When first born, puppies get the most all-natural puppy food possible – mother’s milk! By about four and a half weeks, the puppies will begin eating solid puppy food. This weaning process will most likely be complete by the time you adopt your puppy.
But if you find yourself with a puppy that is not yet fully weaned, you can start feeding it a mixture of solid puppy food mixed with a little water or milk to soften it. Your puppy will lap this up like they are drinking, but will be taking food in at the same time. Reduce the amount of liquid by a little each day until eventually your puppy is eating the solid puppy food on its own.
What to feed a puppy
Puppies have different nutritional requirements than adult dogs, just as human children have different needs than adult people. Make sure that you select a natural puppy food that is appropriate for your dog’s stage in life. Young puppies need a lot of calories and nutrients to support their growth and development. In fact, for the first month or so after they are weaned, puppies need about twice the amount of nutrients per pound of body weight as they do when they are adults. For this reason, a puppy should be fed a premium puppy food specially formulated with higher levels of protein, iron and other nutrients to meet its special nutritional needs.
From my research into hypoallergenic dog food, it seems that some of the highest rated brands of all-natural puppy food are those made by Wellness, Orijen and Natural Balance. All three of these premium puppy food brands are available at the big pet supply stores such as PetSmart and Petco.
Make a gradual transition
Don’t try to wean your puppy directly from mother’s milk to dry puppy food. Remember, up to this point your puppy has just been drinking, not eating. You need to make a gradual transition from drinking to eating. Mix the puppy food with warm water to make it easier for the puppy to lap up. Your puppy will probably eat up the whole dish, but if he doesn’t, discard the uneaten portion (wet puppy food or moistened dry puppy food left at room temperature for more than a couple of hours can spoil).
Another reason why it’s important to moisten the food is that your puppy just has temporary baby teeth. Although these teeth may seem very strong when they nip you, in actual fact they are not suitable for crunching through dry puppy food. But by about four months of age, the temporary puppy teeth will fall out and gradually be replaced by permanent teeth. At this time the water used to moisten the dry puppy food can be reduced or gradually eliminated.
How much to feed a puppy
You know that expression “his eyes are bigger than his stomach”? That’s particularly true when it comes to feeding puppies. A puppy will gobble up lots of food but the stomach is simply not large enough to hold enough food at one time to provide its daily requirement of needed nutrients. For this reason, you need to feed your puppy at least three times a day until she is about five months old. At that point you can reduce her feeding schedule to twice a day.
And a reminder…
When purchasing your natural puppy food, be sure to buy the puppy food formula, not the adult formula. And remember that even though the premium natural puppy food brands are more expensive than supermarket brands, in the long run a healthier dog means lower vet bills.