The Basics of Canine Nutrition Course is suited to those who have an interest in knowing more about canine nutrient requirements and digestion, reading dogfood labels, identifying food sources of various nutrients, and generally making sound nutritional choices for their dogs.It lays the groundwork for the course on Formulating a Home Made Diet, and the Advanced Nutrition course as well. This course is the foundation for all the others, insofar as here we learn about canine nutrition from the ground up, starting with anatomy, digestion and basic nutrient requirements of dogs. Divided into two parts, Part One is an examination of the essential nutritional needs of the domestic dog, and Part Two evaluates various methods of providing those needs; commercial diet, home made cooked diets, and various forms of raw feeding. We also look at feeding for life stages, and basics of supplementation, although individual needs and supplements are explored more fully in other courses. This course provides a basic, foundational knowledge and teaches critical thinking, so the student can dispassionately evaluate various diets and their appropriateness for an indivdual dog. It does not promote the superiority of any one diet over others, but rather bases itself on the premise that dogs require nutrients and there are many good methods of delivering them.

Home Made Food for Dogs: an Online Workshop/Study Programme

After running the Basics of Canine Nutrition several times now, admittedly a fairly technical course, I have come to the realization that many if not most students really want to learn how to formulate diets for their own dogs, present and future. So to this end I'd like to introduce my latest online homestudy programme, which will focus directly on how to formulate a balanced home made diet appropriate for your individual canine companion.

The breakdown of the course is as follows:

Introduction
 Review, discussion, during this time we will establish what our immediate goals are as well as tightening up any review of digestion, nutrient basics etc that needs to be covered. A solid previous knowledge of nutrition basics is essential. This course will function as a workshop as well as a class and I encourage people to bring their own dog into the discussion, so we can all benefit from the comparisons and different programmes we work out together.

Energy 101 - How much to feed?
This section covers metabolism, learning and using the formulas to determine caloric intake, how to establish a caloric range, and bioindividuality. Nutritionists use energy as a starting point for any home made diet and we will learn how all other nutrients are calibrated accordingly.

Energy Sources: Balancing carbs, proteins and fats
In this section we look at the three energy-nutrients and how they interact with each other and affect  absorption, requirements and selection of foood sources.

Carbohydrate Controversy - Good? Bad? What kind? How Much?
While not strictly speaking a nutritional requirement, carbohydrates fill a variety of very important roles in the canine diet, from the production of short chain fatty acids in the large intestine to a simple source of readily available energy. But all carbs are not created equal! We will look at carbs from a perspective of functionality, and break then into a number of groupings - which type and how much of each?  Plant foods contribute a great range of healthful nutrients to the canine diet, but knowing how much of which ones to use - and why - is essential. We'll cover fiber, gluten, and take an indepth look at the various foods that can contribute healthy carbs ot your dogs diet.

Protein- It's Not All About Meat
 In this section we will look deeply at what foods offer the most biologically available amino acids, and how to combine  and rotate them for an optimal canine diet. Dogs actually "require" far less protein than many assume and too much can be as harmful as too little. That said, various life stages, activity levels and health conditions suggest different needs... and the type of fiber you're using can interfere with absorption as well. A lot to consider, but we will make it easy and fun to learn. The key here is a plentiful, digestible supply form a wide variety of sources.

Fats: Sorting Through the Hype:
  Omega3  fattyacids are a big buzzword right now, but what are EFAs, where are they found, how are they classified and above all - how much does your dog need? This is a complex section but by the time we're done you will know the answers to these and other related questions. Fats are no more "bad" than are carbs, it's a matter of knowing which ones are healthful and in what amounts.

Putting these three together: The core of the Energy Section is how to balance the above three nutrient categories in your dog's daily life, which foods to use and in what amounts. We will analyze some popular recipes and review appropriate nutrient ratios again for various life stages and so on. Nutrient interactions - fiber's effect on protein for example - will also be covered.

All three of these nutrients will be examined with an eye to how much of each, what kind, and which food sources and preparation methods will maximize absorption, minimize potential problems of over or underfeeding, and encourage optimal, overall wellbeing. We will start using spreadsheets as well as software to see how even small changes in the diet can translate to big differences in the numbers - and keep looking at what those changes can mean to the health of your dog, over time.

Part Two - VITAMINS AND MINERALS

In this section of the course we will analyze the amounts of each vitamin and mineral in the diets we're developing, and review how much of each one a dog should require; when is there a case for using supplements, and how vitamins and minerals interact in the body.  Minerals in particular can be antagonistic and need to be carefully balanced.  Along with the three energy nutrients we have to ensure that we are neither under- nor over- supplying minerals. This is a six week area of investigation in the course and requires some previous knowledge, either my Basics Course or equivalent. Again we will analyze both our own dog's diets as well as some of the popular ones, with a view to deepening our knowledge and coming up with optimal, individual programmes. We will also expand our use of software/spreadsheets to include vitamins and minerals, and examine how these amounts can affect one another, such as mineral interactions and the effect of excess intake of both vitamins and minerals.

PART THREE: Preparation

This section will cover the following:

• dangers of heated fats
• pros and cons of raw foods, when and how to use them
• pros and cons of various cooking methods, watching the temperature, compensating for nutrient loss
• introducing new foods
• anti nutrient substances such as phytate and how to account for them in the diet
• batch cooking for the multi-dog household
• cooking safety
• food handling and storage

And we will start making the food!

PART FOUR - Supplementing a Home made diet

This part of the course will look primarily at those supplements that may need to be added to ensure nutritional adequacy and prevent deficiency/excess states. It will focus primarily on fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, and review  pros and cons of multi-type formulas, how to ascertain how much of a given supplement - and what type - your dog might require, and how to find quality products. Digestive enzymes, probiotics, chondroprotectives and antioxidants will be touched on, but as they are not strictly speaking requirements, the focus here will be  on what your home made diet must cover, nutritionally speaking. More information regarding supplementation for disease prevention and management of various conditions will be covered in the new short courses on supplements, coming this fall.

PART FIVE - Now for the Fun

In this section we can move away from the plain meals we've been making and analyzing and try some innovative recipes. I realize some students will be more interested in this part than others, but almost everyone wants treat and special occasion recipes. We’ll make some recipes to share with our dogs (and add their eggshell separately!) for those with one dog or small dogs - vegetarian or otherwise. Recipes include Connor's Veggie Pie, Gluten Free Doggie Lasagna, Quinoa Crusted Chicken Quiche, Venison Stroganoff, Black Bean Chili, Ostrich Pizza and Lila's Seafood Delight - all recipes gluten free, nutritionally balanced, and easy to make.  Just a fun way to end off a lot of serious study!  We'll use some of my own recipes and develop some new ones too.

This course is open to everyone who has a demonstrable level of basic nutrition knowledge. It will run for 24 weeks, exact dates TBA. The cost of the course is 275.00 US and texts are extra, but I will make every endeavour to provide online resources  and personal handouts throughout to cut down on costs. There will be a list of required reading as well as recommended reading, provided upon registration.

If you are uncertain whether your current nutrition knowledge level is adequate for this course, please don't hesitate to email me and we can discuss it. Students and graduates of the Basics Course will have more than adequate ability to deal with terminology etc. The course is not difficult, but neither is it Introductory. Let me know if you have any questions, I'm always happy to help.