The 80/20 Rule

Now, we all know how our dogs give us those dopey puppy-dog eyes when we are munching down on a solid plate of homecooked goodness and we all feel, at some point, that surely the same kibble EVERY day is a bit boring for our dogs – so what is the 80/20 rule and how can we use this rule to change their lives, health, and longevity?

The 80/20 Rule is using exactly those two numbers but in a feeding routine.

So 80% current kibble, and 20% fresh foods.

This sounds simple enough but what are the actual benefits of doing this, and which foods should we include?

Why should we do this?

Well, a study in 2005 has shown that including fresh food just three times a week improves your furkid’s health and has been shown to reduce the risks of cancers.

We must understand that no matter how good those bags and their claims are, commercial kibble food is a mechanically produced (extruded) product. This also means it has a high filler/grain content to achieve that dry, biscuit-like product we all know.

The reality of feeding only processed food

While commercial pet food is formulated to meet the minimum requirements of your pet in order to sustain life, it certainly won’t meet the biological requirements of your pet.

Reading and understanding the labels and descriptions is incredibly important, because often it is full of triggering words that lead us pet owners to believe that the product is superior and “the best” there is.

But here is the truth – dogs’ diet should ideally, as a rule of thumb, be 70% quality protein, 5% organ meat and 25% vegetables. This again, can be adjusted based on the pet and their energy requirements but it is a great place to start.

With this in mind – looking at your pet feed bags and doing the simple carbohydrate calculation, it quickly becomes evident that the commercial foods available are high in carbs (40% +) and low in protein (usually 28 – 38% per bag) which puts your dog at a very unbalanced nutrition position.

What is the carbohydrate problem?

While carbs on its own is not a bad thing, especially for athletic dogs, the TYPE of carbohydrate is what causes the issues. Pet foods contain large amounts of rice, wheat, corn and sometimes potatoes that make up the bulk of the recipe to get the biscuit-like texture.

If your pet eats only a carb rich diet, however, it is far surpassing its nutrient needs for starchy carbohydrates, and this causes the excess carbs to break down into sugar - which raises your pet’s insulin and cortisol levels. This then leads to chronic conditions such as diabetes and/or obesity over time.

Another claim to note is that kibble does not, in fact, clean your dog’s teeth. Much to the sadness of marketing and claims and VOHC stamps on bags, carbohydrate dense foods get stuck in your pets’ teeth when consumed. Imagine eating a dry Salticrax biscuit – you spend ages pulling it out of your teeth – so the same applies to your pet when eating dry kibble.

The only way to keep their teeth clean, is to clean them. That can be through brushing, healthy unprocessed dental chews or just feeding them more fresh foods and raw meaty bones (chicken necks, turkey necks etc etc) as this chewing on a biologically appropriate food-source that breaks easily, does not leave any kibble behind.

There is also the 4D ingredient source. This refers to the protein or animal meats and stands for “dead, dying, diseased or disabled animals”. In order to get cheap meat ingredients from abattoirs and suppliers, commercial food companies often purchase these four types of meat, and they are legally not obligated to disclose it to you.

This again, is hidden by pretty labels and lovely claims – so what do you do now?

Adding fresh foods – the benefits

We know everyone gets busy and life doesn’t always give you time to do a ton of prep-work for you or your pets, so the 80/20 rule is a great way to start adding fresh, high-quality ingredients that you know will boost your pet’s health and longevity. As we always say, a little fresh is a lot better than nothing.

Feeding functional fresh foods, and high-quality proteins, will ensure your pet reaps the benefits of the foods they are eating. Here is our easy, simple chart that lists some of the safe foods to add a little bit of, every day or every other day.

As mentioned earlier, feeding fresh just three times a week showed a reduction of TCC cancer in a group of dogs. It will also ensure a bit more balance with your pet and their dietary requirements.

Remember to;

Regardless of fresh or not adding fresh, you should always hydrate your pet’s kibble. Pets need moisture to digest their foods, so when you feed just a dry kibble, you cause their bodies to pull moisture internally to digest, which promotes kidney and bladder diseases in dogs and cats. Adding additional moisture will help prevent that.
If you feed the 80/20 model, remember to reduce their kibble to 80% of their daily intake. So, if your dog eats 100g kibble per day, they must only eat 80g kibble and the balance made up with fresh foods.
Pick high-quality ingredients. Remember things like eggs are only as good as the chicken they come from, so try opting for free-range and hormone free chickens. This applies to meats as well – high-quality, free-range beef and chicken will be so much better.
Rotate the foods you add in often so that your pet is exposed to plenty of phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, and proteins with different nutrient profiles.
Fruits and vegetables need to be partially processed (diced, chopped, steamed, boiled) for your pet before serving so that they can digest it easier as they lack amylase to digest fruits and vegetables in their whole form.

If you need help;

This can sometimes be very confusing so if you need help formulating a diet and plan for your pets, pop us an email to nutrition@clawsnpaws.co.za or book a consult here.