What to Look For in a Puppy Diet
A mother dog’s milk is the “be all and end all” of a puppy diet until weaning starts, containing all the vital nutrients the little ones need. Your puppy has been fed his mother’s milk for the first 4 weeks of his life and it has provided all the nutrients and support he needs to build a strong healthy immune system. However, after this point mothers are typically unable to sustain this feeding with large litters. To help maintain his healthy development, your breeder has weaned him from his mother and fed him a complete and balanced diet.
Vital Health System
There are key performance areas and clinically proven ingredients for puppy growth and puppy learning.
Antioxidants to support healthy defenses
Your puppy’s immune system is vitally important to his well-being and takes time to fully develop. Initially, in the first 24 hours after birth, protective antibodies from his mother’s milk. This special milk, known as the colostrum, provides protection for the first 4 to 8 weeks of your puppy’s life. However after this period, your puppy’s immune system is still relatively undeveloped and may not be able to protect him well.
Feeding high quality puppy nutrition, containing additional antioxidants, can help support the immune response of young puppies during this period of vulnerability.
Research has shown that foods containing antioxidants can help support a healthy immune system.
Skin & coat essentials
If your puppy’s intake of protein and energy is of insufficient quantity or quality, his hair coat will be dull and dry. High quality protein, essential fatty acids and certain minerals and vitamins found in a complete and balanced diet are essential to maintaining healthy skin and coat.
The skin is the largest organ of the body and represents 24% of a newborn puppy, body weight versus 12% when he matures.
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Lean muscle & weight control
Choosing a diet with animal based proteins will help him develop strong, lean muscles, but how you feed him is important too. If your puppy is overfed he can grow too quickly causing problems with skeletal development, excess weight and excess fat cells — all increasing the potential for health issues and reduced longevity. It is therefore very important that your puppy grows at an optimal rate.
By feeding your puppy controlled amounts of a balanced food you can achieve a regulated growth rate leading to an adult dog of the appropriate breed size, with a lean body condition. This will reduce stress on the skeleton and positively support long-term health prospects.
Highly digestible ingredients
As he grows, your puppy will have a higher requirement for energy and essential nutrients (per kg of body weight) than an adult dog. However, he has less digestive capacity. a smaller mouth and fewer and smaller teeth – all of which limit consumption and digestion. A highly digestible diet will help your puppy adapt more quickly to solid food.
Digestive upsets may occur occasionally, if, for instance, feed intake is too high. If your puppy should have severe diarrhea or vomiting though, consult your vet as quickly as possible.
Do not change your puppy’s food in the first few days in his new home as it will only add stress.
After this, if you are changing his diet, introduce new food gradually over a 4 day period.
Do not supplement a balanced diet formulated for growth as over-nutrition may be detrimental.
Look for our diets containing beet pulp to help promote digestive health.
Your puppy will benefit from a balanced and complete diet that is energy-rich and nutrient-dense and therefore lower in volume to suit his stomach size and digestive capability.
Large breed puppies have special requirements
If your puppy is a large or giant breed he will have a very steep growth curve and his nutritional needs can change dramatically over a short period of time. Ideally he should be weighed and evaluated at least once every 2 weeks to ensure he is growing at an appropriate rate.
Controlled feeding of a special large breed puppy diet, that contains reduced amounts of energy and calcium compared to small breed puppy food, can help control growth rate, helping avoid the problems caused by excess weight and developmental bone problems.
DHA for trainable puppies
After 6 weeks, your new puppy has developed just over 70% of his adult brain and still has a lot to learn. This presents a challenge for you as well as your puppy! Over the coming weeks his brain will develop further and he will acquire many new skills such as where and when to go to the toilet, how to walk on a lead and communicate with other people and animals.