Your puppy

By dnp-team On Mar 15, 2005

Once your puppy is weaned from his mother, he’ll need to eat a special diet formulated just for his needs. This article gives some facts on the advantages of prepared foods, and on moist vs. dry dog foods.
As the owner of a new puppy, you will want him to grow up fit and healthy, and reach his full genetic potential. It’s not hard to help him do this; all you have to do is to provide your puppy with the correct diet right from the start.
In this section, we will go over some of the things you should know about feeding your puppy the food he needs to grow up strong and healthy.
Why nutrition is important :
First, your puppy will need a very digestible diet so that his body can absorb all the nutrients. Second, it’s important that he really enjoys his food so that he’ll eat all of it.
Therefore, it really matters what you feed your puppy. In fact, he needs special nutrition with just the right amounts of protein, fats, minerals and vitamins. After all, a puppy needs up to two and a half times as many calories as an adult dog does.
A puppy’s diet must also be balanced in order for him to receive the right amount of nutrients. In addition, the food should be concentrated to allow him to take in all the needed nutrients with a small amount of food.
Weaning puppies :
Puppies are normally weaned from their mother’s milk onto solid foods when they’re three to four weeks old. You should give them their food in small portions three or four times a day. If you’re buying from a breeder, your puppy should have been weaned onto a solid diet by the time you take him home at the age of eight to twelve weeks.
When you bring your puppy home :
Changing homes and leaving the mother is stressful for puppies. It could cause an upset stomach. If this happens, take your puppy off solid food for two meals and just give him small quantities of water to drink. Then, you can gradually introduce boiled rice over 24 hours, before you reintroduce his normal puppy food again. If, however, the diarrhoea or vomiting continues for more than 24 hours, or becomes more severe, contact your vet.
Once your puppy has settled in, you will likely want to change his diet to the type or brand of food you have decided on. Make sure you replace the original food with the new food gradually, over a period of three to five days.
The benefits of prepared foods :
Proper nutrition is necessary for your puppy’s health. Some dog owners prepare home-made foods for their pets. However, it’s difficult, even for an experienced breeder, to get the nutritional balance just right. The best idea is to get your puppy used to eating prepared foods from the very start.
The advantages of prepared foods are:

They meet nutritional requirements: balancing the proper amounts of protein, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins.
They are easily digestible.
They don’t require any food supplements. Just do not forget to put down a bowl of fresh water.
They are convenient to use and can be stored for long periods.

Which type of food should you choose :
There are two main types of complete dog food: moist (in cans) and dry (in packages). Both types are made from meat and grains and provide balanced nutrition, with all the necessary nutrients.
Dry foods have certain economic and practical advantages: they are more economical, they do not need to be stored in the refrigerator and they will keep for a day in the bowl. Moist foods, on the other hand, provide your dog with a highly enjoyable eating experience.
Two stages of development: puppy and young dog :
All dogs go through two stages of development: puppy and young dog. These are both very important periods in a dog’s development, as they determine what kind of adult the dog will be. Puppies are very active and grow rapidly. For this reason, they need special food that will meet their energy requirements.
What is most important to keep in mind is that dogs of different breeds reach maturity at different times. Dogs of the toy or small breeds stop growing at around 9 to 12 months, while dogs of the large breeds continue to develop up to 18 to 24 months.
However, we can generalise by saying that for all breeds, the initial stage – when a puppy reaches half of its adult weight – ends
between five and six months.
Proper nutrition allows for the puppy to reach his full genetic potential. If he’s overfed, a puppy can develop bone anomalies, which are more common in puppies of the large and giant breeds.