What’s the best way to feed my puppy?

When you get that new puppy back to your house , the excitement – especially if you have kids – is likely to be electric, but once playtime is over and everyone has had time to sleep it off, you’ll need to think about how best to feed the latest addition to your family.

There are endless products on the market and it can be a little overwhelming when you visit your local pet store or supermarket and are faced with a thousand brands all offering you the best pet nutrition option for your dog. Dog food formulated especially for puppies is likely to be one of these – and can be a great option for getting their immune system, teeth, bones and coat to its best.

Puppies tend to grow 20 times faster than adult dogs, so you need to aid this physical development with the right dog food. Specially formulated options are recommended at this particular time and you should always try and you should always try to keep their food patterns regular and evenly spaced. Feeding puppies too much or too frequently could stretch their stomachs, as often young dogs will eat even if they are no longer hungry. Therefore, up to the age of four months you should keep meals to small portions four times a day then reduce this to three meals until the animal is six months old. After this, you should feed them twice a day for the rest of their life.

When it comes to choosing a type of dog food, you are likely to be presented with two main options – wet or dry. Wet foods are the tinned variety and can vary pretty dramatically in price and quality. This type of food contains more water than the dry alternative and is usually lower in calories too. In some cases though, larger, more active puppies may need a mixture of wet and dry to meet their nutritional needs fully. Dry food, like wet, is sometimes a complete food that needs nothing to be added to it, but if your puppy is very young you may want to add a little moisture to it till they get used to it – as it could damage their teeth if they have not fully developed yet.

While it is advisable to try different options if there are clear indications – usually in your dog’s waste – that a change is needed. However, dogs and puppies need stability in their diet, so you should do your best to make sure any changes are tested for a while at least and alterations in their diet is kept to an absolute minimum.