How long do puppies need puppy food

The general rule of thumb is that you should feed puppy food for at least the first year. Heres what you need to know.

Your pup begins eating solid food around 3 to 4 weeks old.

How long do puppies need puppy food. You should feed puppy food until your puppy reaches maturity. Once he has reached maturity you can switch to adult dog food. Not all breeds reach maturity at the same age however so this can make it harder to know when to switch.

How Long to Feed Puppy Food. Puppies need a complete and balanced puppy food until they reach maturity. Although dogs who are one year or older.

Growing pups should be fed puppy food a diet specially formulated to meet the nutritional needs for normal development. Feeding adult food will rob your puppy of important nutrients. As often as were asked how long do you feed a dog puppy food its quite remarkable how many people are genuinely worried about moving their puppy to adult food either too soon or too late.

You should feed a puppy on puppy food while theyre younger than 12-months but the transition process can start earlier. Therefore your puppy should eat puppy food until she is no longer growing which is going to depend on the breed. Little dogs like the Maltese do not grow anywhere near as long as bigger dogs like an English Mastiff.

The general rule of thumb is that you should feed puppy food for at least the first year. Puppies are demanding food from their mother every 4 or 5 hours. They shouldnt go any longer than 5 hours between feeds.

They can survive without food without food for a little while longer. And boy are they beginning to get lively- they are walking around their whelping box with more confidence each day. Your pup begins eating solid food around 3 to 4 weeks old.

By 7 to 8 weeks old he is eating only the puppy food. Once he is not nursing he should have four meals a day that are measured and equally divided into four well-spaced intervals throughout the day. He will continue to eat four meals a day until he is 4 months old.

I generally recommend that large breed puppies such as Labrador Retrievers stay on large breed puppy food until they are 12 18 months old. Out of the long list of minerals puppies need calcium and phosphorous are at the top. According to AAFCO puppy food is required to have at least 12 calcium content while adult food only needs 5.

Pet Education says Of all the minerals calcium is required in the greatest amount. In general puppies need about twice as many calories per day than their adult counterparts. According to the Committee on Nutrient Requirements of Cats and Dogs of the National Academy of Science a 10-pound puppy that is expected to weigh 33 pounds at adulthood needs to eat about 990 calories per day.

Around three to four weeks of age puppies will have grown teeth and can begin eating solid food. The mother will likely encourage pups to stop nursing as the pups sharp teeth are painful. Start the process by offering a dish of milk replacement so the puppies can learn to drink from a bowl.

Then move on to canned puppy food. Then dry puppy food is given until the puppy becomes an adult. Smaller and larger breeds of puppies will start looking fully grown at between six and eight months and around 24 months respectively.

But they are still teenage puppies inside and therefore still need high-protein dog food to terminate their growth. Depending on the breed most dogs will not stop growing for the first year or two. You can continue feeding them a puppy formula until their growth plates have sealed as long as they are not overweight.

However you must work closely with a veterinarian to assess your puppys body condition score. When it comes to feeding puppies there are a lot of factors to consider. Overall nutrition breed size and the type of food all play a role.

Heres what you need to know. Puppies need puppy food. Feeding puppies a complete and balanced puppy food ensures they get the proper nutrition to develop and grow into healthy adult dogs.

Make a gruel of canned or dry puppy food mixed with puppy milk replacer or water. Look for a well-known name-brand puppy food that is not grain-free. Ideally use the same brand of food that the mother dog eats.

If the puppies do not take to the gruel try blending this ratio. 2 cups of puppy food. 125 ounces of puppy milk replacer.

Adult dogs that are no longer growing do not require as many calories as puppies and can gain weight if they are fed puppy food. Spaying and neutering your dog while very beneficial also causes a decrease in your dogs metabolism that can lead to weight gain. Typically dogs will be fully grown by age 1 but large breed puppies may continue growing until age 2.

Its important to stop feeding puppy food when the time is right and transition to an adult diet and decrease the amount of food so your dog does not become overweight. Most veterinarians dog trainers and behaviorists agree that puppies need to go out very soon once they eat a meal or drink water. Generally speaking the recommended time frame varies from 5 to 15 minutes but sometimes trends upwards to 30 plus minutes.

Multiple factors change the recommended time size of the puppy age of the puppy. The entire process usually takes a little over a month or so with many puppies not being completely weaned until theyre about 8 weeks old. However puppies can begin eating soft-textured foods as soon as weaning begins – think 3 weeks old for instance.

That means mixing the puppy dry dog food with the formula until the pup gets used to eating it. The weaning process takes about four-to-five weeks and allows your pup to get used to the process of eating solid foods. This means that your puppy will be eating wet or dry food on his own by around 9 to 10 weeks old.

The recommended feeding time is based on how long it will take your puppy to reach their adult size and for their growth plates to close at which time theyll transition to adult food. In general small breed dogs finish growing earlier than their larger counterpartssometimes as early as 7-10 months of age. Large and giant breeds on the other hand have a lot of growing to do.

Buying a puppy and bringing them home is exciting and a bit daunting but should be lots of fun for you both. Our guide to puppy care will help you give your puppy the best start in life and avoid any potential problems later on. Click the image to the right to see our infographic on your new puppys first year and keep reading to find out what to do as your pup gets bigger.

A puppys first year entails constant growth requiring plenty of time spent eating sleeping and playing. Because his little body consumes calories like crazy he needs to eat throughout the day to stay healthy. This schedule isnt a life-long habit.