Transfer to a new food gradually
In the first few days of having your puppy, it’s best to keep to the puppy food that the puppy has been given before, in its previous home. Changing the food at this stage can place additional stress on the young dog’s digestive system.
Once the puppy has settled in, generally after one or two weeks, you can start changing over to a different food: Simply mix a little of the new food into the puppy’s daily ration, and then gradually increase the proportion of the new food each day. In this way, the puppy’s digestive system can slowly adjust to the new food. Once you’ve decided on a puppy food, you should keep to it.
How much food should a puppy eat?
Measuring out the day’s food ration is important, since providing the puppy with too many or too few vitamins and nutrients can harm its growth. You should therefore, if possible, keep to the recommended feeding quantities which are on the Happy Dog dry food packaging. The starting point is always the target weight, according to age and breed, and not necessarily its current weight at the moment. This may be higher for young animals that have grown too quickly. In this scenario, if the ‘current weight’ is used as the basis, it could lead to even more over-rapid growth. In general terms, feed ‘as little as possible and as much as necessary’.
How often should I feed my puppy?
If you want to feed your puppy correctly, you can use the recommended guidelines given by the experts to determine how often to feed:
- up to the age of 4 months: 4 meals per day,
- up to the age of 6 months: 3 meals per day,
- from 6 months: 2 meals per day
Adult dogs are generally fed twice a day, but puppies often need to eat more frequently. This is because puppies have relatively small stomachs, and to start with can only eat small quantities. Large quantities of food could overload the puppy’s digestive system.
Can I give my puppy something to eat in between meals?
Just like adult dogs, puppies love natural treats as a reward or small snacks in between meals. However, these should be given sparingly, and counted as part of the daily food ration. Alternatively, part of the daily ration of dry food can be given as treats.
How long should puppy food be given?
The predicted adult size of the dog is a major factor in recommending how long puppy food should be given:
- Small breeds (up to 10kg): at around 9-12 months change to Mini Adult
- Medium-sized breeds (11-25kg): at around 12-15 months change to Adult
- Giant breeds (over 26 kg): at around 15-18 months change to Maxi Adult
Basically, when the adult dog size has almost been reached, you can change from puppy food to adult food.
The transition to adult food
The follow-up food is selected according to breed, metabolic disposition and performance (e.g. Mini Adult for adult dogs up to 10 kg with normal energy requirements. Medium Adult for adult dogs from 11-25 kg with normal energy requirements. For medium to large dogs, three of our product lines come into question:
- exclusive recipes for nutritionally sensitive dogs from Sensible,
- the well-balanced wholefoods fit & vital and
- NaturCroq, a natural food made mainly from regional ingredients.
If you have a large or very large dog at home, our Maxi Adult for adult dogs weighing 26 kg or more with normal energy requirements is the right choice.
If you feel that your young dog is too thin or perhaps already weighs a little too much, you can find out more about the ideal weight of dogs here.