Natural chicken carcass-based food for competition dogs

Nutritional palatability and acceptability assays of diets are important to guide the nutrition of competition dogs. From this perspective, this study aimed to determine the food preference of competition dogs. The experiment was conducted in a kennel by testing the preference of two diets: TC diet (premium dog food) and AN diet (chicken carcass). Twelve adult dogs, among males and females, of the German Shepherd breed and weighing from 20 to 25 kg were fed twice a day (9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.), to meet their metabolizable energy requirements (NEM). In the food preference assay, two containers were used by offering the two diets at the same time, with the control of food supplied and leftovers. The analysis of food preference and consumption (g/day) occurred though Fischer’s chi-square, F, and Tukey tests all at 95% probability (𝛼:0.05) via software R. There was no significant difference between the preference for AN or RC (p-value > 0.05) by the QQ test. The total consumption of 9.1 Kg of AN and 7.7 of RC, subjected to the test of means, adjusted to a Gaussian distribution (AIC 520). According to the analysis of variance, there was a significant difference in consumption (p-value ≤ 0.05), with the average consumption of RC amounting to 374 g, whereas for AN it was 319 g. The intake rate for AN was 57.78 %, and 42.27% for RC. There was no significant difference for the feeding time. With regard to the physiological aspect, the dogs fed with TC showed a higher volume of feces, which had a hardened aspect, little odor, and no mucus. There was no record of behavioral changes in the dogs. I tis concluded that AN can be equally used for dog nutrition, similar to RC, as a viable option to compose the diet of dogs without compromising their performance during preparation for competition.