Complementary feeding of puppies: when to introduce, where to start and how much to give food per day

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The best food for a newborn puppy is its mother's milk. In addition to nutrients, it contains a huge amount of antibodies that babies need to protect themselves from the disease. But time passes, they grow quickly, and mother's milk becomes not enough. Usually the bitch feeds them up to 1.5-2 months. But puppies need to be introduced much earlier, from about the third week of life.

Basic Knowledge

The average fat content of a bitch's milk is 9-10%. It is this fat content or a little less that the substitutes you choose should be. Often owners make a common mistake and start feeding puppies too early. Often this is not necessary. If the puppies are sleeping most of the time and gaining weight normally, then everything is fine and there is no need to get up at night with the intention of bottle feeding them. Do not forget that the bitch produces as much milk as her puppies drink. That is, with supplements you will stimulatereducing its quantity.

When to offer a saucer to puppies

It depends on the specific situation. There are objective reasons why you need to supplement earlier. If the mother's milk is low or the litter is very large, goat's milk is the best choice. It is advisable to use raw, whole. You can add one yolk to a glass of milk. Before reaching four weeks of age, it is best to use quail eggs, and then add chicken.

Weaning puppies makes sense to start at 14 days of age if weight gain has slowed down. If they continue to recover well, then you can postpone the introduction of additional feeds for another week. Or you can wait another week and start solid food training at four weeks of age.

First solid food

Closer to a month, you can start giving babies "adult" food. Feeding puppies solid food before this age is useless because the gastrointestinal tract is not formed and cannot digest anything other than milk. Closer to the age of one month, you can start giving them meat (beef and veal), natural cottage cheese.

Eggs are added in the calculation no more than 1 pc. per 200 g of food per day. One chicken is added to 700 g of the main food. On this diet, babies live up to five weeks.

Second month of life

The beginning of weaning puppies marks a new stage in the life of babies. Now they are less and less dependent on their mother and spend more and more time studying the world around them. Starting from the 5th week, additionalproducts, one every three days. It is very important to prioritize the assortment of meat. Veal is the first food choice, but not the only one. The only restriction is fatty pork, as well as pieces of lamb with tail fat. By the way, fatty chicken is also banned, you need to choose a young bird or remove excess fat.

At this age, milk ceases to play a primary role in the lives of babies. Now it is gradually being replaced by sour-milk products. It is best to cook them for puppies yourself. In this case, you can be sure of the quality of the finished product. At the same time, raw calcined foods are better absorbed, so you should give preference to them.

The first foods for puppies is an introduction to the main products. Therefore, consider the delicate stomachs of babies, give them food in small portions. This will avoid stomach problems, bloating and diarrhea. Like a small child, a puppy's GI tract is still imperfect.

Vitamins and minerals

When to start feeding puppies, each owner decides on his own, focusing on his wards. If the mother feeds them well, then quietly enjoy a carefree life until they are 3-4 weeks old. But if the bitch does not have milk or, even worse, she gets sick or died, then you will have to take care of feeding the crumbs.

From 6 weeks puppies are offered raw fish. It is a source of phosphorus and calcium. From this time, you can begin to introduce vegetables and fruits into the diet. These are apples andcarrots, lettuce and cucumbers, zucchini and pumpkins. Fish and meat bones can be fed to a puppy in a ground form, mixed with meat. Do not forget that their share should not be more than 15%. You can and should give babies large beef bones. This is a toy and a treat, and also a necessary thing in order to scratch your growing teeth. But bones should only be given to well-fed puppies at night. At this age they are fed 6 times a day, and by 8 weeks they reduce the number of feedings to 3-4 times a day.

From 8 weeks

By this time, the digestive system has time not only to form, but also to get stronger. Puppies can begin to give offal. But they also need to be chosen carefully. For example, a puppy will swallow chicken necks, and will gnaw on the backs. You can also give the scar in the proportions recommended for adult animals. Gradually, the frequency of feedings is now decreasing, but the portion is increasing.

A baby at this age eats as much as an adult dog of the same breed, if we take the daily amount of food. Males always eat more than females. For normal digestion, be sure to add chopped fresh herbs. By this age, the number of feedings per day decreases to three, but sour-milk products should still be included in the diet.

Feeding Yorkshire puppies

Depending on the breed, the rules for the introduction of complementary foods may vary. This is especially true of miniature animals that are bred artificially. Tiny Yorkies quite often experience digestive problems. The stomach is often simply unable to digestthe amount of food that the body needs due to its size. Therefore, special feeds are used for them, which, in a small amount, provide a good supply of nutrients.

Therefore, Yorkie puppy feeding is most often carried out using the soaked dry food "Starter Pappy". It is kneaded with a fork to the state of gruel. And when the kids grow up a little, they eat already just soaked and drink it with water. From two months you can switch to "Mini Junior". Most breeders agree that this is the best food for Yorkies.

Large breed dogs

The German Shepherd is the most popular. Complementary feeding of shepherd puppies begins from 18-20 days of life. These puppies are quite large and require a lot of calcium and nutrients to grow and develop. From this time, calcined cottage cheese can be introduced. He showed himself very well in the combination "cottage cheese - milk - raw egg" or "cottage cheese - egg - carrot juice". From day 22, you can add lean beef meat. To do this, it is scraped or ground in a blender. A good option would be a mixture of milk, cottage cheese and minced meat.

Approximately from the 26th day of life, milk porridge can be introduced into the diet. Grains must be ground in a coffee grinder. Start with one cereal, and when the baby's stomach gets used to it, you can add the next one.

How much food does a puppy need

For puppies of medium and large breeds, there is a clear formula: they need 5 to 8% ofown body weight. And this portion is adjusted once a week. But the main guideline is the condition of the puppy. He should not get fat or look thin. You can focus on the ribs. They should not stick out, but they can be easily felt on palpation. If the puppy is cheerful, runs a lot and is interested in the world around him, he will definitely have a good appetite. At the same time, it is imperative to provide him with quality food, complete sources of all the necessary nutrients.