Puppy Diet – How Much Should He Eat?

Contents

1. What can a puppy eat?
2. How many times a day should you feed your puppy?
3. A puppy's proper diet and its development
4. Feeding a puppy up to 4 weeks of age
5. Feeding a puppy after 4 weeks of age
6. When to introduce food into a puppy's diet?
7. Dry food
8. Wet food
9. How much should a puppy eat - a table of the correct diet
10. Supplements in a puppy's diet – which ones to choose?

Proper puppy nutrition supports healthy development and facilitates its transition into adulthood. For a dog's body to develop harmoniously, it's essential to provide puppies with the appropriate amount of energy, protein, and minerals. It's also important to ensure the right number of meals to avoid overloading the sensitive, developing digestive tract of young dogs. How much should a puppy eat? How should you properly plan their meals?

What can a puppy eat?

Wondering how much a puppy should eat and what can be included in their diet? Developing the right diet for a young dog requires special attention. Puppies' digestive tracts are not yet fully developed, so they are not adapted to consuming large portions of food and hard-to-digest products. Additionally, due to their small teeth, puppies may not be able to chew very hard food. It's also worth remembering that young dogs' immunity isn't as strong as that of adults, making them particularly susceptible to food poisoning caused by eating stale or bacteria-containing food (e.g.,. Salmonella).

To provide your four-legged junior with a properly balanced and safe diet, it is best to feed him ready-made, high-meat, wet or dry food adapted to his age (with the puppy/junior formula).. Puppies can also be fed a homemade or BARF diet. In such cases, the best protein source is easily digestible, lean meat with a good amino acid profile, such as veal, chicken, or turkey. High-protein products such as eggs, yogurt, or cottage cheese can also be added to a young dog's diet. Easily digestible vegetables, such as pumpkin or carrots, are also a good addition to the puppy's meals. Cooked rice can be used as a carbohydrate supplement in a homemade puppy diet.

Due to the intense need to chew in young dogs, their diet should also include chews—sized and firm enough for their jaws and teeth. Ears, lungs, or beef tripe can be used as chew treats for puppies. A home-cooked or BARF diet must also be supplemented (e.g., with calcium).

Regardless of the feeding model chosen, it is always necessary to determine how much your puppy should eat. To determine the portion size, it is necessary to first calculate the pet's daily metabolic energy requirement. How much should a puppy eat? To determine this, first calculate the RER (resting metabolic energy requirement) and then multiply the result by the appropriate factor.

Here's how to calculate how much your puppy should eat.

RER = 70 x body weight^0,75

• How much should a puppy eat from weaning until it reaches adult weight (approximately 4-5 months of age)?

DER = RER x 3

• How much should a puppy eat from 50% to 80% target body weight (up to 8-12 months of age)?

DER = RER x 2.5

• How much should a puppy eat from 80% to 100% target body weight (approximately 12-24 months of age)?

DER = RER x 2

Once we know the dog's energy needs and the energy value of the food, we can determine how much the puppy should eat and determine the size of a single meal:

Amount of food (g) = (dog's energy requirement in kcal / caloric value of food in kcal) × 100

How much should a puppy eat? The calculated daily amount of food should be divided into 2-5 servings (depending on the dog's age).

How many times a day should you feed your puppy?

Feeding frequency for puppies depends on their developmental stage. How much should a puppy eat? To avoid burdening the dog's digestive system while ensuring a feeling of fullness, puppies should be fed according to the following schedule:

• from birth to 2 weeks of age (in the case of orphaned puppies): 6-12 times a day (every 2 hours),
• from 2 to 4 weeks of age (in the case of orphaned puppies): 4-6 times a day,
• from 4th to 8th week of life: 4-5 times a day,
• from 6 months of age: 2-3 times a day (this feeding method is also continued in adult dogs).

A puppy's proper diet and its development

A puppy's nutrition affects its growth rate, the development of individual organs and systems, and its behavioral development. Optimal feeding for a young dog should take into account two key puppyhood phases: from birth to 4 weeks of age and from 4 weeks of age to adulthood. What should be included in the diet of a four-legged junior and how much should a puppy eat during the different stages of puppyhood?

Feeding a puppy up to 4 weeks of age

Immediately after birth, a puppy's nutrition rests entirely with its mother. She provides the puppies with milk. In the first stage of life, milk provides a complete, perfectly balanced meal for young dogs. It contains approximately 4-10% protein, 8-10% fat, 4% lactose, and essential vitamins, minerals, and other bioactive compounds. The caloric value of milk is approximately 146-155 kcal/100g. How much should a puppy eat in the first stage of life? In the first week of life, puppies consume 15 ml of milk/100g of body weight daily. Puppies do not require supplementation until 4 weeks of age.

Colostrum, produced by the mother for 72 hours after giving birth, also plays an important role in a puppy's nutrition. It provides the puppies with antibodies that provide them with immunity during the first few years of life.

If, for various reasons, the mother is unable to breastfeed her puppies, it is necessary to wean them off milk. Its composition should be similar to that of the mother's milk. The milk replacer should also contain ingredients that stimulate immunity, digestion, and digestive system development, such as mannanoligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharides, and docosahexaenoic, linolenic, and arachidonic acids.

Milk replacers are most often administered after diluting them in warm water (1:3) and heating them to 38°C. They can be administered using a syringe or a bottle with a nipple. Cow's milk should not be used as a substitute for female milk, as it has a different composition and can lead to diarrhea or nutritional deficiencies in puppies.

Feeding a puppy after 4 weeks of age

Around the 3rd or 4th week of life, puppies' baby teeth begin to erupt, and the bitch's milk production begins to decrease. This is also when the dogs begin to wean, when semi-solid food can be introduced into their diet. Starting from 6-8 weeks of age, the puppy should be fed complete dry or wet food (adapted to its age) or a balanced BARF/homemade diet. How much should a puppy eat after weaning? Feed them small portions of food with a caloric value of 3.2-3.8 kcal ME/g DM.

A puppy's nutrition must be tailored to its needs resulting from rapid growth and development. A young dog's diet should be highly digestible (above 80%) and high biological value. Dog meals should be composed to ensure a positive protein and energy balance. How much should a puppy eat? Young dogs have up to twice the energy and protein requirements of adult dogs. A deficiency of nutrients (especially amino acids and fatty acids) may lead to stunted growth or developmental problems.

The protein content in puppy food should be above 29%, and in the case of large and giant breed puppies – 22-32%. Growing dogs' diets should also include ingredients that support brain and nervous system development (including EPA and DHA fatty acids), those that stimulate the immune system and regulate intestinal microflora (mannan-oligosaccharides and fructooligosaccharides), and minerals and vitamins that support skeletal development (calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D).

During puppyhood, your pet should be introduced to different types of food, as this is when its food preferences are formed and it may refuse foods it has not had contact with before in the future.

When to introduce food into a puppy's diet?

Transitioning a puppy to solid food takes time. The optimal time to start supplementing a puppy's diet is around three weeks of age. How much should a puppy eat during this period? You can then begin feeding your puppy small portions of properly prepared wet or dry food. A puppy should be fully transitioned to solid food around six to eight weeks of age. It's important to remember that after arriving in a new home, the puppy should be fed the same food it has been eating for at least one to two weeks.

Dry food

Due to its hardness, dry food should not be the first food for puppies. If you want to introduce it to your puppy's diet, you can serve it after grinding it or soaking it in water. Gradually, as your puppy improves its chewing skills, reduce the amount of water in the food. It's worth remembering that puppy food should be finely granulated, adapted to their teeth.

Wet food

Wet food, due to its moist consistency and softness, is ideal for the period before and immediately after weaning. It's best to start by feeding your pet semi-liquid food, such as a puree, which your pet can lick off. Later, you can feed your pet moist food with small pieces of meat.

How much should a puppy eat - a table of the correct diet

How much should a puppy eat? Below is a chart showing proper puppy nutrition.

Supplements in a puppy's diet – which ones to choose?

A young dog fed a complete food does not usually need additional supplementation, provided that its owner takes into account how much the puppy should eat. However, if your puppy's diet is based on cooked or raw food, it is necessary to supplement the dog's meals with supplements. Use of dietary supplements It may also be appropriate in cases of specific problems occurring in puppies and increased demand for certain nutrients (e.g., during convalescence). However, supplements should not be used just in case—their administration should be consulted with a veterinarian or animal nutritionist.

The most popular supplements used in puppy nutrition include:

• eggshells - provide puppies with calcium and phosphorus, helping to balance the proportions of minerals;
• prebiotics, probiotics - regulate the intestinal microflora of puppies, strengthen immunity;
• Fish oils – can be a good source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids;
• egg yolks - can enrich your pet's diet with biotin, vitamins A, D, E, K, copper, calcium, iron;
• algae - iodine supplement;
• chondroitin and glucosamine – can support the joints of large and giant breed puppies;
• brewer's yeast - a source of B vitamins, which have a beneficial effect on the coat and skin;
• cod liver oil - provides vitamin D, necessary for proper skeletal development.

To provide a puppy with an appropriate diet, it's important to consider their specific needs, resulting from increased energy, protein, and mineral requirements. How much a puppy should eat changes throughout the puppyhood. Easily digestible, high-protein foods rich in vitamins and fatty acids are particularly beneficial in the diet of junior dogs. Young dogs' nutrition should also include ingredients that support skeletal development and the functioning of their nervous, digestive, and immune systems. A proper diet will help puppies have a healthy start to adulthood.

Bibliography:

1. Ceregrzyn M., Lechowski R., Barszczewska B., Basics of dog and cat nutrition, Edra Urban & Partner 2013.
2. Guidi D., Nutrition and Dietetics for Dogs and Cats: A Guide for Veterinarians, Edra Urban & Partner 2021.
3. Kazimierska K., Biel W., Nutrition for puppies and growing dogs, Zootechnical News 2020, no. 1, pp. 14-20.

Marta Majewska

Zoopsychologist