What Are the Best Foods to Feed Puppies?
Bringing a new puppy home is one of the most exciting times in any dog lover’s life, no matter if it’s the first one or the tenth! The feeling of falling in love with the little adorable face and their tiny paws never gets old. Once the day of coming home arrives, the rollercoaster journey of love and companionship begins. From cuddling on the couch and enjoying playtime together to endlessly chasing them, worrying about them and stopping them from getting into danger, owning a puppy can be a whirlwind of emotions that all come from a place of deep love and care for one another.
Through the ups and downs, you get the opportunity to watch your puppy grow into a healthy, strong dog full of character and tail wags. This is what makes taking care of a puppy so rewarding, but getting to that point can be stressful. Any owner wants to do their best for their dog and give them the happiest and healthiest life possible. This needs to start from puppyhood, putting your little friend’s health first over anything. A key part of putting your puppy’s health first is giving them the right food from the beginning. Food is what fuels your puppy and manages their energy levels, alongside their growth and muscle development. However, food for puppies can be confusing to wrap your head around, and it’s difficult to understand what your furry friend needs. Don’t worry, though, as Pero is here to help with any puppy food worries by answering what food should puppies eat!
The Importance of Getting Food for Puppies Right
Getting food for puppies right is vital because it’s one of the main ways to build their strength and health. The food your pup eats is what fuels their energy for the day ahead and helps them to grow in the healthiest way. This is vital because no matter what breed your little friend is, they will be constantly growing at a rapid pace while having a lot of energy to burn. Without food that supports their growth and energy, your puppy can face health issues, slower growth and unnatural energy crashes. You need to get the best food to support them every step of the way through their growth spurts. The food you choose also has to meet your pup’s nutritional needs and help them build muscle strength, keep bones healthy, maintain a healthy and shiny coat and help their vital organs develop.
Essential Nutrients Puppies Need
So, what are the essential nutrients your puppy needs? Many nutrients aid your furry friend’s growth and development in the early stages of their life. Your pup will need a balanced diet that mixes these nutrients for the best chance of growing in the healthiest way possible. You also need to choose food for puppies that is specifically designed for the developmental stage of life.
The nutrients you need to look out for when getting food for your pup are:
- Proteins: Your puppy needs a high-quality source of protein for healthy growth and muscle development. This means you need a diet of meat, such as beef, chicken, lamb and fish. It needs to make up 20-30% of your puppy’s diet.
- Fats: This is an essential nutrient for your puppy because it is what provides them with the energy levels they need for the day. Fat also supports the development of the brain and nervous system. Due to this, it should make up at least 8-15% of your puppy’s diet.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: These types of fatty acids are essential for your little friend’s brain development. Omega-3 is usually found in fish oils, so looking for food with this in it can really boost your pup’s development.
- Carbohydrates: This type of nutrient, in moderation, can provide energy and support puppies' digestive health. This means looking for ingredients like brown rice, sweet potatoes and oats.
- Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamins and minerals, like calcium, are essential for your puppy’s bone and joint development.
What Food Should Puppies Eat?
When it comes to what food should puppies eat, it can be difficult to know exactly what to give them. The food you choose needs to have a good, balanced mixture of all the essential nutrients to help support their growth and development. But it’s not just about this when it comes to keeping their tails wagging. You also have to consider what is safe for them to eat and what your puppy’s individual needs are. For example, your pooch may have an allergy to certain ingredients. If this is the case, you need to avoid what triggers your pup’s health issues and find suitable replacement ingredients.
On top of this, you also need to think about what type of food they can manage. Puppies have very sensitive stomachs in the early stages because their digestive system is still developing. This means that certain ingredients and types of food can cause them issues. Puppies also only have a few, tiny teeth because their teeth are coming through and growing stronger. This makes it hard for them to chew properly, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Due to their small mouth, they struggle to properly break food down. Wet food can upset your pup’s stomach, while dry food can be too hard to chew. It’s best to give them small quantities of wet food at first to prevent triggering their stomachs, or small dry food chunks that are easier to chew.
When Can Puppies Eat Solid Food?
To help you further understand what sort of food your puppy can eat, it’s important to know when can puppies eat solid food. Puppies can typically start to eat solid food when they’re around 3-4 weeks old, but it’s not something that just happens suddenly. It is a long process of weaning puppies off milk to solid food, so it can still be a transitional period up until they’re about 7-8 weeks old. To start this transition, it’s best for you to start with wet or softened food to make it easier to wean them off nursing.
How Much Food Should a Puppy Eat?
A very common question when it comes to food for little pups is, “How much food should a puppy eat?”. This all depends on how old they are and their size. There’s no guideline that suits every single puppy out there. It’s all based on your puppy’s individual needs. To understand how much you should feed them, you need to factor in their breed, age, size and activity level – just like with every dog.
Roughly, a young puppy of about 8 weeks to 6 months old needs around three to four meals every day. Each of these meals should equate to around 50-100g of food, depending on their size and breed. As for older puppies, around 6 months to 1 year old, they can start to eat fewer meals because they’re approaching adulthood. You can reduce their meals to two per day, with about 150-300g of food every day for most medium and large dogs. For smaller breeds, they will need around 100-150g of food per day.
What Food is Recommended for Puppies?
So, what food is recommended for puppies? There are so many different types of puppy food out there for you to choose from that it can be hard to choose the right one for your pup. The best way to know what food to give your pup is to gain expert advice from your local veterinarian to find out what they need from their diet. However, the most popular types can work for most pups and are a good starting point to find what your furry friend prefers.
Dry Natural Puppy Food
Dry natural puppy food is a great starting point when trying to figure out what food your pup needs and what they like best. It is a very popular and convenient option as it has a long shelf-life, is easy to store and is packed full of the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development. Choose high-quality natural food that is designed for puppies. These tend to be smaller chunks to help their little mouths chew, and also support their development.
Wet Puppy Food
Wet food that is canned or in a pouch is also one of the best options to start the transition from weaning to solid foods. This is a popular food for puppies because it is easier on their tiny mouths and teeth. It’s a good choice to start with before dry food to ease them into getting used to solid food. If your pup has sensitive teeth or isn’t used to dry food, you can try wet food as well. You may even find that having a mixture of wet and dry food together can work best to ensure that your pup’s stomach doesn’t flare.
Homemade Puppy Food
Another option you could try is homemade puppy food. This can be a good way to give your pup everything they need, while using fresh ingredients. However, you need to make sure that what you’re making includes everything required to support their development. You should use vet-approved recipes to use ingredients that support your puppy and ensure that this food is just as good as others.
What Treats Can Puppies Have?
Treats are always a nice gesture for your puppy that reinforces learning and gives them something tasty between meals. When it comes to what treats can puppies have, it’s all about choosing what your pup likes and what works best for them. It’s also about providing treats in moderation to prevent overfeeding your pup. You should only give treats during training to help them learn good behaviours or when they have been good.
The types of treats you need to give your puppy are the ones that are designed for the earlier life stages. However, you can choose some adult dog treats because they can be suitable for dogs from the age of 8 weeks old. It is best to check the packet to see the age recommendation before choosing it. The best treats to give them are:
- Those with nutritional value to support development.
- Smaller size for their tiny mouths to chew easily.
- Soft texture to be easy on your pup’s teeth.
- Purposeful treats, such as dental chews to look after their teeth, training treats or even calming treats.
- Appealing flavours that are aromatic and get your pup licking their lips, like chicken, beef and lamb.
Pero’s Natural Puppy Food
At Pero, we have a wide variety of natural puppy food that are designed to help your pup’s development and growth. With quality, tasty ingredients, you can rely on our dry food to help your little furry friend every step of the way throughout the early stages of their life. We have our premium super start puppy food with a blend of chicken and rice to provide your puppy with all the nutrition they need during the critical stages of growth and development. All our recipes are carefully formulated to be easy on your pup’s growing stomach, and the chunks are small to help them chew and digest them properly.
We also offer a range of delicious treats that are easy for your pup to chomp down. From our delicious protein bites, like tasty lamb bites, to our strips to chew on and look after their little teeth, you can easily find something your puppy will love and can’t get enough of!