What is your puppy eating?Have you ever taken the time to find out?
Many people think that the food available in stores these days are highly processed and full of a lot of preservatives. You should seek advice from your veterinarian on what is the best food for your pet and also do some research of your own. There are a lot of foods that are available for dogs, but try to find out what really is the best for your puppy.
For you to approve a pet food for your puppy it must prove that it can provide sufficient nutrients. The ratio for a dog's food should be 40 % meat, 50 % vegetables and about 10 % grains or other carbohydrates. You should always ensure that protein sources are high on the list such as chicken, lamb and beef. Grains can be a long term source of energy, fibre and minerals. Grains that can be used and considered good for puppies are rolled oats, barley, millet and brown rice.
Dogs are carnivores by nature but they can survive on a vegetarian diet, however, they would not thrive on it. When purchasing food for your puppies look out for the ones that display high protein and fillers in the ingredients. This is because there is usually a lot more in the fillers than can be seen. One way to ensure your puppy is getting the right ingredients is to prepare the food yourself; it's quite simple and recipes are available in book stores and internet sources.
Preparing food for your pet is much cheaper than purchasing from stores and other pet shops. However it is vital that you are careful and know exactly what you are doing, otherwise you could be doing more harm than good.
One way to know whether you are doing the right thing is to always check the outcome in your pet's droppings. It should normally be firm and have no traces of mucus or blood. Choose foods that use vitamin E or C as preservatives and avoid those that use chemical preservatives, such as BHT, BHA and Ethoxyquin. Cheap brands of foods are usually not healthy, so choose economy brands instead. Keep in mind that what is not good for you is also not good for your pet. Some people tend to throw sweets and all sorts of foods for the puppy to eat, but bear in mind that it is not good for them.
Just the same as with humans and what we eat, there is not any one brand of dog food that is healthy for all breeds of dogs of different ages and health conditions. Dogs also have food preferences and likes and dislikes, so try to find out which food is best suitable for your pet dog, but make sure it is a healthy one. Your puppy is what they eat, so if you provide them with a healthy and nutritious diet they will live longer with much less suffering, disease or illnesses. Always consider what you feed your pet and you will have a wonderful time with them.
It is also highly advised to change a dogs food over gradually. Some dogs have allergies to certain foods and need to be on a strict diet along w/diets per activity level. With raw food diets, one must remember oral hygiene needs to be high concern along w/ratios being correct and all the right ingredients for maximum nutrition absorption. The age of canines must be taken into consideration as well. Studies have shown dogs on high protein diets show aggression issues and when those percentages were dropped so did the aggression. Certain breeds need less protein then others and if not monitored correctly can cause issues in development.