Performance Dog Nutrition: Optimize Performance with Nutrition Book

	The Author	xi
	Acknowledgements	xiii
	Introduction	1
Chapter 1	How Food is Digested	5
	Role of the digestive tract	5
	Length and transit time	6
	Organs of the digestive tract	8
	Application to performance dog	17
Chapter 2	Commercial and Homemade Diets	21
	History of dog food	21
	Commercial diets	22
	The quality range	26
	Preservatives	28
	Homemade/natural diets	31
	Application to performance dogs	38
Chapter 3	Dog Food Labels: What They Do and Don't Tell You	43
	Regulation of pet food labels	44
	What is required on a pet food label	46
	The nutritional adequacy statement	46
	The guaranteed analysis panel	47
	The ingredient list	50
	Labeling games companies play	51
	Application to performance dogs	55
Chapter 4	Nutrient Evaluation: How Good is the Food You are Feeding?	59
	Nutrient evaluation	59
	Determining digestibility of dog foods	60
	Energy density	62
	Application to performance dogs	65
Chapter 5	Converting Energy to Motion	69
	Energy to motion	70
	Methods of energy production	71
	Protein and energy production	73
	Lactic acid production and fatigue	74
	Genetically altering energy production/utilization	75
	Application to performance dogs	76
Chapter 6	Protein Needs of the Performance Dog	81
	What does protein do?	81
	What is protein?	82
	Nitrogen balance	83
	Not all protein is created equal	84
	Determining the quality and digestibility of proteins	85
	Common protein ingredients in pet foods	86
	Protein needs of the performance dog	87
	How much protein does a working dog need?	88
	Application to performance dogs	89
Chapter 7	Fats: Essential Energy for the Performance Dog	93
	What are fats?	93
	Why is fat important?	94
	Common sources of fat in dog food	95
	Fat as an energy source	96
	High fat diets vs high carbohydrate diets	96
	Determining daily energy requirements	98
	Converting ME into cups fed per day	102
	The power of fat	104
	How much fat does a working dog need?	104
	Fat tastes good!	105
	Too much fat?	105
	Omega-3 fatty acids	106
	Application to performance dogs	108
Chapter 8	Carbohydrate Needs of the Performance Dog	113
	What are carbohydrates?	113
	What do carbohydrates do?	115
	Common sources of carbohydrates in pet foods	115
	How much carbohydrate does a working dog need?	116
	Dietary fiber and intestinal health	116
	Common sources of fiber in pet foods	117
	What types of fiber should be included in a diet?	117
	How much fiber should there be?	117
	Application to performance dogs	118
Chapter 9	Vitamins and Minerals: Practical Application to Performance Dogs	122
	Vitamins	122
	Minerals	128
	Breed-specific vitamin and mineral disorders	132
	Application to performance dogs	134
Chapter 10	Water: The Most Essential Nutrient to a Performance Dog	138
	Water compartments	140
	Where water is lost	141
	Dehydration	142
	How much water do dogs need?	145
	Application to performance dogs	147
Chapter 11	Conditioning for Performance	151
	Conditioning is important	152
	Advantages of conditioning	153
	How to condition	154
	Body condition scores	156
	Application to performance dogs	160
Chapter 12	Performance Dogs: Recognizing Problems and Finding Solutions	165
	Causes of diarrhea	165
	Causes of poor performance	172
	Causes of weight loss	178
	Causes of poor appetite	179
	Application to performance dogs	180
Chapter 13	Practical Label Examples	185
Chapter 14	Performance Dog Case Examples	197
	References/Additional Reading	207