All About Puppy Kibble!
Puppies grow quickly, and their little bodies have unique dietary needs ... premium puppy foods have been specifically formulated to meet those needs. The right puppy kibble will keep your puppy healthy and active, with a shiny coat, bright eyes, lots of energy and regular, firm stools. Feeding him properly also helps prevent a host of health problems later on and can even increase the length of his life. Buying puppy food is one of the times where you generally get what you pay for! Premium pet foods cost more than generic brands, but the best of them are packed full of superior quality ingredients and do NOT contain the fillers, additives, preservatives and 'junk' of many cheaper brands. But, it's easy to get overwhelmed, and a bit confused, by the huge variety of different puppy food brands and formulas. If you're wondering how can you tell which is the best choice for YOUR puppy, that's where I can help. Here are some simple guidelines that will help you figure out what is a good food (and what isn't) and whether or not it's right for your pup's age or size.... Commercial Puppy FoodBecause your pup will be growing rapidly for the first year (or even for up to 2 years and beyond if she's a large breed puppy) she needs much higher levels of protein, vitamins and minerals than is found in regular adult dog food.Also, small or tiny breed puppies need a different balance of nutrients than large, or X-large, breed pups. Getting too little, or too much, of certain vitamins and minerals, or too much or too little protein, can cause all sorts of health problems - particularly bone and joint issues. The quality of the ingredients in the puppy kibble you choose are of HUGE importance. It definitely pays to know which are the ingredients you want to see in your puppy's food... and which you want to avoid. My Best Puppy Food Choices page has all the tips, advice you need to make sure that the puppy kibble you choose for your new pup is exactly right. It tells you how to decipher the labels on puppy (or dog) food, what ingredients you should look for, the ratio of nutrients recommended for puppies of different sizes and more. You want to continue to feed your pup a food that has been designed for puppies until she is an adult, or at the very minimum until she's an adolescent. Large breed puppies mature much more slowly than the smaller breeds, and it can take anywhere between 18 months and 3 years before a large or giant breed pup can be considered adult. However, most small breeds are fully mature by about a year old. So, I'd recommend following these guidelines for changing over from puppy kibble to adult dog food..... For a little dog, begin a gradual change over at about one year old, for the large breed puppy you need to wait until they are approx. 18 months to 2 years of age. For a medium breed puppy (adult size between 20 and 50lbs) go somewhere in the middle range. Start the change over to adult food at around 12 - 16 months. How much should I feed my puppy and how often?Puppies between approximately 7 and 16 weeks old should be fed 3 times a day - once first thing in the morning, once around noon, and then the last meal at around 6pm Making 'supper time' in the early evening rather than later, means that there's time for the food to make it's way through your puppy's digestive system and be deposited in your yard before bedtime!. Leave your pup's bowl down for approx. 10 - 15 minutes at each mealtime, then pick it up. Do not 'free-feed' as that can lead to bad habits such (such as 'grazing'). If your puppy can eat whenever she wants, her digestive system won't ever get into a routine and that means her elimination habits will be erratic as well. It's much quicker and easier to potty train a puppy who is on a regular, predictable schedule of mealtimes because what goes in must come out... fairly shortly afterwards! As for how much to feed your puppy... it's best to look at the individual manufacturers guidelines to start with. Notice whether it's calculated using a daily total or on a 'per meal' basis and then do the math to make it suit the schedule you've chosen. Your puppy needs access to plenty of fresh water all day, but it's a good idea to pick it up at around 7pm so that she won't need to make quite as many potty trips overnight. From 4 months onwards, you can give your pup 2 meals a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, is just fine. Growing puppies need to eat almost twice as much food per pound of body weight than adult dogs do. They also go through intermittent growth spurts when their appetite goes up and down without warning. One week your little girl may practically inhale the puppy kibble in her bowl every day, the next week she deigns to eat a few bites and then walks away! It's perfectly normal (parents won't be surprised by this because children do exactly the same thing). At times like these it's usually best to just let your pup's appetite be your. Nature won't allow a healthy puppy to starve herself and as long as she's not showing any other signs of illness, you likely don't need to worry.
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