Dog Health by LowchensAustralia.com

• Although dogs may prefer animal-based food, they can survive on a vegetarian diet as long as it contains sufficient protein and other nutrients. 

• Scientific research has shown that up to 50 percent of an adult dog's daily diet can come from carbohydrates, including between 2.5 and 4.5 percent from fibre. Approximately 5.5 percent of the diet should come from fats and 10 percent from protein. 

• Fresh water should be available to your dog at all times, and more during exercise, to prevent overheating. It is fine to feed an adult dog just one or two times a day, but puppies need to eat two to three daily meals. 

• Dietary protein contains ten essential amino acids that dogs cannot make on their own; studies show that dogs can tell when their food lacks a single amino acid and will avoid such a meal. 

• Mammals have faster rates of digestion than more primitive animals do thanks to small, finger-like projections called "microvilli" that increase the surface area of the intestines by about seven-fold.

• Normal, active adult dogs weighing 35 pounds should consume about 1000 kilocalories a day. 

• Unlike cats which are descended from carnivores, dogs are omnivorous animals that get most of their energy from carbohydrates; in commercial dog foods, carbohydrates come from cereals, legumes and other plant food-stuffs.

•  Severe illness or trauma may double a dog's energy needs. Whenever your dog becomes ill, please consult with your veterinarian or dog nutritionist for your dog's changed nutritional needs. 

• The growing puppy starts out needing about twice as many calories per kilogram of body weight as an adult dog of the same breed:. Owners should start feeding puppies food at approximately four weeks after birth in multiple, well-spaced meals. 

• Mothers' calorie needs increase with the number of puppies and the week of lactation, up to four.

• Due to decreased physical activity and slowed metabolism, older dogs need 20 percent less total calories than middle-age adult dogs.

• Exposure to certain flavours and textures of food early in life can shape strong preferences later on, as can meal temperature, odour, texture and taste. 
• Pet foods marketed as "snacks" are not required to have nutritional adequacy labels. 

Vitamins

Vitamins are organic compounds that take part in a wide range of metabolic activities. Dogs require vitamins in their food at low concentrations. First noticed in dogs some 75 years ago, vitamin deficiencies can lead to widely ranging clinical abnormalities that reflect the diversity of their metabolic roles. Some vitamins, like niacin, are not only essential in small doses, but also toxic in excess amounts. Following is a list of the functions of vitamins and symptoms of deficiency and excess. The full report also provides recommended daily allowances for these vitamins.