Ava Frick, DVM
High performance dogs like those in search & rescue, field trials, military, racing, sledding, and jogging, require special consideration when it comes to diet. A 50 pound dog would normally expend 1,100 kcal/day and consume 1.17 quarts of water. Add some exercise and the expendable energy rises to 2,490 kcal/day; with racing this number soars to 11,220 kcal/day and water needs of 6.57 quarts!
Athletes need a diet nutritionally balanced in composition and energy source. Unlike human athletes who depend primarily on carbohydrates, the energy source for performance canines is dependent upon dietary fats. Recent studies have shown that muscle glycogen storage during aerobic and anaerobic exercise in dogs is best preserved via high-fat diets. Let's look at the best balance for the three primary dietary sources: fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
A high fat diet (45%) increases nutrient density and facilitates absorption of essential fat-soluble vitamins which improve stamina. Nutrient density provides the most accurate relationship between energy, food intake, and nutrient content of a diet. It is the metabolizable energy (ME) in kcal/pound or gram.
Extensive research with sled dogs demonstrates that dietary fats and their metabolic products play an important structural and functional role in working athletic dogs:
Fatty acid oxidation with sustained exercise is the primary energy source for the muscle tissue.
Fats increase the oxygen metabolism of muscle cells (increases aerobic capacity).
A high-fat diet increases the ability of the body to mobilize and utilize fatty acids stored in body tissues.
It has been determined that an adult athletic dog has a protein requirement level much greater than a nonperformance dog. Amino acid availability determines the quality of a diet's digestible protein. Diets containing 30 to 40 percent (ME from protein) increase the body's plasma volume during exercise and reduce injuries.
One non-essential amino acid of specific importance regarding metabolic functions in dogs is Glutamine. This amino acid is responsible for:
Transportation of nitrogen between tissue.
Getting ammonia to the kidneys to maintain the acid-base balance.
Glutamine requirements increase during stress. During overexertion and prolonged exercise, plasma and skeletal muscle levels of glutamine drop. Skeletal muscle function is more dependent on glutamine than any other amino acid, unfortunately, its ability to be redistributed is the slowest. Maintaining a diet with at least 30% digestible protein will avoid a glutamine gap. Since dogs are carnivorous in nature, I recommend a high-quality animal protein diet which will supply excellent digestibility, amino acid balance, and palatability.
Carbohydrates (starches such as barley, corn, potato, wheat, rice, sorghum) are a source of quick energy providing 3.5 kcal ME/gram. Only minimal amounts will be stored as glycogen, the remainder being metabolized to body fat for energy reserves. It is important to prevent carbohydrate overload in feeding. If fed to your athlete in excess, carbohydrates will dilute the calories attained from protein and fat, preventing the benefits of increased stamina and injury prevention as discussed earlier.
The natural diet of a wild canid contains relatively few carbohydrates. Our domestic friend's digestive tract is no different, but what we put into it is. Balancing carbohydrates to achieve optimal metabolic benefits without interfering in fat or protein nutrition is crucial. Eukanuba's Maximum Calorie and Premium Performance meets the protein, fat, and carbohydrate recommendations discussed herein.
What you can do nutritionally to help your dogs' performance and enhance their overall well-being includes:
Feeding a diet which provides:
-Fats at 40% - 60% ME
-Protein at 30% - 35% ME
-Carbohydrates at 10% to 15% ME
Provide minimally an energy density of 4,000 kcal ME/kg
Post-exercise supplementation with small amounts of carbohydrate
