What Is Prebiotics?

In1994, Eukanuba was the first company to introduce "prebiotics", a natural health ingredient added to only a few of their dog food lines. Due to the overwhelming success Iams/Eukanuba(co-brands owned by Proctor & Gamble) recently introduced prebiotics to a wider selection of their foods. Seeing the positive response from consumers and dogs alike, other premium dog food and supplement manufacturers are quickly adding prebiotics to their own formulas. I will attempt to translate in laymans terms how food with prebiotics has been clinically proven to help your bird dog stay happy, healthy, and productive for many hunting seasons to come.

Your dog's digestive tract is the most important piece of his or her defensive line. The digestive system, primarily the colon, maintains the tug-of war balance between "good" and "bad" bacteria found within it. The introduction of prebiotics to a dog's system stimulates the growth and maintenance of good bacteria(probiotics) thus allowing the good bacteria to thrive within the colon. In doing so, good bacteria grows more rapidly and squeezes out the bad bacteria, thus consistently winning the battle between good vs. evil or more appropriately...health dog 1 - sickness 0.

Natural prebiotics are "non-digestible" complex carbohydrates added to the ingredients of the food during the manufacturing process. The food is then eaten by your dog releasing the prebiotics or their technical term Fructo Oligo Sacharides(FOS), the carbohydrate mentioned earlier. These are "non-digestible" carbo's that do not deliver nutrients or energy and do not increase the calorie or sugar intake so no excess weight/sugar increase will occur in your dog. I suppose the old adage of "in one end out the other" is appropriate but not without FOS dropping off the essentials of good bacterial promotion with the dog. FOS releases fatty acids that cover the colon surface that inturn help stimulate the "good" bacteria growth. FOS are a naturally produced fungus made by such vegetables as leeks, asparagus, and chicory. Many of these natural ingredients are used in the formulation of dog foods containing prebiotics.

Side effects do occur. Shocking as it is, the side effect of foods with prebiotics or added supplements is a REDUCED smelling stool. Yes, oddly enough FOS works to lessen the "bad" bacteria and in turn your dogs poop will not smell as much. Gone are the sulphur rotten egg smell as you bend down to scoop up your dogs mess. In my personal opinion the stools become more consistent all together. No more random messy mud pies! Manufacturers due warn that with any food change ingestion upset can occur and recommend gradually making the food change over a course of 2 weeks.

I hope this helped clear up what prebiotics is and shed some light on a topic that has been for the most part reserved for vets and pet nutritionists. I urge you to take the time to investigate prebiotics further and the possibility of adding it to your faithful four legged hunting companions diet as ingredient in their food or as a supplement to their current food. The most important part of having a healthy, happy, and productive bird dog is having an owner that cares. Without question, a bird dog will hunt to the end of the earth for it's owner. Through wind, rain, sleet, and snow. Through good times and bad. A loyal bird dog is just that, devoted to its master and willfully possessed by his own desire to hunt wild game. You owe it to him or her to give them the very best life possible.

Best of luck out there. -Mark