Nuggets

The Nutritional Cage We dog owners are encouraged to focus on a healthy diet based on four basic principles: adequacy, balance, moderation and diversity. This is described as a balanced diet. At the same time, we’re urged to turn away [...]

Maillard: an unwanted reaction The Maillard reaction and the compounds it produces (AGEs) are well-established as significant contributors to physiological ageing and "inflamm-ageing" in humans (age-related chronic low-grade inflammation)[1]. The Maillard reaction isn't desirable for our dogs either. As I [...]

Stop treating your dog like a trashcan Dogs have been sharing our lives – and our food – for centuries. Up to the 1960s, it was common practice to feed them our table scraps and leftovers. Commercial dog food had [...]

Copper: what's not on the label? Copper is an essential nutrient. Dogs need it for iron metabolism, connective tissue formation, pigmentation, antioxidant defence and several other biological functions. But for all its benefits, more is not necessarily better. When copper [...]

Inside the extruder: making kibble By the time dry dog food is packaged, the transformation of living tissue and whole plants into a commercial commodity is complete. The original ingredients are milled, hydrated, thermally processed, mechanically altered, expanded, dehydrated and [...]

A varied diet for the modern dog Someone asked an interesting question recently: is it true that dogs should be fed the exact same diet all the time because ... well, consistency? But this oft-quoted advice, something of an old [...]