How to feed your puppy correctly

Meat is the most valuable nutritious product. It usually consists 1/3 in its raw form of the daily rate in the puppy’s diet.

You may replace meat with the cooked byproducts (liver, heart, stomach), but in the quantities 1.5-2 times exceeding the meat ration, considering their nutritional value.

It is acceptable to feed the puppies with cheaper grades of beef and mutton. Only low-fat pork is fed boiled, due to more frequent cases of tapeworms’ larvae found in it. And fatty meat may as well have a laxative effect.

Fatty food is digested much better in a mixture with cereals, fish and vegetables. Many valuable animal fats were found in butter, sour cream, goat’s and cow’s milk. These products are characterized by high content of tocopherol, choline and phosphatides – the compounds, containing vitamin A.

Cooked meat and fish products are worse than raw ones by nutritional value. However, for some sanitary reasons, a certain proportion of food should be heat treated.
 

You may replace meat with fish, cleaned from bones, considering that its nutritive value is approximately twice as lower than meat has.
 

Carbohydrates, as a necessary source of energy for puppies, are found in abundance in sugar, starch-containing products, as well as in dietary fiber. Carbohydrate-rich foods are: breadcrumbs, bran, honey and all kinds of cereals (semolina, buckwheat, barley, rice, oatmeal, etc.). It is recommended to give preference to the recycled oatmeal – Hercules by its usefulness and caloric content.

Dairy products (cheese, milk, yogurt) represent a valuable source of proteins and complex vitamins for puppies, which are fed in the form of milk porridges or mixed with bread and other forages for better digestion. Daily portion of carbohydrates in the puppy’s diet should not be lower than 15 g per 1 kg of its weight. For more convenience cereals are cooked on water to the state of thick porridge, then, before feeding, it’s diluted by broth or milk, with chopped pieces of meat or fish seasoning. Bread is also soaked with low-fat broth and added to the pet’s food, starting from 2 months age.

Raw bones are necessary for puppies to cover their needs for minerals. Make sure the bones are big enough or preferably cartilaginous in order to avoid the occlusion of the pet’s intestine. Plenty of solid bones may prematurely destroy the animal’s tooth enamel.

Potatoes, carrots and other boiled root vegetables are digested in the dog’s stomach with difficulty, more effective to add them mashed or grated.

Vegetables, fruits and greens (dill, parsley, celery and nettle) are valuable sources of vitamins for the growing organism. They are preferably fed raw and finely sliced.

However, considering the natural predisposition of dogs to meat diet and the fact that their digestive system digests cellulose casing, covering the plant cells, poorly, vegetables and greens are previously grinded. Nettles should be parboiled before adding to the food.

The main disadvantage of self-cooking for dog is a tangible spent of time. The average busy person nowadays is often unable to cook to himself, without taking a dog into account.

So, finished dog foods were devised for this purpose.
 

There are dry (5-12% of moisture), wet (60-85%) and more rare semidry (15-50%), manufactured foods. Dry food, which contains all the required nutrients in a small portion, is the most convenient for dog’s nutrition. Dry food produced by processing meat, pluck, bones, fish, fishmeal, cereals and other ingredients with hot steam, with the subsequent transformation into granules.

The main disadvantage of the industrial foods is a need for blind trust to the manufacturer. To secure against counterfeiting, take a good look at the food composition on the packaging. In this list all of the ingredients are listed in descending order of their proportion in the total weight of the product. In quality forages, meat and meat products are always in the first place, followed by cereals, fruits, vegetables and other components.

Before feeding it is recommended to soak dry food slightly for puppies.

The main condition for dry foods using is that dog should always have a bowl of drinking water in its near access, especially in summer time!

Considering that needs of puppies and adult dogs are different, you should choose forages from a feed line, specially designed to meet needs of the growing organism. Do not skimp on the dog – buy only premium class food. Be sure to look at the label for the recommended daily rate of food, it will be the average figure. In fact, the needs of each dog are purely individual. Pouring the feed, use the measured glass or buy a kitchen scale. This will allow you to control body weight and body condition of your puppy.

Puppies, unlike the adult dog, are recommended to feed 3-4 times a day, from about six month, you can move to two meals a day. Thus, high-quality dry food does not require any additional dietary supplements, except water for drinking.

Remember, if the food has left uneaten in a bowl, portion should be
reduced, or, conversely, increased when the puppy licks it carefully.

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