Feeding your puppy
A feeding schedule is very important and will affect a variety of other areas if not done properly for example potty training. A puppy under the age of 3 months should be fed 3 times a day. Split the times up equally throughout the day. Puppies over 3 months should be fed twice a day and even into adulthood. Some adult dogs may want to stay on the twice per day and others may only want to be fed only once. Most puppies will let you know when they are ready to cut out a feeding as they grow. You will know when they begin to not finish particular meals such as lunch. If over a few days they continue to leave their meal at the same time each day it is probably time to adjust their schedule. Split the amount given at this time with the other feedings. You may also need to adjust the amounts given as your puppy grows. Follow the bag instructions as a guide. It will not be exact and may need to be adjusted for your particular puppy but it should be close. The better quality food you choose the less you will need to feed. If your puppy is getting their daily requirements and are content after each meal you will not have a food hungry dog no matter what breed they are. If they are not quite full after each meal they will seem to be hungry all of the time. The amount doesn't need to be off by much but will be enough to have your puppy eat as much as possible whenever possible.
When choosing a food always go for the better quality kibble. A good quality meat based kibble will help to keep their teeth in good condition as well as offer them all of the nutrition that they require. Canned food is not real meat and is not recommended for feeding or mixing, it will sit in their mouth and may cause mouth rott and/or tooth decay. Besides not using canned foods you also don't want to add other items to their kibble or change foods unless you have to. A dog can be on the same brand of dog food for their entire lifetime without ever changing. If you were to frequently change brands or recipies you may cause your puppy to become a finicky eater. Dogs don't need variety in their diet we do. If they haven't tried it they don't know what they are missing. You may still offer items such as vegetables and/or cooked meat to your puppy. It should be offered as treats or placed in a dish other than their regular food dish and at a different time of day.
There are always exceptions to the rule. Those exceptions should only include health issues such as allergies or disease.
The most common reason why someone may start to add items into their dogs kibble is because the dog doesn't seem to be eating well. If your puppy isn't eating as much as you think they should first check your food bag for the recommendations for the weight of your puppy. Sometimes especially with very small dogs we think that they are not eating enough when infact they are. Remember your puppy will also be teething at times and it may hurt to eat. You can usually tell if this is the case when your puppy keeps moving the kibble around their mouth when attempting to chew. If your puppy was eating their food with no problems and it seems that all of a sudden they are not and any serious health concerns had been ruled out by your vet it may be a case of your food being stale or bad. Are you reaching the end portion of the bag or were they refusing with a new bag? If this may be the case buy a new bag of the same kind. A dog will also do whatever they can to benefit them though they wouldn't try this with food unless it had been done before. One of the most common reasons for dogs not to eat properly are those who are free feeding. Dogs have been designed to forage for food and eat until full. They would then digest their food and then search for their next meal as they would have done in the wild. If their food is available all of the time they may never eat until full. Instead they have the option of eating every 5 minutes if they choose to. By eating their meals this way they usually don't consume more but actually less than what is required each day. This type of feeding will also make it difficult to know exactly how much they are eating per day. If your puppy were to become ill and your vet wanted to know how they have been eating you would have no idea. Many dogs that are fed this way have their food dish refilled whenever it was low.
Water needs to be available at all times. Your puppy/adult dog will need to have the option of replenishing their fluids whenever they need to no matter what. Only the food needs to be given at scheduled times.
Your dog food/water dishes should be elevated off the floor to help prevent bloat which can be deadly. The dishes should be raised to the top of the chest so that your growing puppy does not swallow very much air when eating or drinking. The further they have to lean over to eat/drink the more air is brought up. If you have a puppy that doesn't seem to chew their food this is even more important. An option for the puppy who inhales their food. Place a heavy object into the food dish so that they have to mave it around to get their food out which will slow them down. If it is water you may choose to use a water bottle that is designed for dogs. Don't use the water bottle that is designed for small animals, your puppy may not be able to get the water out.
When feeding your puppy give them no more than 20 minutes to eat. Even if your puppy does not finish their meal in this alloted time remove it. Your puppy will learn very quickly how to tell time and will begin to finish in the time given. Don't leave the food out for your puppy to eat whenever they like, called free feeding or grazing. This choice may negatively effect other areas of your training. It will make it difficult to potty train your puppy because they tend to go to the washroom between 5-20 minutes after they eat. If you don't know when they ate you will not know when they need to go out to the washroom. This will cause unwanted accidents inside the house.
*Remember to schedule your puppies feedings
By Stacey Brickman
