DHA and Eukanuba Puppy Foods

1. What is DHA?
2. Why is DHA important to puppies?

What is DHA?

• DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is a long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA).
• Dietary sources of DHA include fatty fish (e.g., mackerel, salmon) and fish oils (e.g., cod liver oil).
• DHA is found in breast milk and is considered important for babies' neural and visual development.
• In 2001, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the fortification of infant formula with DHA and related fatty acids to ensure formula-fed infants received the cognitive and visual benefits of these critical compounds.

Why is DHA important to puppies?

Just like babies, a puppy’s brain develops most rapidly during early life; thus, an adequate supply of DHA is critical during this time.

Puppys have acquired only 70 percent of their adult brain mass by 6 weeks of age and 90 percent by 12 weeks. Neural development continues into the post-weaning period. In animal studies, low accumulation of DHA in the brain leads to abnormal retinal development, poor visual acuity and behavioral and locomotor deficits.

What does DHA mean for a puppy's well-being?

A puppy's ability to learn depends on healthy brain development; thus, it is critical to feed a puppy a nutritious diet. Feeding a puppy a diet containing fishmeal, a source of DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids, supports development of the neural tissues for optimal cognitive function.

Eukanuba® Puppy Foods contain the highest level of DHA for optimal brain development and a smart, trainable puppy. Eukanuba® Puppy Foods have more DHA than other leading puppy foods.

A recent study from The Iams Company indicates that puppies nourished with enhanced (high) levels of DHA were significantly smarter, more trainable than typical-DHA (low-DHA) nourished puppies.

Using a maze test, the study revealed puppies that received enhanced levels of DHA significantly outperformed puppies receiving typical levels of DHA.

For pet owners, this may translate into a puppy more quickly grasping basic training and obedience principles (e.g., housebreaking, learning basic commands) or minimizing the puppy's destructive behavior.

DHA (from fish oil) has been shown to be a key in neural development. Research, unveiled at the 2004 American Veterinary Medical Association convention, examined the role DHA (a long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid) - plays in puppies' neural development.

The research shows "that puppies nourished with enhanced (high) levels of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were smarter, more trainable than typical-DHA (low-DHA) nourished puppies."

DHA is one of the most abundant fatty acids in the brain, and thought to be vital for mental function. DHA has long been praised as a wonder nutrient for human infants and now it's been found to boost healthy brain development in puppies.

DHA, and its companion, EPA, are the forms of omega-3 essential fatty acids naturally available in fish oils -- for optimum utilization.