One of the commonest problems that dogs have when they come into boarding kennels is the same as we do and that is being overweight. This is often due to the type of food that owners give their pets.

Dogs digestive systems are somewhat different to what we have so they should not be eating the same food as we do. I’m sure you’ve had the same experiences as I have in that on occasions you go round a friends house for dinner and their dog is sitting by the table waiting to pick up scraps. Now it is fine for dogs to eat meat as leftovers but they should not eat from our plates.

If leftover scraps are given to the dog then they should be out into their own dish where they are normally given their food. This is because they will be less likely to want to eat their normal diet in their dish and prefer to eat from yours.

Dogs should generally eat food designed for them as this gives them the best well balanced diet. A mixture of dry and canned dog food is the best diet with the odd treat every now and again. There are foods specially designed for puppies as their stomachs are a little more sensitive to rich foods. Puppies area lot more active than older dogs so need more protein just as a young child does.

Try not to give your dog sweets or chocolates, they may well like the taste, just like we do, but they do not thrive on them. Very often dogs get very overweight and lethargic or irritable, ie they bark a lot, and suffer from diabetes and other ailments that we do only beacuse they eat too much of what we eat.

If you were to test a wolf for diabetes then you would not find it because their diet does not contain excess sugars.

It may seem like you are treating your pet giving them chocolates etc but in the long run you will only be giving them health problems down the line from overweight and other issues.

Keep your dog on food designed for them just as we do in boarding kennels and they will thank you for it by being healthier longer.