Diet Information
Your puppy was suckling milk from its mother until it was weaned from her at around 6-8 weeks of age. The weaning process allows time for their gastrointestinal system to adjust to a fully balanced puppy food. Once your puppy is weaned and eating solid food, it is not necessary to continue with puppy milk as this can give them diarrhoea as they lose ability to digest it. Diarrhoea and illness can be common when young puppies’ diets are changed. Therefore, any change should be done gradually. Clean fresh water should be available at all times.
Your puppy has started eating ‘Advance’ Medium Breed or Large Breed puppy biscuits, depending on their size (Medium breed for small to medium breed, large breed for puppies that will grow to over 25kg). If you are wanting to change to another brand, please do this gradually. Other suggestions are Royal Canin, Hills Science Diet, Black Hawk or Eukenuba. These biscuits are quite expensive, however, from experience I have learnt that the cheaper the biscuits, the more they eat as they don’t get enough nutrients per serve compared to a really good brand of biscuits (due to more fillers i.e grain), which also means more frequent digestive movements. It is highly suggested that you feed your puppy a premium puppy biscuit brand until it is around 12-18 months old, and than it can continue on adult premium food. Please note that these are suggestions for dog biscuits, canned/wet food can often be full of preservatives and are not good for a dog’s teeth long term.
Your puppy has also started eating ‘Optimum’ chicken & rice puppy tin food. You can also try puppy milk to ensure your puppy is getting enough fluids, and BBQ chicken is also a good substitute if they are not eating the above mentioned food/mixes. BBQ chicken is also good for sensitive bowls, and when changing a puppies diet it is important to note this will most likely lead to soft/runny stools. Raw beef mince is also usually a liked meal, however if this is introduced it may cause runny stools as mentioned above, so transition this into their diet slowly.
Your puppy currently has access to dog biscuits at all times. If they seem to be overeating or this doesn’t suit you, a puppy should be fed 2-3 times a day, and once an adult once a day is fine (note: it is very unlikely for a puppy to become overweight until fully grown, so there shouldn’t be a need to restrict their diet). Dry food can be fed in the morning or added into a mix of raw/wet food. Any diet change needs to be gradual and any new food should be introduced over 7-10 days. Consult with your vet if your dog needs any special dietary requirements.
The main aim for your growing puppy is to ensure they eat enough of the recommended amounts of a premium kibble I have suggested above. Premium kibbles offer everything a healthy puppy/adult dog requires, as they have been specially formulated to include every necessary ingredient a dog needs to sustain a healthy life. All of our breeding adult dogs are fed mainly premium kibble only (Advance medium & large breed puppy and adult biscuits), with large shin bones to help clean their teeth.