A dog's health and longevity directly depend on the quality of its food. Knowing what to feed your puppy and the optimal portion sizes will help you provide your pet with a complete and balanced diet.
Industrial feed or natural food
Every owner decides for themselves what to feed their pet. The main thing is to choose thoughtfully.
There are several fundamental rules for caring for a dog. One of them concerns choosing a wise diet from puppyhood. Using natural products allows you to be confident in the quality of your food and its health benefits. But daily preparation usually takes quite a lot of time, and, among other things, requires independently developing a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in accordance with the puppy's weight and physical activity.
This feeding option is not very convenient for travel and requires strict storage guidelines. The main ingredients of a puppy's natural diet include meat (lean beef, chicken, turkey, and rabbit), seafood, oatmeal, buckwheat, or rice porridge. Vegetables include pumpkin, carrots, zucchini, and cauliflower. Special attention is given to fermented milk products and milk, as well as raw quail eggs.
Commercial dry and wet foods are an alternative to natural nutrition, with advantages including ease of use, long shelf life, and balance according to the age and breed characteristics of your pet. Prepared foods are convenient for travel and save time on preparation. Obvious drawbacks are typical only for economy-class foods, which contain minimal amounts of beneficial nutrients.
Low-quality commercial diets often cause allergic reactions and digestive problems in puppies, so choosing food should be done carefully. The following special puppy diets have proven to be the best:
- Acana Puppy & Junior;
- Orijen Puppy;
- Almo Nature Medium Puppy;
- Applaws Small & Medium Breed Puppy;
- Eukanuba Puppy Toy Breed;
- Natural Holistic Fresh Puppy Large Breed Recipe Grain Free;
- Brit Care Puppy Large Breed.
When choosing ready-made food, you need to take into account the age and weight of the puppy.
How many times a day should I feed a puppy per month?
The number of times a puppy is fed varies depending on its age, and portion sizes are directly related to the breed and age characteristics of the pet.
If you feed your pet according to all the rules, it will be healthy and happy.
Overfeeding and underfeeding can cause serious health problems for your dog.Therefore, it is important to strictly control the daily volume of food consumed (approximately 7–8% of the puppy’s weight):
- up to four weeks of age, the basis of the puppy’s diet is mother’s milk, and the number of feedings is not regulated;
- From 4 to 8 weeks, the puppy is gradually accustomed to consuming solid food, so food is given 4–5 times a day;
- From 9 to 13 weeks, your pet should be fed 3-4 times a day;
- From 14 weeks to six months of age, your four-legged pet is fed three times a day.
From six months to a year, the animal is gradually accustomed to standard two-meal meals a day. Portion sizes vary depending on the pet's activity level, weight, and breed characteristics.
During the first two to three weeks after acquiring a puppy from a breeder or kennel, it is highly recommended not to change the puppy's usual diet. Subsequently, once the puppy has adapted, its diet can be gradually changed or adjusted, but under strict health monitoring.
