim milk and others contain high-value protein, easily digestible fats, a complex of vitamins and minerals. All these foods, of course, fresh, are recommended for dogs of all ages. Fresh milk, so that it curdles and is better absorbed in the stomach, is best given with porridge, bread and other food.

It is useful to feed eggs when growing valuable young animals, as well as sick animals and breeding dogs. They are better digested mixed with other foods or in the form of omelettes. When giving raw eggs, it is good to mix one egg with half a glass of milk.

Foods containing carbohydrates compensate for the energy costs of the dog's body. The main source of carbohydrates are various cereals. Among them, in terms of cheapness, calorie content and digestibility, oatmeal should be recommended first of all, better flattened - the so-called oatmeal.

It is most convenient to cook cereals in the form of steep porridge on the water. And before feeding, they are diluted to the desired consistency with milk or broth with pieces of meat (fish) chopped into it. Flattened oatmeal can not be boiled, but simply poured with boiling broth or milk. If you have to replace the cereal part of the diet with bread products, it is better to give crackers from cheap varieties of wheat bread.

Plant foods: vegetables, herbs, fruits and root crops in the diet of dogs are primarily a source of vitamins. Vegetables and fruits are best fed raw to dogs. Considering that dogs do not digest food, and plant cells are covered with a cellulose membrane that does not dissolve in the digestive juices of dogs, it is better to give raw vegetables grated or minced. If the dog is reluctant to eat them in their pure form, pureed vegetables are mixed with other foods.

Boiled root vegetables, in particular potatoes, are rather poorly digested by dogs. They should be added to the feed in small quantities mashed in the form of a puree.

Greens - lettuce, dill, celery and milk nettle are added to the finished feed raw finely chopped. Nettles are steamed with hot food before serving to neutralize its burning villi.

Boiled pumpkin occupies a special place among plant foods. Most dogs readily eat food with this supplement. In addition, pumpkin has an anthelmintic effect.

In the process of cooking, many vitamins are destroyed, especially during long cooking in open boilers. Therefore, you should try to ensure that the dog receives raw meat, dairy products and vegetables as often as possible, preferably daily.

Grated carrots should be given to the dog in combination with a large amount of animal or vegetable fat. In this case, the carotene contained in carrots is more fully converted into vitamin A.

It is useful to accustom a puppy to raw vegetables, fruits, berries and meat from an early age, and then you need to give them regularly so that the dog does not lose the habit of these most useful foods.

Recent studies have shown that Excessive doses of vitamins and glycerophosphate cause profound metabolic disorders, tissue degeneration, and abnormal development. Abuse in the use of bone meal spoils digestion. Therefore, it is possible to give vitamins and other substances produced for medical purposes only as directed by a veterinarian and in strictly limited quantities.

The main source of minerals in the dog's diet are the raw bones of domestic animals. They need to be given little by little to avoid clogging the intestines, constipation and other disorders. It is better if the bones are soft, cartilaginous. The excess of hard bones given to adult dogs destroys their teeth prematurely. Do not give dogs the tubular bones of birds. When chewed, they always break into sharp pieces, which can cause intestinal perforation.

However, during certain periods, dogs may experience an acute shortage of minerals and trace elements. This is most often observed in bitches during the period of milk feeding of puppies and in puppies during periods of rapid growth. A characteristic manifestation of such food insufficiency is the desire to eat sewage and even earth. It is possible to compensate for the lack of substances missing in ordinary feeds by including wheat bran in food, added to hot cooked food in a teaspoon or a tablespoon, depending on the size of the dog. From pharmaceutical preparations, glycerophosphate and calcium gluconate are given, for adult dogs - the norm of a person, for puppies and small ones - half as much. Instead of ordinary meat products, they feed the kidneys, liver and spleen, which are especially rich in trace elements. Beef kidneys are fed raw, pork and liver are best cooked.

Help a sick friend
Dogs are susceptible to a wide range of diseases that are covered in a vast veterinary literature. Most of them can only be determined by a specialist who should prescribe this or that treatment. But in everyday practice, one often has to deal with temporary ailments of the animal and the most common diseases, in which the owners themselves are forced to provide this or that assistance or provide a certain regimen.

Most diseases are cured much easier when they are noticed at the very beginning. Therefore, you need to carefully monitor your pet so as not to run disease. Signs of the disease are manifested primarily in the behavior of the dog. She becomes lethargic, loses interest in games and walks, often hides in secluded, mostly dark corners.

An equally essential sign of ill health is loss of appetite, if it is not due to overfeeding and insufficient movement in the open air. With many diseases, normal digestion is disturbed in a dog, diarrhea or, conversely, constipation is noted. And some diseases are accompanied by an increase in temperature, which in healthy dogs is kept within 38-39 degrees.

With prolonged malaise, the appearance of the dog changes dramatically: it loses weight, the coat becomes dull, disheveled, the movements are shaky, often there are outflows from the eyes and nostrils.

As the body temperature rises, the nose, normally moist and cold, becomes dry and hot. However, the latter sign is