So you decided it’s time for a new family member and now you’re going store to store every few days to pick up essentials.
From making sleeping arrangements for your family’s soon-to-be furry companion to sourcing best nutritional foods, it probably feels as though the list only gets longer. But don’t worry, accommodating a puppy may be challenging at first, but the effort is all worth it eventually. That furry ball will bring you many joys.
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If choosing appropriate puppy foods is one of the first things that you too have thought about the moment you decided to bring a new member to the family, then here’s how to start your puppy off right:
Research in advance good foods to feed the puppy
You may already know that some foods that are very good and nutritional for humans are bad for dogs, so bad they may, in fact, get food poisoning if ingested in larger amounts. Some of these foods are stuff like grapes, onions, chocolate, and various additives usually added in human foods, such as xylitol, for example.
Because a puppy requires so much attention and you are going to have your hands full the moment he comes home, what you should consider is researching in advance things to help with making the transition smoother, and this includes information on puppy nutrition. To begin with, access specialty websites and maybe talk to other dog owners to source whatever piece of relevant information you can find.
Take nutritional value into consideration
A balanced diet is very important for your puppy to blossom into a beautiful, strong and healthy dog. When implemented from an early age, a complete diet, considering you are feeding your dog healthy food, can add a few years to his life.
A complete and balanced dog diet should be comprised of proteins, minerals, healthy fats, vitamins, carbohydrates, and water of course.
As a general rule, dogs benefit more from meat proteins than vegetable-based proteins, but if you are keeping your dog on a meat-free diet, he can still thrive from eating eggs and other sources of proteins such as beans, whole grains, and corn.
Make sure the first six to eight weeks the puppy feeds from the mother
With a few exceptions, such as when the mother develops an issue that makes it unable for her to feed, a puppy should always nurse from the mother. Removing a puppy from his mother earlier means he’s deprived of the mother’s milk that is extremely important to his health.
Moreover, when a puppy is released too early, he runs the risk of developing emotional and behavioral problems, so make sure your future puppy stays with his mother for at least six weeks, longer if possible.
Visit the veterinarian
Yes, even after all the research and the amount of useful information you gathered, it’s still important to get a veterinarian’s advice on how best to feed your puppy.
Everyone knows that a puppy should eat puppy food and that adult dogs should eat adult food, but nutritional needs may differ based on a dog’s breed too, specifically whether small or large. A veterinarian can assess your dog’s nutritional needs correctly and point towards an appropriate diet, especially important for cases in which specific dog breeds are prone to developing various diseases.
Avoid overfeeding at all costs
Dogs love to eat, and so do puppies as you will learn for yourself. But if you give in to your dog’s begging every time, he will pick up on it and expect you to feed him whenever he begs.
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A dog’s training should start from as early as possible and when it comes to puppies that means immediately. Withhold from feeding your puppy excessively by not giving in and this way, you teach him his behavior is ineffective.