How A Dog’s Digestive System Works

A dog’s digestive system plays a crucial role in keeping your pet healthy as this vital process turned their food into energy. Understanding how a dog’s digestive system works can help you make a better choice when choosing your dog’s food, as well as exercise since this can help move food along the digestive tract.

Dog Food Nutrition and Ingestion

In order to lead an energised, active and healthy life, dogs need food that is rich in nutrients. This is the primary reason why kibble and treats made from natural ingredients, like our Hypro Premium dog food are best for your pet’s consumption as it is formulated with finely selected ingredients and superfoods. After you feed your dog, the nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream and the food is digested and then metabolised or processed to be converted into energy.

In mammals, the digestion process takes place in the alimentary tract, which is also referred to as the gut. It is a hollow tube through which food passes and then interacts with the enzymes and the acids from the intestine and stomach to be broken down into a simple form that is discharged into the tube. The role of the digestive enzymes is to accelerate the process called hydrolysis, which is essentially breaking down of food.

What Happens In The Stomach?

After nibbling the food and chewing it, the food from the dog’s mouth mixes with the saliva, which also sometimes contains mucus that lubricates food to help the dog swallow. Then it is transferred to the esophagus.

After that, it reaches the stomach, where it is broken down further into a simple form that can be easily absorbed by the body of the dog. This process is called digestion. The stomach contains secretions called enzymes that digest protein, mucus and hydrochloric acid.

An enzyme “pepsin” is contained within the stomach in the inactive form of pepsinogen that inhibits the digestion process to break down pepsin producing cells. The mucus lubricates this mixture while safeguarding the stomach wall lining, which consists of mostly protein and stops it from being disintegrated by these enzymes. The quality and secretion of mucus, acid and these digestive enzymes are impacted by the quality and ingredients of food consumed by your pet.

The muscular walls of the stomach in the pyloric region connects directly to the intestines. When the contents of the dog’s stomach are integrated completely, they are transferred to the pyloric sphincter, which functions like the regulator valve. At this step, the mixture is thick and milky called chyme, which passes easily to the duodenum when it is of a fluid consistency.

Small Intestine

The main hub for digestion in the small intestine is the duodenum. The intestinal wall and pancreas have more enzymes that are added to the chyme. The pancreatic juice has sodium bicarbonate which produces an alkaline surrounding to enhance pancreatic functioning. The regulation of this pancreatic liquid has two major hormones called pancreozymin and secretin, which also controls blood sugar.

Large Intestine

When the food reaches the large intestine, the water is absorbed, the food is digested and absorbed and fermentation of any dietary fibre is competed by healthy gut bacteria. This process can produce gas which is often accompanied by flatulence. The last step is after the majority of the nutrients have been digested and absorbed, the rest will come out as waste which hopefully occurs outside of your home.

To aid your dog’s digestive system, feed them with natural and nutrient-rich food like our Hypro Premium dog food that is made from finely crafted Australian ingredients with your pet’s wellbeing as the main focus