FEEDING BALANCE FOOD TO GROWING PUPPIES

 

FEEDING BALANCE FOOD TO GROWING PUPPIES

Compiled & Edited by -ROHIT  SINGH 

All growing puppies need proper nutrition. However, choosing the right diet for your puppy can be an overwhelming task. There’s no denying that buying commercial puppy food is just easier than making your own. It’s so convenient to just pour a scoop of kibble into a bowl or open up a can. However, in the wake of commercial dog food recalls, many pet owners have chosen to prepare their own dog food.

Homemade puppy food can save you a little bit of money and allow you to custom-design a diet that fits your puppy’s needs. When you choose to feed your puppy home-prepared food, it takes a certain amount of commitment on your part. Make sure you have the time to prepare the food properly and on a regular basis. There’s a lot you need to know before you can start feeding your dog an appropriate homemade diet.

A puppy eats a lot of food. From birth up to six months of age, he’ll need to eat two to four times as much as an adult dog to support all that growth. A good rule of thumb (paw?) is that after his first week of life, when his weight doubles from what it was at birth, a puppy should gain one to two grams per pound of anticipated adult weight each day. This means that if your German Shepherd puppy weighs 75 pounds as an adult, he should gain three to five ounces per day as a puppy.

Puppies are typically weaned off of their mother’s milk at about 8 weeks of age. The goal of feeding growing puppies is to lay the foundation for a healthy adulthood. Proper nutrition is needed to:

• achieve healthy growth (neither too rapid nor too slow),
• optimize immune function,
• minimize potential for obesity, and
• avoid developmental orthopedic disease.

Homemade dog food may seem like a beneficial approach to feeding your pet. But a dog’s nutritional needs are complex and often cannot be met with ingredients commonly found in our pantries. Here’s what you need to know about homemade dog food.

Increasingly, homemade dog food is being considered by pet owners hoping to provide dogs with a more varied diet and a wider set of flavours. But while homemade dog treats and meals often feel satisfying to make, the risks of producing your own dog food can outweigh any perceived benefits. Pet food needs to be very carefully created, including a precisely balanced mix of nutrients.

Like humans, dogs have specific caloric requirements and need certain vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. Puppies have even more specific needs in order to grow at an appropriate rate and thrive. The food you feed your puppy must be complete and balanced. It must also be designed to support growth.

One of the biggest mistakes pet owners make when they decide to feed home-prepared diets is not following the right recipes (or, not following a recipe at all). Preparing the right puppy diet is about more than just feeding enough calories. It must also have the proper balance of protein, fat, and calories for a growing puppy. The diet must also contain the right amounts of ​vitamins and minerals.

Baby foods can be fed directly to dogs, or mixed with other ingredients to make dog treats. Don’t give dogs baby food that contains onions, because onions can be harmful to dogs. Baby food is not a good substitute for dog food, since it does not include all the nutrients and vitamins dogs need. Feed baby food sparingly as an occasional treat.

Meat Baby Foods

This type of baby food is made from ground up meat mixed with water. It comes in a variety of flavors, including beef, chicken and turkey. It is packaged in small glass jars. You can give it to your dog on a spoon, or by scooping it out with your finger and offering it to your dog to lick. It can also be mixed with other ingredients and baked in an oven into hard dog cookies.

Fruit and Vegetable Baby Foods

Some dogs like vegetables, so you can feed them baby food derived from these ingredients as long as it doesn’t contain onions. Carrots, beans, bananas, squash, and watermelon baby food can be fed to dogs. You can also feed the solid second-stage baby foods, such as peeled baby carrots. Just fish them out of the jar and give them to the dog like any treat.

Baby Food and Sick Dogs

Most dogs find baby food delicious, so it can be used to convince a sick dog that refuses dog food to start eating. Dip your finger into the jar, and smear a little on the dog’s nose. Be careful not to block the nostrils. The dog will lick the food off its nose, and you can add more on the nose, or offer the dog baby food on your finger.

Using Baby Food to Change Foods

Some dogs will refuse a new dry dog food because they don’t like the taste. You can add baby food to the dry kibble to make it more attractive. This works best with meat paste baby food. Add the kibble to the dog’s bowl, then spoon the baby food over the top. Mix it vigorously so that the kibble is fully coated. This prevents the dog from licking up the baby food and leaving the kibble behind.

The purpose of daily nutrients for dogs

According to the Pet Food Institute, there are more than 40 nutrients your dog needs every day to remain healthy.¹ Each of these must be precisely balanced as too little or too much of a single nutrient can lead to malnutrition and poor health. The essential nutrients in your dog’s daily diet affect every part of their health as they:

Provide energy Build and maintain their bodies Manage health conditions Support healing Support healthy coats and skin

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What are the nutritional requirements for growing puppies?

When choosing a diet for your growing puppy it is important to understand four key nutrients: protein, fat, calcium, and digestible carbohydrates.

Protein

• Protein requirements for growing puppies are highest immediately after weaning, but the amount of protein they need will steadily decrease thereafter.
• The recommended protein range for healthy puppy growth is 22-32% on a dry matter basis. These levels support optimal growth, so it is not recommended to exceed these protein levels.
• Nutritional formulations for adult dogs should notbe fed to growing puppies. Although the dry matter protein level may be adequate, other nutrients and energy content will not be balanced for optimal growth.

Fat

• Fat is a source of essential fatty acids.It is a concentrated source of energy and it carries fat-soluble vitamins.
• Excessive energy intake is risky and can lead to obesity and developmental orthopedic disease. For this reason, the fat content for puppies should be rationed between 10-25% on a dry matter basis.

Calcium

• Calcium content in growth formulations for large breed and giant breed puppies have recently become much more stringent so it is important to select a diet that specifies it is designed to meet the nutritional levels established for AAFCO for large breed puppies.
• Small to medium breeds are less sensitive to the effects of slight over- or under-feeding of calcium, so the levels of calcium can range from 0.7-1.7% on a dry matter basis.

Digestible carbohydrates

• No specific amount of digestible carbohydrates has been identified as optimal for growing puppies, but it is suggested that 20% on a dry matter basis may maximize their health.

Once an appropriate nutritional product has been chosen, no additional vitamin or mineral supplements should be given, and treats should be limited to less than 10% of the total amount of food fed.

Minerals and vitamins

Fresh ingredients lack certain vitamins and minerals, so a specialised veterinary supplement could be required to cover the remaining essential nutrients. Meat, for example, has a low level of calcium but does have a high level of phosphorus. It’s important to make sure this is precisely formulated, as any inaccuracies may cause bone issues for your dog.

Water

Water is a major constituent of an animal’s body. Fresh, clean drinking water should always be on hand for your dog to prevent dehydration. Water is key to the regulation of body temperature, intestinal mobility and dispersion of nutrients and waste in the body.

The measurement of each nutrient is determined by factors such as age, breed, weight, lifestyle, sensitivities and health conditions, and will change over the course of a pet’s life.

Even a healthy, adult dog can experience multiple alterations in their nutritional needs, due to changing activity levels, whether they’re carrying a litter, or even depending on their home setting. Dogs who live in an urban environment, for example, may have different needs to pets in more rural areas.

Make your own dog food

Making your own dog food can be incredibly complex. Before you even start to make changes to your pet’s diet, it’s important to consult with a veterinary nutritionist, who will calculate your dog’s energy and nutrient requirements. Your dog’s breed, age, weight, activity level, condition, health and living conditions will all be taken into account when developing your pet’s nutritional profile, and each nutrient must be met precisely.

Once your pet’s nutritional requirements are determined and you are given a formulated diet by a veterinary nutritionist, you will need to invest in specialist equipment. This can include, but is not limited to, a high-end meat grinder, cleavers, knives, shears, bowls, scales, containers, gloves, and cutting boards. Strict hygiene standards must also be met throughout the preparation process to avoid bacterial contamination.

Selecting the right ingredients to provide each nutrient can be difficult, too. Your veterinary nutritionist will select specific ingredients so your dog gets each nutrient in the proper amount. Some ingredients that seem nutritious to us can be toxic for your dog. Onions, for example, are a great source of vitamins and potassium, both of which are important nutrients families for pets, but are in fact toxic to dogs in any form.

Even with safe ingredients for dogs, those who are not used to making pet food are likely to find it difficult to extract the right nutrients in the right quantities, and there is a risk of overfeeding or malnutrition if not done correctly.

Although it may be easy to find homemade pet food recipes, it’s important to consider that, even with the right equipment and safe, nutritious ingredients, it can still be very difficult to create a complete and balanced diet from home. Before committing to making your own pet food, you should consult a veterinary nutritionist, who will have the scientific and nutritional knowledge to fully support your dog’s health and wellbeing through homemade diets.

When considering homemade food, it’s worth remembering that dogs are very different to humans, both nutritionally and in terms of our eating habits.

Taste is less important for dogs than it is for humans. We have 9,000 taste buds while dogs have 1,700, so their sense of taste is less developed.

As humans, we chew and savour our food, but dogs bite and tear, meaning they chew less and eat faster. Food spends less time on their palette.

Unlike humans, dogs do not require a varied diet. In fact, changing a dog’s diet too quickly can cause them to experience an upset stomach. If you ever have to transition your pet onto a new diet, it’s important to do so slowly and in phases.

What matters most to a dog is the combined aroma, texture and temperature of their food and the regularity and routine of eating. The appearance, colour and variety of food are unimportant to them, and there’s actually a risk of digestive problems if you change their diet too often.

Human                     Dog

 

Calcium  1000 mg              1280 mg

Copper   1.3 mg           4.2 mg

Zinc         8 mg              42 mg

Vitamin D    200 IE         380 IE

Vitamin B1    23 µg       25 µg

 

Your dog relies on you for their food and all the nutrients that keep them healthy, so it’s important that you consider what’s right for them.

While homemade dog food can seem satisfying to prepare, it has to be made under strict hygiene conditions and in exactly the right quantities to be safe and nutritionally sufficient. Sourcing premium ingredients can be complicated and expensive too.

How to Prepare Homemade Puppy Food

In general, puppies need about twice as many calories per day than their adult counterparts. According to the Committee on Nutrient Requirements of Cats and Dogs of the National Academy of Science, a 10-pound puppy that is expected to weigh 33 pounds at adulthood needs to eat about 990 calories per day.² In addition, puppies need more protein, fat, vitamins and minerals than adult dogs.

A homemade puppy diet should contain the proper balance of:

• Protein, such as chicken, turkey, fish, lean beef
• Carbohydrates, like rice, pasta, potatoes
• Vegetables, such as peas, green beans, carrots
• Fat, often in the form of vegetable oil
• Vitamin/mineral supplements (purchased from a reputable company)

Once you have chosen a recipe, it’s time to prepare it for your dog. Many owners who feed home-prepared diets set up a regular schedule, setting aside time weekly or monthly to prepare and portion the diet. The food can be prepared in bulk and portioned into containers (one container per meal makes it extra-easy). You can keep meals frozen for several months or refrigerated for about 5 days. When the supply of pre-prepared meals runs low, it’s time to make a new batch. If you like to feed a variety of foods, you can make multiple batches and color code by ingredients, rotating out the different meals.

Remember to increase portions appropriately as your puppy grows. It’s best to weigh your puppy every week or two to make sure you are feeding the proper amount of calories.

A puppy needs food made just for puppies. You can also feed your puppy commercially-prepared dog food that’s labeled for “all stages of life.”

The number of feedings a day depends on your pup’s age:

• 2 to 3 months old: 4 meals a day
• 3 to 6 months: 3 meals a day
• 6 to 12 months (up to 24 months for the largest breeds): 2 meals a day

In most cases, a puppy can start weaning from its mother’s milk or substitute milk between the ages of 3 and 4 weeks. Once weaning is started, the process typically takes up to three weeks before they are transitioned away from milk.

PUPPY FEEDING TIMELINE

Here’s is a brief puppy feeding timeline to help you get through the first few months of feeding your puppy.

6-13 WEEKS

This period is critical for your puppy’s growth and development. So, you need to make sure that you feed your puppy a specially formulated and balanced diet to meet all its nutritional needs. If you feed
your puppy adult food at this stage, it may not get some of the essential nutrients that it requires.

Giving your puppy four feedings a day is usually enough to meet their nutritional demands. Moreover, you should feed your large breed pups unmoistened dry food when they turn 9 or 10 weeks. Also, you
can give the same dry food to your small breed pups by 12 to 13 weeks.

3-6 MONTHS

Once your pup hits the 3‐month mark, it is recommended that you reduce its feeding from four to three a day. This is done to ensure that your pup loses its pudginess and potbelly by 12 weeks. If your puppy is
still chubby by this age, keep feeding it puppy‐sized portions until it matures.

6-12 MONTHS

During the 6 to 12 month time period, you should feed your puppy only twice a day. At this point, your puppy is spayed and neutered, which lowers their energy requirements. So, after this procedure is done, you can switch from nutrient‐loaded puppy food to adult food. Puppies belonging to small breeds can usually make this switch at 7 to 9 months, whereas big breed pups can make the switch at 12 or 13 months. The golden rule to remember is that it is better for your pup to remain on puppy food for a
longer period of time rather than switching too soon.

AFTER AGE 1

After the age of 1, it is recommended to feed adult dogs 2 half‐portions a day.

PUPPY FEEDING CHART

Here is a puppy feeding chart to better guide you about how much food you should feed your puppy per day. As always, we advise following any recommendations by your vet.

Weight of Dog	6-12 Weeks	3-4 Months	5-7 Months	8-12 Months
3 – 5 lbs	1 – 1 1/3 cup per day	3/4 – 1 cups per day	1/2 – 3/4 cups per day	1/2 – 2/3 cups per day
5 – 10 lbs	1 1/3 – 2 1/2 cups per day	1 – 2 cups per day	3/4 – 1 1/2 cups per day	2/3 – 1 cups per day
10 – 20 lbs	2 1/2 – 4 cups per day	2 – 3 1/2 cups per day	1 1/2 – 2 2/3 cups per day	1 – 2 cups per day
20 – 30 lbs	4 – 5 3/4 cups per day	3 1/3 – 4 1/2 cups per day	2 2/3 – 3 2/3 cups per day	2 – 2 3/4 cups per day
30 – 40 lbs	5 3/4 – 7 cups per day	4 1/2 – 5 2/3 cups per day	3 2/3 – 4 1/2 cups per day	2 3/4 – 3 1/3 cups per day

 

Cooked vs. Raw Diets for Puppies

There’s no doubt that home-cooked diets for puppies can be healthy when done correctly, but what about raw food? There is much controversy over raw food for dogs. The AVMA and other agencies warn of the risks of dangerous pathogens in raw pet food. Some other experts see the potential benefits of raw food for healthy adult dogs. However, puppies are a different story. Raw food may contain dangerous pathogens that can lead to illness in people and some dogs.³ Like children, young animals may not have the immune systems to fight off pathogens found in raw food.

If you feel you can safely handle raw food and you are willing to assume the risks, talk to your veterinarian about transitioning to raw food when your puppy gets older. In the beginning, you might choose to offer a combination of cooked and raw foods to see how it works out.

Raw diets should never be fed to dogs coming into contact with immunocompromised humans. In addition, raw diets are not recommended for dogs with immune system issues.

Before you pick your puppy up from the breeder or rescue centre, ask them what brand and type of food your puppy is being fed on. By the time puppies are eight weeks old, they should have been weaned from mum and be eating solid food. A reputable breeder or rescue should give you a few days’ supply of this food to take home with you when you take your puppy home (if your puppy is not weaned on to solid food, walk away and do not buy your puppy from them).

You can choose to keep them on this same puppy food, or switch them to a different brand of puppy food once they’ve settled in.

If changing your puppy to a different type or brand of food, you’ll need to do this over a week to 10 days to avoid causing an upset tummy. On the first day of the switch, add a small amount of their new food to their current food, and then slowly introduce more of the new food and less of the current food over time.

If you’re moving from a wet to a dry food, note that your puppy will likely drink more.

There is a bewildering choice of dog food available in pet shops, supermarkets and from your vet, so it can be hard to decide which is best for your puppy. Any commercial puppy food, appropriate for the age and size of your dog and described as ‘complete’, will be nutritionally balanced for your dog and won’t need to be mixed with anything else.

Your puppy should have access to fresh water at all times.

Consider breed-formulated food. Large-breed puppy formulas help bigger pups grow at a rate gradual enough that they have time to develop strong bones and joints. Small-breed formulas provide concentrated nutrition in small, bite-size kibbles that meet a smaller puppy’s high metabolic needs. And, yes, medium-breed formulas aim somewhere in between. If you can’t find breed-formulated food, that’s okay.

How Much?

Puppies need to eat a lot–and not too much. You should be able to feel but not see their ribs, and they should have a visible waist when you look down at them. This is true for puppies of any breed, big or small.

In general, you should follow the guidelines on the back of the bag of dog food, and adjust up or down depending on your puppy’s appetite and body condition.

When?

At around eight to 12 weeks of age your puppy is probably eating three to four times a day. He doesn’t have to eat that many times though. If it suits your schedule to feed him only twice a day, just divide the amount of food you’d normally give into two meals instead of three or four.

After he’s six months old you can–and should–reduce the number of meals you feed him to two. Start reducing the amount of food he gets as well, following guidelines provided by food manufacturers, adjusting as needed. If you’re feeding too much, most dogs will let you know by leaving some behind in his bowl.

Puppy considerations

• Large-breed puppies need slow, sustained growthto help prevent orthopedic problems, such as hip dysplasia. Raise them on a diet designed for large-breed dogs or food for adult dogs. Whatever diet you choose shouldn’t overemphasize protein, fat, and calorie levels.
• Small but chunky breeds, such as pugs, also need a lower-calorie diet than what’s provided by most puppy foods, because they’re also prone to hip dysplasia.
• Feed your dog at set times each dayrather than leaving food out all the time so he learns a schedule. The exceptions are tiny breeds such as Chihuahuas, who can be prone to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). They should always have food available to nibble on.
• Never feed your puppy from the table.It only encourages begging. Everyone in the family must follow this rule.

When and how often should I feed my puppy?

From when you bring your puppy home at eight weeks until they are four months old, it’s best to feed them four meals a day. At four months, reduce this to three meals a day and when they turn six months, reduce to two meals. Continue a morning and evening meal for your pup’s life.

When you choose to feed your pup their meals is up to you, but we recommend spacing out meals evenly throughout the day. Remaining consistent will help get them into a routine, which will make life easier for you and them. We also recommend avoiding strenuous exercise after eating, which can lead to vomiting and potentially bloat.

You may have read that people should always eat their dinner before the family pet gets theirs – this comes from a very outdated concept of dog behaviour and is based on the now-debunked idea that you need to show your dog who is boss (sometimes called the ‘pack leader’ or ‘alpha’). While it is important to teach your dog good manners around food so they are well-behaved and don’t eat things that could cause them harm, your puppy isn’t planning a household takeover! What’s more important to a puppy is routine and consistency, as this will ensure they understand what you expect of them and grow into a confident dog who trusts you. Feeding your pet at the same time each day will help get them into a routine, and ensuring everyone in the family consistently sticks to any doggy rules you decide upon (for eg no titbits from the table) will help your pup to understand what you’re asking of them more quickly.

Find a quiet spot where your pup can chow down in peace and won’t be disturbed by other pets, children or adults. We recommend feeding your new puppy away from any other household pets until they’re all used to each other and won’t be tempted to pinch each other’s dinner!

Puppies have growing bodies and so have different nutritional needs to fully grown dogs. We recommend feeding your pup a labelled puppy food until they are around a year old (or as advised by your vet) before moving them on to an adult food. Your vet may recommend feeding a large or giant breed puppy food for longer than a year.

Some dogs just love their food and will hoover it up in no time at all. If your pup is one of them, it’s a good idea to invest in a way of slowing them down. This could be through stuffing their meal into a Kong so they have to eat it slowly, or using a puzzle bowl which makes it trickier to get to the food in as quick a time and so slows them down.

Some breeds (usually large or giant breed dogs) are more susceptible to a condition called bloat, where the stomach fills with gas and flips, cutting of the blood supply. It’s a very serious and potentially life-threatening illness and veterinary attention should be sought immediately. Bloat can be brought on by eating too quickly, so for these breeds in particular we recommend using a slow feeding bowl.

Activity feeders can be great fun for puppies, but choose one suitable for your pup’s level of understanding

Activity feeding

One way to make meal times more fun and get your pup’s brain working is to use an activity feeder. These are brilliant for dogs throughout all stages of life, but will help your pup in a number of ways, including slowing down speedy eaters (see above), directing the urge to chew away from your furniture and into something you’re happy for them to sink their teeth into, motivating youngsters who are picky about their food, and keeping them calm and occupied when you’d like them to be.

Do make sure to choose an activity/puzzle feeder that is suitable for your puppy’s level of understanding. Some toys such as treat balls are trickier to master than other for a novice puppy, and if your pup has difficulty reaching the food they could become frustrated which could lead to problems around food. Start your pup off with something like a Kong or a slow feed bowl where the food is easy to get out. Once they’re happy with this you can move them onto types that require more brain power.

How to know if your puppy is fat

Pet obesity is a huge problem in the UK, with studies suggesting that 56 per cent of the nation’s dogs are overweight or obese. Fat dogs will struggle more to enjoy life and the likelihood of them suffering from serious conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, breathing problems and cancer, is increased. These health problems won’t just put a strain on your wallet as they are costly to treat, but they could cause heartache too as each tends to lead to premature death. They are also at greater risk of arthritis, which is painful for dogs. Managing your pup’s food intake alongside suitable exercise for their age is the best way to prevent them getting fat.

Many dog owners don’t recognise that their pet is overweight, but there are simple and easy ways to check. Look straight down at your pup’s body from above. Your pet’s waist should taper in to give an hourglass shape. If they look oval from above you will need to think about cutting down on their food intake, and if the hourglass shape is too extreme they are underweight.

Gently run your hands along both sides of your dog’s chest and you should be able to feel their ribs through a thin layer of fat. The ribs should not be highly visible as they would be in an emaciated dog, but neither should it be difficult to feel them through a layer of fat.

These body scoring images will give you a good guide on what a healthy pup looks like:

1. Emaciated: dog needs to put on much more weight. This needs to be done in a managed way with advice from your vet
2. Emaciated: dog needs to put on much more weight
3. Thin: dog could do with eating more. Perhaps they do a lot of exercise but don’t eat enough to support the calories burnt.
4. Thin: dog could do with eating more
5. Just right: this is how a healthy dog should look and is ideal for your pet to enjoy a happy lifestyle
6. Just right: this is how a healthy dog should look and is ideal for your pet to enjoy a happy lifestyle
7. Fat: dog needs to lose some weight and is at risk of pilling on the pounds to become obese. Decrease food intake and up the exercise. We recommend speaking to your vet to tailor the weight loss plan to your dog.
8. Fat: dog needs to lose some weight and is at risk of pilling on the pounds to become obese
9. Obese: this dog is seriously overweight and at increased risk of serious health problems and dying early. A dog this fat cannot enjoy life to the full and will likely struggle with every day fun such as walks. Speak to your vet about helping your dog to get back to a healthy weight in a safe way.
10. Obese: this dog is seriously overweight and at increased risk of serious health problems and dying early

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