When it comes to canine nutrition, there are a range of healthy fats that are key to providing the essential nutrients for early development and the maintenance of optimum health, as well as the prevention of illness and degenerative conditions over time. Key to feeding fats is ensuring a healthy balance between the different types of healthy fats for dogs, along with adequate carbohydrates, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals to provide a complete and balanced diet. While dogs are less effected by ‘bad fats’ than humans are, all fats are definitely not equal. A carefully selected variety of foods and supplements in the amounts most appropriate for the age and size of your dog means a recipe for health and wellness success.
If you’re anything like us, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about feeding your doggo fats is how to lessen them. Bach’s topline is definitely a little more padded than it should be and attempting to put him on a diet elicits a response that would have any visitor convinced that he is being subjected to some kind of awful torture (Bach is 100% convinced that he will starve to death in a matter of days). However, as it turns out, fats are not necessarily the culprit when it comes to doggos tending a little on the overweight side. Plenty of exercise and a balanced diet is the key (sometimes meaning favourite treatos in moderation – despite pleading looks from your number one doggo), along with the balancing fats in the diet to ensure a suitable variety of the most important essential fatty acids are well represented.
Does my dog need fat in their diet?
Yes! Fats serve several important nutritional purposes by providing energy and assisting the growth of healthy organ and muscle tissue, skin and coat. In addition, fats also assist the absorption of other nutrients and transport fat-soluble vitamins within the body – more specifically, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. These vitamins are in turn requisite to other functions – for example, vitamin D is essential to the body’s capacity to utilise calcium.
Healthy fats for dogs
The most important fats for dogs are essential fatty acids. There are five fatty acids that that are key to canine wellbeing and these include linoleic acid (LA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) (or omega-6 fats) as well as the omega-3 fats eicosapetaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and alpha linolenic acid (ALA).
We summarised the differences between these in our previous article, ‘Understanding Omega 3 for Dogs‘;
Without getting too sciencey, dietary fatty acids are grouped into 3 types: Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9.
• Omega 9 can be synthesized by a dog’s own body.
• Omega 3s and Omega 6s must be supplemented in their diet.
• Omega 6s and omega 3s have different properties but work together to provide their nutritional value. Importantly, If your dog has too much omega 6 without enough omega 3, it leads to chronic inflammation. You should not need to supplement with Omega 6 fatty acids, however in order to maintain optimum balance and reduce inflammation, you should introduce sources of Omega 3 fatty acids into your dog’s diet.
Why is omega 3 good for dogs?
Omega 3 fatty acids are essential to the building of healthy cells and are a key component in the structure of the cell wall. Therefore, these nutrients are essential for healthy tissue growth, especially the development of the eyes and brain which have higher levels of the omega 3 called docosahexaenoic acid (or DHA). These nutrients are also anti-inflammatory and therefore dietary omega 3 supplementation is also found to be helpful in assisting the symptoms of arthritis and other joint conditions.
In addition, Omega 3 can also be found to strengthen the immune system of dogs, reduce inflammation, increase the ability to fight cancer and can benefit heart health. There is even evidence to suggest that this particular fatty acid can assist anxiety, depression and hyperactivity in dogs.
Bad fats for dogs
So what about the bad types of fats for dogs? In reality, fats do more significantly more good than harm when fed in moderation. While humans often avoid high cholesterol or saturated fats (those that are typically solid at room temperature) due to dangers of heart disease, this doesn’t pose the same issue for dogs. Dogs naturally have higher levels of cholesterol in their systems and also naturally have more ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL) than ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL). This means that the fat they consume in their diet doesn’t affect their cholesterol levels.
The biggest issue that fats have the potential to cause is obesity, however this is usually a consequence of over feeding or lack of exercise rather than the amount of fat in the diet. Therefore all fats – especially those that lack the benefits of providing essential fatty acids – for example, grain-fed meat or lard – should be fed with some caution and in moderation. Saturated fats with lesser levels of essential fatty acids may have little benefit beyond providing energy for your dog who, depending on their levels of exercise, probably doesn’t require this kind of high-energy supplementation. Too much fat, leading to an overweight doggo, can also influence the development of diabetes and renal disease.
Balancing Omega 3s and Omega 6s for dogs
As we’ve already learned, Omega 3 needs to be provided through the diet. Fish products and grass-fed beef are both rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and therefore these types of treats are particularly helpful in providing the supplementation necessary for nutritional balance. It is important to choose raw of low-temperate dehydrated fish and beef as this retains its full nutritional value, rather than losing nutrients throughout the cooking process.
Flaxseed oil is another useful source of omega 3, while omega 6s can be found in chicken fat, pork fat, safflower and sunflower oils as well as other vegetable oils. However, commercial dog food is typically high in omega-6 and rather low in omega-3, so most dogs consume far too many omega-6 fats and too few omega-3 fats. If you are not already adding fish or other omega-3 supplements to the diet of your dog, it is safe to assume that an imbalance between the two fatty acids exists and consequently, omega-3 should be added.
Fish for dogs
Seafood is a powerful source of healthy fats for dogs, being one of the richest food sources of omega 3, particularly Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Shark cartilage is a popular, potent source of this nutrient however other fish treats such as chewy skin scrolls, fish tails and stinkin’ sardines also contain a large amount of this oily goodness.
Green-lipped mussels are slightly different proposition as they also contain the specific kind of omega 3 called Eicosatetraenoic Acid (EPA), which is not found in most other fish products and fish oil supplements. EPA and DHA are the preferred form of omega-3 fats for dogs.
Grass-fed meat for dogs
So, why grass-fed? And what is the difference? Grass-fed beef has a significantly different fat constitution to grain-fed beef (which accounts for most beef available in the market). The differences can be summarised as follows (taken from our previous article, ‘Beef treats for dogs – the grass-fed difference);
- Approximately 65% lower in total fat.
- Proportionately lower in trans fats.
- Higher in fat-soluble vitamins.
- Three to five times higher in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) – a well known anti-cancer fat with anti-inflammatory properties.
- Higher in vaccenic acid (which converts to CLA).
- Higher in beta-carotene, a potent antioxidant which also has anti-cancer properties.
- Four times higher in vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol), which is essential for good for cardiovascular health and is also an anti-cancer vitamin.
- About five times higher in total omega-3 fatty acids which are an important anti-inflammatory for dogs – learn more at Understanding omega 3 for dogs – itchy skin and inflamed joints).
- A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, which are both anti-inflammatory and important for cardiovascular health.
- Lower in the particularly problematic types of saturated fats (palmitic acid and myristic acid).
- Contains about four times more selenium, which has anti-cancer benefits.
While it can be tricky to know whether your beef is grass-fed or not, the colour of the fat is usually a good indication – fat from grass-fed animals takes on a yellowish tinge (that’s the beta carotene) rather than the stark white of a grain finished animal.
In summary, fats are an essential part of a balanced for dogs – especially those that are high in essential fatty acids. When it comes to planning how to feed fats, both balance and moderation are important, with proportionately more Omega 3 required than Omega 6.
Leave a Reply