For a dog to get enough energy from its food, the food must be made of easily digestible ingredients. Dogs are not purely carnivores. The first dogs were predators and lived on the prey they caught, but they ate not only the meat but also the internal organs and stomachs, with their partly digested plant contents.
The most common feeding mistakes
- Feeding only meat products causes what is known as "all-meat syndrome", a calcium deficiency.
- The wrong balance of calcium and phosphorus in the diet disrupts bone development. This damage cannot be reversed.
- Treats from your table are too salty and too fatty.
- A lack of minerals and vitamins.
Feeding puppies
Puppies grow faster than almost any other mammal: their weight doubles in a week. That is why the demands on their food are very high.
- For the first three weeks, puppies live on their mother's milk alone. In the first few days, the mother's milk (colostrum) contains antibodies that protect the puppies from infection.
- From three weeks, a puppy can start eating the same food as its mother. Change the diet gradually so the body can adjust. Feed from a shallow dish and mix the food well into an even mash.
- At first the puppy eats very little, but by around week 6 this food already makes up 80–90% of its diet.
- Puppies are weaned from their mother at 6–8 weeks. By then they can live on dry or tinned food alone.
- Until 6 months of age, a puppy needs a great deal of energy, so it should be fed 4–5 times a day.
Once a puppy reaches the typical weight for its breed, it needs feeding less often, and its energy needs drop too. How quickly this happens depends on the breed. For example, large-breed dogs have not reached their final weight even at 18–24 months, so their needs are very different from those of miniature breeds.
Growing puppies of different breeds cannot all be fed the same food.
Why the first food matters so much
Whether a puppy grows up strong and healthy depends on the food it gets while it is growing. It needs food that provides the right amount of energy and meets its nutritional needs during rapid growth. Good-quality puppy food supports:
- optimal growth;
- a strong, healthy immune system;
- healthy skin and a shiny coat;
- strong bones;
- a long, healthy life.
Feeding pregnant and nursing bitches
In the last stage of pregnancy, and especially while feeding puppies, a bitch's energy needs rise sharply. By the time she gives birth, her weight has gone up by about 25%. While she is nursing, her energy needs can be 2–3 times higher than usual.
The composition and amount of her milk must meet the needs of rapidly growing puppies, so the demands on her food are very high. She needs food rich in energy, amino acids and fatty acids, minerals and vitamins.
