How Much Protein Does Your Dog Need?
Dogs arent carnivores, but they do need essential amino acids found in protein in order to thrive. However, some veterinarians still caution against feeding high amounts of protein to dogs with kidney disease, as well as to senior dogs. When in doubt, its always best to check with your vet to ensure your dog is getting proper nutrition. So, rather than looking for quantity of protein in your dogs food, you should be looking at the quality.
Dogs can only use a certain amount of the protein that is digested and absorbed at once to repair and maintain muscles and other tissues. Any excess must be disposed of, which means it is broken down and burned for energy or stored as fat. Either way, the kidneys remove the byproducts of protein breakdown and are excreted in the urine. If youve ever noticed those yellow spots on your lawn from your dog doing his business, there is a good chance that that is caused by excessive protein in the system. Also, if your dog is putting on weight, it might be worth examining the protein content of his food.
Another danger is in feeding too little protein to your pup. Dogs need protein to provide energy and build strong muscles, bones, and joints. As a general guideline, the Association of American Feed Control Officials requires adult dog food to contain a minimum of 18 percent crude protein on a dry matter basis (meaning whats left after all of the moisture is extracted from dog food). Food for growing puppies and nursing mothers has a required minimum of 22.5 percent dry matter protein. Again, you should ask your vet how much protein is recommended for your dogs life stage and activity level.
Dog foods marketed as high in animal protein tend to take advantage of the common perception of dogs as domesticated wolves. Dogs are not wolves. They not only have the means to digest plant matter, but their digestive systems are equipped to access the amino acids in plant-based proteins. According to Petfood Industry, its not the amount of protein in a dogs diet that is important, but the digestibility and bioavailability of amino acids. Often, high-protein, meat-based dog foods include protein sources that are neither highly digestible nor bioavailable to your dog. Unused protein ferments and goes into fecal matter, making your dogs solid waste stinkier, says Petfood Industry.
When it comes to digestibility and bioavailability, its actually a mix of animal-based and plant-based proteins that provide dogs with the highest amount of essential amino acids, says Petfood Industry. Beef, lamb, and poultry dont provide the optimal ratio of bioavailable amino acids by themselves. Thats why higher-quality commercial dog foods typically include additional protein sources, such as fish and fish meal, eggs, animal byproducts, and plant-based proteins, such as wheat or corn gluten. Such a wide variety of protein sources ensures that their bodies will actually use the essential amino acids and receive better overall nutrition.
So, what is the right protein content for your dog?
It is likely not in the range of over 60% or even 40% DM. However, this question could be more complicated. It also depends on your dog’s age, current weight, health and reproductive status (check out How to Choose the Best High-Quality Dog Food).
Sometimes there are benefits to high-protein diets. For instance, if your dog is overweight, they could likely be consuming a weight management diet that is higher in protein and higher in fibre. This diet can be useful for dogs to lose weight due to the high fibre content which makes your dog feel full and satiated eating less. They will not lose muscle mass because of the high protein content.
Are they miniature, small, medium, big or a giant breed? Recent studies investigating some essential amino acids have shown different requirements for different dog sizes 14–16. Therefore, the right protein content likely varies due to these factors as well. Nonetheless, current research, as well as current guidelines, do not state the “right” protein content for any dog as of right now.
What to do? Personally, I take this information as evidence suggesting that our dogs should be fed high quality foods (especially protein) in which protein levels are moderate (higher than the minimum) but not excessively high. Certainly, we need additional studies and more evidence. Regardless, we should accept these data as an indication that indeed, we can actually feed too much protein to dogs.
When this theory was finally tested in dogs, it was discovered that dogs did not react like genetically-manipulated rats. Rather, using methodologies that were available and accepted at that time, researchers found that dietary protein did not appear to be a contributing factor in the progression of chronic kidney disease in dogs. This evidence was supported by studies from separate groups and included both experimental models of kidney disease and dogs with naturally-occurring kidney disease. Moreover, further work reported that feeding sufficient (not excessively high) levels of high quality protein to dogs with mild to moderate kidney disease was helpful rather than detrimental for disease management. (Score 1 for the pro-protein movement).
The gut microbiome refers to all of the microorganisms naturally found in a dog’s intestinal environment. These organisms, primarily different species of bacteria, have numerous health effects and are also a direct source of many of the metabolites that are studied in metabolomics. (Note: This is new science that was not even a glimmer of a lightbulb when the earlier protein levels and kidney function work in dogs was conducted in the 1980’s and 90’s).
Metabolomics, along with its close cousin, the gut microbiome, are all the rage in nutrition research these days. Metabolomics refers to the collective and analytical study of metabolites in the body. For our purposes, these are the end products of protein metabolism that are found circulating in the dog’s blood or excreted in their urine or feces. There are a lot of these and so analysis of their trends and patterns provides valuable information about an animal’s metabolic state and health.
Using this information, AAFCO, the organization that provides standards and nutrient profiles for pet foods, has set the minimum protein content for adult dog foods at 18 percent in a food containing 4000 kcals/kg. For growing puppies, the minimum is 22.5 percent.
Should You Feed Your Dog High Protein?
Protein levels in some commercial dog foods have increased dramatically over the last 15 years. While there are many factors that drive dog food trends, this particular change occurred, at least in part, in response to pervasive (mis)perceptions that dogs are obligate carnivores [they are not] and beliefs that their diets must contain very high proportions of meat [they do not].
Feeding trends aside, what actually DO we know about correct dietary protein levels for dogs? How much is enough and are there risks to feeding too much?
Although precise protein levels that are optimal for dogs still elude us (probably because, like most things in science and nature, there is actually no single perfect value to be discovered), we do have a pretty good idea of dogs’ minimum protein requirements. We also have an understanding of their minimum essential amino acid requirements, thanks to companion animal nutritionists working in the early 1980’s.
Using this information, AAFCO, the organization that provides standards and nutrient profiles for pet foods, has set the minimum protein content for adult dog foods at 18 percent in a food containing 4000 kcals/kg. For growing puppies, the minimum is 22.5 percent.
Stanley’s daily energy (calorie) requirement is approximately 1000 kcals per day. If Stanley is fed a food that contains AAFCO’s minimum level of protein (18 percent), Stanley would be consuming ~ 45 grams of protein each day. Of course, most foods contain more than the AAFCO minimum. If instead, I fed Stanley a food that contained 26 percent protein (and the same energy density), Stanley would then consume ~ 65 grams of protein a day.
Let’s bump that up to a level that is not uncommon today – 36 percent protein. When fed this food, Stanley is taking in 90 grams of protein per day. You get the picture – the difference between 45 and 90 gram is substantial; the higher protein food literally doubles Stanley’s protein intake.
For a bit of perspective, the current recommended daily intake (called the Dietary Reference Intake) of protein for me, a 125 lb. adult human female is 45 grams.