The New York Times ran an interesting article last Wednesday titled Feeding Your Canine Athlete. Here are few points I pulled from the piece:
“Many people who run or walk with their dogs treat them like human running partners, offering them sips of Gatorade or half of a sports bar during a workout. But the latest science about performance nutrition for canines underscores that dogs are not people.”
Q. Does that mean feed it (a dog) like a human runner?
A. No. Humans and dogs fuel exercise very differently…Dogs burn fat as their primary endurance fuel, and carbohydrates are not very important for them.
Q. So there’s no reason to give a dog a sports bar, which is full of carbohydrates, during a run?
A. No. Same for those gel packets…Fat is the fuel for performance dogs.
Q. What about protein? How important is it?
A. Vital. Athletic dogs need protein to build and maintain muscle. In general, their diet should consist of at least 25 percent protein, preferably from meat.
