Nutritional advice for dogs and puppies

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It’s very difficult to choose the right diet for your puppy or dog when there is such a huge variety of dog food on the market. You have to remember that the needs of your dog will change throughout its life and different species and breeds may require different diets.

Feeding your puppy

When the time comes to collect your new puppy, you’ll have a few things to do including sorting out their pet insurance and finding out about their diet. Sometimes these diets can be very strange concoctions and not at all balanced in minerals and vitamins. The best option is to use a puppy food that has been properly formulated and has a feeding guide to enable you to supply the correct amount of calories.

Puppies grow and develop fast in a short space of time, so it’s important that they are fed a diet that is correctly formulated for their needs. Manufactured puppy foods are formulated to provide nutrition without the bulk. Puppy formulas have good levels of high quality protein to support healthy tissue and organ development, higher levels of essential minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc and iron, as well as vitamin D to help build strong bones and teeth.

You should feed your puppy small amounts to begin with as they have small stomachs but large appetites. Up to four months of age a puppy should be fed four meals a day, reducing to three meals a day until six months of age and thereafter two meals a day can be fed. Overfeeding you puppy will cause digestive upset and could lead to painful bone problems in the future – plus, overweight puppies turn into overweight dogs.

It’s important not to feed your puppy immediately before or after exercise. Resting after feeding, and also soaking dried food before feeding, helps to prevent the risk of swelling or twisting of the stomach. Puppies are also best fed in a quiet place away from interruptions. As puppies grow bigger their appetites increase. After six months the rate of growth will slow and food intake needs to be reduced.

Feeding your adult dog

Once your dog reaches maturity (from nine months in small dogs but 12-18 months in larger breed dogs) you need to settle into a regular feeding routine and change to a maintenance diet. Any diet change should be done gradually over one week to avoid stomach upsets.

Your dog’s diet needs to contain the correct balance of nutrients and any good quality manufactured complete dog food will provide your dog with all the basic nutrients. Canned, dried or a mixture of the two may be fed. There’s also a wide range of commercial diets available to match the needs of specific breeds of dogs.

Food should be fed at room temperature and don’t feed your dog immediately before or after exercise.

Dog food for your senior dog

Senior diets can be introduced from five years of age in larger breed dogs and seven years in smaller breed dogs. Senior dogs are less active and have a slower metabolism so fewer calories and fat are required.

Specially formulated senior dog food is available and it is advisable to move older dogs onto this food. Manufactured senior dog foods are carefully formulated to reflect the changes that occur as a dog gets older.

The frequency of meals for the older dog can still be one to two meals daily but sometimes they may prefer smaller portions more frequently. It’s important not to over feed older dogs as they may put on weight which’ll lead to increased stress on their joints and worsen any existing arthritis.

It’s always best to speak to your veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse in the first instance as they’ll be able to advise you on a suitable diet for your dog.

It’s always a good idea to have a dog insurance policy in place. That way, you can have peace of mind that your canine companion is covered in case of unexpected illness or injury.