If you are bringing home a puppy, it is best to plan ahead to get an idea of what to expect.
While welcoming a tiny canine into your home may sound exciting, it can also become a bit daunting, especially if you are a first-time dog owner.
There is a lot to consider before your faithful friend finally feels at home.
Make sure you are prepared, both physically and mentally to commit yourself to your small pup who will be relying on you completely for the rest of its life. Remember, you have friends, work and family, but your puppy only has you.
Why is a puppy diet essential?
As a puppy grows, its nutritional needs also grow but in a different way than adult dogs. This is the reason feeding them a puppy food diet is essential.
As stated above, it is also important to pay close attention to the nutritional needs of the puppy because they tend to change quickly from time to time. This is the only way to keep the little pup on track in order to lead a healthy life.
As a new parent, feeding the right food to your puppy will be your biggest task since diet is extremely important during the initial months of the dog’s growing life.
One can begin with a homemade diet for the young pup, so long as it is healthy and formulated for growth, and recommended by a canine nutrition expert. If the owner finds it a bit of a stretch, commercially manufactured foods are a perfect option.
Opting for a pet food delivery service is an easy and affordable way of bringing high-quality healthy food into the puppy’s home. Moreover, creating a flexible order schedule will help to ease the dog feeding woes. There are plenty of good ready-made pet foods in the market so choose carefully and feed the pup as per the recommended schedule.
Good quality puppy food should include the following ingredients that will support the pup in its growth:
Fat
Protein
Calcium
Phosphorus
Carbohydrates
Copper
Since the digestive tract of a puppy matures slowly, the right puppy diet will not only be highly digestible but will greatly reduce the chances of stomach infections like gastroenteritis.
What to consider when choosing a good puppy food?
The market is loaded with different brands of puppy food, but all of them are not created equal.
Here are some things to consider before choosing one:
Expected size: For puppies that are giant-bred and expected to weigh over 50 pounds as an adult consider using a puppy food formula that caters to giant dogs.
These foods provide lower calories and calcium than food for other dogs, so as to help regulate the puppy’s skeletal growth.
Breed: Some dog foods offer diets for specific breeds with a specific nutrient like:
Breeds that have long costs may benefit from a formula having added fats and essential fatty acids.
Large breed diets include more fibre to help improve firm stool quality
While not necessary, incorporating a breed-specific diet may provide some extra nutritional value to your young puppy.
Find a good puppy food brand: The market, these days is flooded with dog food brands, so in order to narrow down your choices, opt for a company that conducts scientific research on the food it produces through organized feeding trials.
Choose a company with strict guidelines for quality control to ensure the concentration of food nutrients meet the claim made on the product label.
Feed puppy food till the dog reaches 80% of its adult size, which is typically twelve months for a medium size dog. For larger dogs, the period could be 18-24 months. Last but not least, always discuss your choice of puppy food with your veterinarian.
Article Supplied