Real Dog Food Nutrition Course for Dog Parents
I'm taking a dog food nutrition course offered by Feed Real, a subsidiary of Real Dog Box. I didn't doubt that the course would be education, but my mind is blown with each Unit.
Course Units
- Understanding Your Dog
- Essential Nutrients
- Feeding Standards
- Feeding Raw Basics
- Getting Started and Transitioning to Raw Feeding
- Following Up to After the Transition to Raw Feeding
- Common Myths and Misconceptions
- Final Exam
I'm starting Unit 4 today.
3 Surprising Facts I've Learned So Far
As I'm taking this course, I'm keeping an open mind because my goal is to use this course to improve my dogs' diet and, so far, I've learned three things.
1 - Senior Dogs Need More Protein
I knew that I would need to adjust my dogs' diet as they aged, but I thought I would be following their lead. For instance, Rodrigo prefers cooked foods and I now alternate between raw and gently cooked.
Today, I'll be mixing up two meals for my dogs with quail as the main protein:
- Apollo will get the normal meal: 80/10/10, base mix, canned oysters
- Rodrigo and Zoey
will get the same meal, but I'll be adding Xkalibur by GreenTripe.com. This is a high protein blend that is recommended for puppies, active dogs, and seniors.
The recommendation to reduce protein comes from a study with rats that was later applied to dogs.
2 - The Liver Plays a Role in Digestive Health
After losing two dogs to cancer, I started researching what I could do to better support Rodrigo, Zoey, and Apollo. Everything I read brought me back to gut health. The course taught me that I need to also focus on the liver because it
makes and secretes bile while processing and purifying the blood which contains newly absorbed nutrients.
I alternate supplements from Adored Beast Apothecary each week. I adding fermented products and fiber (vegetables, fur) to my dogs' diet. And mushroom blends also support gut health.
3 - Complete and Balanced is BS
Okay, so I know that "complete and balanced" is a marketing term. What I didn't know was the a large percentage of processed commercial brands don't meet the AAFCO requirements that allow them to say that their food is "complete and balanced."
My Thoughts on the Course So Far
I am loving this course. It's filled with valuable information that makes me feel more confident about what I feed my dogs (why and how). I highly recommend the course if you're interested in learning more about dog nutrition.
- the information is delivered in a great format that's easy to
consome and doesn't come across as condescending.
- while the course educates us about kibble, it doesn't demonize kibble, which I appreciate. There are tips on how to improve kibble throughout the course, which is great for people who are ready to go full raw.
- the information is delivered is based on science and is unbiased.
- we can take our time; we have 12 months to complete the course.
- the course is affordable at
$150
