Puppies and Food
Puppy Feeding Guidelines:
Deciding on what, how much, and how often to feed are the key questions that need to be addressed by the primary caretakers of
a new puppy. Before introducing a puppy to a new household, owners should find out the type of food the animal has been fed, as
well as its feeding schedule. Providing a similar diet will help ease the transition to the home environment. Dog food products
made specifically for puppies should be nutritious and should promote growth; look for the words "complete and balanced"
on the label. Complete and balanced products contain all the necessary nutrients, in appropriate amounts, for young, growing dogs.
For puppies less than 16 weeks of age, offering small meals three or four times each day may ease the transition to the new home.
In addition, by feeding a meal every few hours, owners will have more opportunities to observe the animal's food intake and to
train it to eliminate outdoors directly after each meal. Once the animal is six months old, the feeding schedule can be gradually
shifted from the multiple daily feedings to two meals of equal portions, given in the morning and in the evening.
Some puppies do very well when food is made available all the time - an approach called ad libitum or free choice feeding.
However, many young dogs tend to overeat with this method, and the extra weight they carry as puppies can lead to health problems
as they get older. Feeding instructions listed on pet food packages offer reasonable recommendations to follow for about two weeks
with the initiation of the diet; after that, owners should adjust the quantity of food provided at each meal based on the animal's
body condition. A puppy with good body condition should have an hour-glass shape when viewed from the aerial view, or from above.
In contrast, a puppy that is overweight will not have any definition or shape around the midsection. Owners can assess body
condition by running their hands over the dog's ribcage to feel the ribs. The ribs should be distinguishable by palpation,
but not visible. The animal may be too thin if the ribs can be seen; if so, the owner should increase the total calorie intake.
However, if there is too much fat over the rib cage, and the puppy's ribs cannot be distinguished, the total amount of calories
allowed should be reduced. Most puppy owners want to feed treats or snacks of some kind, and there are several commercial pet
treats available in grocery stores, pet specialty shops, and even on the Internet. The use of treats as rewards during training
is appropriate, but the portions should be small because most treats, snacks, and human scraps fed to puppies are a source of
extra calories. To avoid problems such as obesity and diarrhea, treats and snacks of all kinds should not make up more than
10 percent of the puppy's total caloric intake; this guideline applies to adult dogs as well.
Large Breed puppies should receive a large breed puppy food, and should not be over supplemented with vitamins and protein.
If bone growth occurs to fast, deformation and incorrect bone growth is possible.
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