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Please check this page after your puppy is weaned to ensure that you know
which food(s) your puppy is accustomed to eating while at our home.
I try to keep this page updated so new families know what
kind of food to buy a 'beginner bag' of for that first week the puppy is at
his/her new home.
From just prior to weaning until our
puppies leave us, they experience a variety of foods and
supplements including puppy milk replacer formula, canned puppy food
(small amounts only), probiotics, ProPac
Performance Puppy, and sometimes Purina Puppy Chow.
Don't Worry! :-) The most
important components of our feeding program are those that
your puppy is eating right before he/she leaves us, because
you should try (as best as you can) to mimic that diet for
at least a week before changing the puppy's diet. At that
time, we typically are just feeding our puppies a mixture of
two dry puppy foods.
What Our Puppies
Are Accustomed To Eating
Most of our puppies eat
ProPac Performance Puppy food
Exceptions:
Summer, 2010
Bitty's puppies are getting
both
ProPac
and
NutriSource.
Luna's puppies are
getting both
ProPac
and
NutriSource.
If you are soon
to receive a puppy, we recommend that you buy
a small bag of a food your puppy is currently eating to use for a week.
We will send a few days' supply with you to get you started,
too.
After a week, you can begin mixing it with the food
you plan to feed throughout your puppy's first year until the small bag is
gone.
Please note that we don't feel Puppy Chow
is the best food. It will work and I've even seen some
gorgeous and healthy puppies that eat it, but we like a food with less
corn. High corn content is simply an example of fillers,
which also make for loose/messy stools that smell more.
How Much Food
and How Often?
-
We keep
ProPac
Performance Puppy (unless an exception above exists) with the puppies almost all
the time until they are 8 or 9 weeks old. We need to offer
food most of each day to ensure that all puppies in the
litter get enough food, rather than having one slower-eating puppy
not have enough. This also helps prevent any puppies from
feeling that they need to rapidly eat as much food as they
can, out of fear that they will be hungry when there isn't
any food available.
-
However, feeding "meals" after a
puppy leaves littermates will help you
with potty training.
-
Check the feeding suggestions for the puppy
food you choose. The daily recommended amount will be listed
by either puppy weight and age, or else by the puppy's
weight at maturity.
~Our beagle puppies "typically" weigh between 4.5 and 5.5
lbs at 8 weeks.
~The small beagles might weigh 3.5 to 4 lbs at 8 weeks.
~Look at your puppy's mother/father (link is on the web page
that your puppy's pictures are shown on) for their weights
to estimate your puppy's mature weight.
What If Our Puppy Doesn't Eat Or Drink
At First?
Normally, there is no problem with eating habits in the new
home environment. But just like when we humans are away from
home, puppies will sometimes be too caught up in their new
place to eat and drink on their normal schedule.
If possible, offer a couple tablespoons of plain or vanilla yogurt with active
cultures (most brands have active cultures, including the Wal-Mart store brand)
once or twice daily. This not only is a treat that might get your puppy to eat,
but the cultures are also good for digestion during this time of stress.
One food caution is to not give canned puppy food unless "needed" to entice him
to eat...and then only in controlled amounts. Canned puppy food is not very nutritious, and also puppies will overeat
if allowed to. This can lead to bloated stomachs, gas, vomiting, and diarrhea,
and can require a trip to the emergency room. It is a good idea to have canned
puppy food on hand, but if you use it, we recommend mixing 2 tablespoons of it
with about 1/4 cup of dry food so the canned food coats the kibbles. This
would only be necessary if he was not eating very well due to his new
environment. Sometimes they do that for a day or two.
We've also had people put canned or fresh cooked (cooled) chicken broth over the
dry kibbles, and even using a little broth or tuna juice in water if needed to
get the puppies to drink.
Again, because this is very important!
PLEASE DO NOT FEED YOUR PUPPY CANNED PUPPY
FOOD in unlimited amounts soon after receiving him/her.
Drastic
changes in their diets can cause severe digestive upset. Do keep a couple
cans of soft food on hand to use to tempt the puppy to eat
if he/she is off feed. But give just a couple tablespoons at
a time to prevent overeating and bloating. If the puppy eats soft food
until he bloats, he could begin a cycle of vomiting/diarrhea
that could lead to blood sugar problems and anemia which
could be fatal.
Examples of Dog
Food Brands, and Comparison
Click the image above for a comparison of several popular
puppy foods.
A
high-quality puppy food is essential for the first few months. We
love
Diamond
brand Lamb and Rice Puppy for puppies that are 3 months
old and older. We also found a food at Wal-Mart that does
not contain corn (or at least is low in corn) called Maximum Puppy Food (it is a
bright blue bag) that might be good
to look into. We like its ingredient list, and often give it to
our own young beagles for their first year. Purina
One, Science Diet, Eukanuba,
Solid Gold, and Iams are also popular, and your
veterinarian might have a suggestion that he/she prefers.
Lamb and
Rice or chicken and rice foods are often recommended for breeds of dogs with
large ears that lay down, like beagles.
Blue Buffalo offers several good puppy foods. We also like
the quality of
NutriSource puppy food, and often supplement our puppies with
that. However, millions
of puppies have been raised on non-specialty store-bought food, and you sure can choose
that route as well as long as it's specifically formulated for puppies.
After the first year, your puppy can receive a regular adult
formulation.
How do you know if a food is good? Look at
the ingredients...if "corn" or "corn meal" (or similar) is
in the first few ingredients, it isn't as good as if those
ingredients were lower on the list. Better yet, avoid a
corn-based feed entirely and look instead for rice. Or,
consider a diet of food totally without corn, rice, wheat,
etc. This can be accomplished via prepared foods such as
Natures Variety, or by careful research on your part and
feeding a diet of raw meats.
Check out
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ for
reviews of puppy foods. I don't know if this site is truly
independent or if it's sponsored by dog food manufacturers
yet. If it's independent, it's kind of a neat site!
Vitamins
Ask your vet about vitamins. Puppy foods are supposed to be complete, so
giving vitamins might just be overkill and not necessary. Lots of people do
give vitamins, though.
Changing Foods Slowly
This is just "my idea" for a way to
acclimate the puppy to your new home's feed and feeding
schedule, especially if you don't plan to feed Purina Puppy
Chow. It is very conservative, and we know that most people
don't adhere as strictly as this chart. But, this might give
you an idea of how to acclimate mealtime for your puppy.
The goal is "slow change" to help prevent
digestive upset. The change of home is enough for the first
few days...no need to add the change in diet as well.
-
Feed straight Puppy Chow (brown variety, not
red/green) for 5 days.
-
For the first 3 days, have some dry Puppy
Chow in the food dish all the time or else feed at least
5 small meals per day. This allows the puppy to eat when
he/she is hungry, as his/her schedule will be unsettled for
a few days due to leaving the littermates and familiar home.
-
After 5 days, mix the Puppy Chow half and
half with your new food for at least a week, or until the
Puppy Chow is gone. During this time, offer food only at
meal times. Still offer several small meals per day, and not just
two meals. Puppies need to eat more frequently than adult
dogs.
-
After the 12th day (or when the Puppy Chow
is gone), feed your preferred
feed if you change from Puppy Chow.
|
Day |
What to Feed |
How Often |
| Day 1 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow
(can mix some with water as a treat, but mostly offer dry food) |
Always available, or at
least 5 small meals per day |
| Day 2 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow
(can mix some with water as a treat, but mostly offer dry food) |
Always available, or at least 5 small meals
per day |
| Day 3 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow
(can mix some with water as a treat, but mostly offer dry food) |
Always available, or at least 5 small meals
per day |
| Day 4 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow
(can mix some with water as a treat, but mostly offer dry food) |
Several small meals per day.
|
| Day 5 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow
(can mix some with water as a treat, but mostly offer dry food) |
Several small meals per day.
|
| Day 6 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow
mixed half and half with your preferred puppy food |
Several small meals per day.
|
| Day 7 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow mixed half and half
with your preferred puppy food |
Several small meals per day.
|
| Day 8 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow mixed half and half
with your preferred puppy food |
Several small meals per day.
|
| Day 9 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow mixed half and half
with your preferred puppy food |
Several small meals per day.
|
| Day 10 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow mixed half and half
with your preferred puppy food |
Several small meals per day.
|
| Day 11 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow mixed half and half
with your preferred puppy food |
Several small meals per day.
|
| Day 12 |
Dry Purina Puppy Chow mixed half and half
with your preferred puppy food |
Several small meals per day.
|
| After |
Your preferred food |
3 or more meals per day. |
Other Info for New Puppy Owners
Visit our Table of Contents page
for links to information valuable to new puppy owners. This list includes
FAQ's, training advice, and much more!
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