The Do’s And Do Nots Of Feeding Your Dog
While it sounds lovely dogs don’t eat dog breakfast. Sorry to disappoint but they eat dog food, preferably twice a day.
We hope that if you are already a dog owner you will already be aware of ALL of the information below therefore this has been written with new owners’ perspectives in mind.
So you have a new addition to the family. A little puppy can be an adorable little treasure and a lot of fun but it is also a huge responsibility. The dog’s diet is very important for its well being and happiness. It is important to get it right at this early stage and develop good, healthy habits.
Getting the puppies diet right is very important, especially at this crucial development stage of their lives. Puppies grow at a phenomenal rate in the first six months of their life, up to 20 times that of an adult dog. It is important that the puppy is given the right ingredients to aid this vital stage of development.
Good Feeding Habits are Key
Before we focus on puppy specific advice it is important to consider a few basic rules with feeding your dog, which you can read about here (Hyperlink a more in depth article.) In summary they are:
- Always ensure your dog has access to fresh water.
- Do not vary your dogs diet. Consistency and routine are very important.
- Do not leave food sitting for longer than 20 mins
- Never change your dog’s diet abruptly, if you wish to introduce change do so gradually over a period of approx. seven to fourteen days.
- Allocate a space for the dog to feed in general peace. Dogs easily become stressed if interrupted or startled when eating and can develop aggression when feeding as a result.
- Similar to the above point, never interrupt or remove the dogs food from under him/her while feeding, if anything, add things to his bowl so that he trusts you near his bowl.
- Always refrain from feeding your dog from your table or your plate when you are eating as this encourages begging and attention seeking behavior like scratching and barking and biting.
- Refrain from travelling with your dog in a vehicle or exercising within an hour of feeding as this is can cause car sickness and dilation which can be very serious and require an emergency visit to the vet. In serious cases it can be fatal.
- One last important factor for medium and larger dogs. It is important to that medium and large dogs are fed from a raised bowl to prevent the dog from swallowing air and prevent a condition known as bloat.
Puppy Specific Diet
Considering all the points above when it comes to your little puppy, just like you would a little baby, you must be extra careful when they are little puppies.
“This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. Thanks.”
