A balanced diet with a high-quality food is very important for the healthy development of a puppy. After all, the little four-legged friend grows incredibly fast in his first months of life and of course needs the right nutrients for this.
Below you can find out when it is best to feed your puppy and what you should pay attention to.
Key facts at a glance
- Supplementary feeding can be started for puppies around the fourth week of life.
- After being weaned from their mother’s milk, puppies are only given puppy food.
- Puppies need three to four meals a day for the first five to six months.
- The first and the last feeding should take place in the morning and evening after the walk.
- Good quality and appropriate portioning of feed are crucial for healthy growth.
Switching from mother’s milk to puppy food
For the first three weeks of life, a puppy feeds exclusively on mother’s milk, which provides all the nutrients it needs at that time. From the fourth week, the diet of the young four-legged friend can then be supplemented with high-quality puppy food, which provides him with additional energy.
Between the eighth and tenth week of life, the puppy is then finally weaned from its mother’s milk and from then on only supplied with puppy food.
The right food for puppies
When buying the food, it is important to note that the nutritional needs of a puppy differ quite significantly from those of an adult dog in some respects. In addition to a sufficiently high protein and energy content, the right ratio between phosphorus and calcium is particularly important.
It is therefore essential to refrain from feeding your puppy normal dog food and always buy special puppy food.
How often do puppies need to be fed?
In the first five to six months of life, it is advisable to provide puppies with three to four meals a day. After that, it is usually sufficient if the growing four-legged friend is fed two to three times a day.
Note that there may well be individual differences in this regard. Therefore, monitor your pup closely and adjust feeding intervals if necessary.
Schedule sensible feeding times for puppies
A regular daily routine is very important for puppies. This also includes feeding times. Of course, meals do not have to be planned to the minute. Nevertheless, a certain rhythm that the young dog can get used to should be maintained.
In the morning after sleeping, the puppy should first be able to relax. Once that’s done, it’s time for the first feeding. One or two additional meals can then be planned throughout the day. Finally, the last feeding takes place in the evening after the last walk.
When it comes to feeding puppies, less is often more
Although puppies grow very quickly and require a lot of energy to do so, it is essential to ensure that they are fed an appropriate amount. Too much food can have fatal consequences, especially for large dog breeds, which usually only reach their final weight after 18 to 24 months.
Because an oversupply of energy can accelerate growth and weight gain. However, the development of the bones and joints cannot keep up, so that the affected puppies often suffer permanent damage to the musculoskeletal system.