How to Feed Puppies a Balanced Diet

Feed your puppies carefully to ensure proper development and growth. The following guidelines will show you the way.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Dog Bones
• Dog Dishes
• Dog Food
• Dog Treats
• Formula For Puppies
• High-quality Puppy Food

1. Begin offering food to pups at 3 weeks of age. Over the weeks, change their diet slowly.
2. Choose high-quality puppy food that has 25 to 30 percent protein content.
3. Purchase dog food that mentions both AAFCO (Association of American Feeding Control Officials) and Animal Feeding Trials (or Animal Feeding Tests) on its label.
4. Make it into gruel with warm water or commercially prepared milk replacer.
5. Feed puppies three to four times a day until they're 5 to 6 months of age.
6. Check with your veterinarian to find out the correct amount of food to give your puppy at each feeding. Or check the package of puppy food, which may provide guidelines based on size. Avoid overfeeding.
7. Use puppy food specifically made for large breeds to encourage slow growth for large-breed puppies. Feed them puppy food for up to 12 to 18 months, depending on the breed.
8. Observe puppies weekly for appearance of weight gain. Puppies should gain 2 to 4 g per day per kg of anticipated adult weight for the first 5 months of life.
9. Feed the dogs twice daily for the rest of their lives after 6 months of age.

Tips & Warnings

• Most high-quality commercial dog foods provide the recommended amounts of nutrients.
• Avoid feeding puppies cottage cheese, yogurt, commercial vitamins and minerals as they will not balance well with a commercial dog food diet.
• Excess dietary supplements cause nutritional imbalance and medical disorders, and some vitamins and minerals are toxic in high dosages. Feeding puppies too much calcium can cause skeletal diseases.