There are so many different sorts of food for your puppy – so which should you choose? Whether you choose commercial or home-cooked pet food, it is important to understand your puppy’s nutrition needs. Check out these tips before you go to the store to buy the best food for your puppy.
Leaning towards dry food
Puppies can eat both dry and moist food. It is important to feed your puppy four times a day – this is different from adult dogs which should be two meals a day. This is because of the growth rate of puppies compared to adult dogs. That of the puppy is twenty times faster than an adult dog.
This is why you need to make sure your puppy is fueled up.
This doesn’t mean that they usually eat more compared to other dogs. It means they eat smaller amounts frequently. You will then keep increasing the grams of food given to the puppy depending on their age and weight.
Feeding them dry food is easier when it comes to portion control and keeping food fresh the entire day. Dry food has more protein compared to moist food because it hasn’t been diluted with water. Find the best premium puppy food here.
Picking food and sticking with it
Your focus is going to be on making sure the dog is getting the correct amount of food, but make sure you stick to the same food source because it will make things easier.
Dogs don’t need to have meal variations or a three-course menu.
Make it easy for your dog to build a stable relationship with food by eating the same meal with a good balance of protein and fat. The food needs to be full of nutrients.
When you choose a food type and then you change it, it becomes more complex to increase the weight of food because different foods have different nutritional values.
The point is to increase the food in correlation to the puppy’s weight. You are going to increase the amount of food and the nutritional benefits are also going to go up. Not all foods are the same, and when you switch the amount of food from one brand to another, it becomes like assuming that a handful of chocolate is the same as a handful of raspberries.
Choosing All-Natural Ingredients
Natural food is the best food for puppies.
It is hard to change your puppy’s food, which is why it is a good idea to begin with a solid foundation with no hidden fillers or artificial ingredients.
Dogs take longer to digest food, even when they are puppies. Their stomachs can’t handle a chemical blend of foods because it can cause digestive problems like stomach upsets.
It is easy to spot natural food, provided you are careful with the marketing.
Ignore any bold claims being made on the label even if it means disregarding words such as “natural”. It is better to check out the ingredients list to see whether the ones listed are clean ingredients.
When you can recognize the ingredients on that list, it is a good sign.
Go hypoallergenic when in doubt
It is hard to know if the dog has allergies because there are some that develop with time.
Better safe than sorry. You should always choose hypoallergenic food when you see them on the shelves.
These foods are good and won’t harm your puppy or dog if they don’t have allergies. There is no reason why you should get the food for your dog. You will be protecting your dog from the risk of reaction and getting nutritious food for your canine friend.
Choosing Low-Fat Treats
When you get a new dog, you are excited and want to get every product on the market.
It is important to make sure the training treats are low in fat, especially when they are young. The bulk of the training is going to happen when they are still in the early stages of development. You should be careful with treats because you can easily overfeed your dog and go over the recommended amount without even realizing it. Puppy food tends to have more fat quantity compared to the average dog food because they need to gain weight. You don’t have to give your puppy extra fat during the day because they are getting it from their meals.
Make sure you look for natural dog treats to use when training your puppy or dog. Read the ingredient list before buying dog treats.
You need to be careful when training your dog with food. Always follow the same rules you would your regular kibble and don’t vary the treats used. This can sound boring to you because it means the same food over and over again, but uniformity is great for your dog’s gut health and obedience training progress.
Sticking to dog food
You shouldn’t feed your dog with what you are eating because it is not good for them.
You are going to be tempted to share food with your dog because of the bond you share, but it is going to lead to bad health, bad habits, and bad behavior.
If you are a new dog owner, you might not know that there are some foods that are fine for human consumption but toxic to dogs. A great example of such food is grapes, which are good for humans but bad for dogs.
No matter how tempting it is, never feed human food to dogs.
When you start to feed your dog human food, it becomes hard to reverse the behavior. Your dog is going to expect food any time you are eating.
Routine is as important as food
The content of dog food is very important. The dog’s relationship with food is critical and it is as mental as physical.
Even if you have the best quality of nutrition for your dog, they can develop bad eating habits when their relationship with food is compromised.
You need to have a schedule for feeding. This means you have to give the dog food at the same time every day. This is important because it establishes a routine that helps with digestion and mentality. If the puppy is not interested in food 15 minutes after mealtime has started, remove the food so you can avoid grazing.
You shouldn’t interfere with their mealtime to give them time to enjoy their food without getting distracted. If you interrupt their eating or remove the bowl as they eat, it can lead to detachment to food or aggressive behavior.
Written by Arslan Hassan
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