Diet and Nutrition
The best food available for your new puppy would be from a commercial supplier, large dog food suppliers spend thousands of dollars every year researching and developing nutritionally excellent food stuff for puppies. These foods will have the necessary vitamins and minerals to help your puppy grow and function normally. Recent evidence suggests puppies fed strictly all meat diets can be harmful in the long run due to mineral imbalances.
Puppies should be fed little and often, say up to 3-4 small snacks daily. As a puppy owner it's important to be with him while he is eating in case he has any difficulties or is unsure of how to feed.
When it's feeding time, you may want to add a small volume of warm water to the food to help moisten and break it up for your new pup. Once the puppy gets older, larger and more fibrous food material can be presented until he is happy eating mature dog food.
If your puppy appears to be finishing his food rather quickly then you may want to add an extra spoonful and visa versa, if he leaves some then you might want to reduce them. However, be careful some puppies may be greedy and eating for the sake of eating. If insufficient exercise is giving then your puppy can gain weight quickly and become obese.
Sometimes you may find your dog is disinterested in his food. However, try not to feed him any treats such as tidbits but leave his food there for him to eat if he gets hungry. Feed him at the same time every day, this get him used to regularity and he begins to understand when he will be fed.
Many people incorrectly feed their puppy by hand, this is ok at very early age but if continued can lead to your dog requiring hand feeding in later life. As with other types of dog training its best to train them at a young age than when mature.
It's tempting to give your puppy some scraps from your lunch; however it's vital that you do not as it causes an upset stomach from the high amounts of calories. Secondly, you puppy will begin to think it's acceptable to pester you when eating or to steal food from the table.