Dog Food - take care in feeding your dog

How you should be feeding your puppy is maybe one of the first concerns of the new puppy owner. After all, you want the little guy to grow up up big and strong, or at least as big as he will grow. So just how will this puppy feeding are passed out?

First off, realize that your puppy is not just a miniature breed of an adult dog. He has his own nutritional necessities that go into dog feeding. Pound for pound a puppy needs about twice the nutrition of the adult dog. What the necessities are for feeding an adult dog varies with breed, size, activity level, etc.

And though you may have thought dogs were carnivores, realize that they are really omnivores just like us. This means they can and will eat more than just meat. In fact to have a balanced diet, they need more than just meat. So, first off, don't begin your dog feeding with just meat. (Have I repeated that enough?)
Dogs, like man to some amount, need protein, fat, minerals and vitamins. Studies have shown that dogs seem to have no need for carbohydrates though many prepared dog foods and puppy foods may be up to 50% or more carbohydrates. This is why it is very essential to read puppy food and dog food labels.

When feeding puppy, become conscious he usually requires about 28 - 30% protein in his diet. Protein can, and should, come from more sources than just meat. Add milk, eggs and cheese along with meat when feeding your puppy.

When bearing in mind feeding fat to your dog, the amount you feed differs by the necessities of the dog. A dormant dog may only need 5% fat. A very lively working dog may need up to 20% fat. Going with puppies needing normally twice what adults need, you can see you need fairly a bit of fat when feeding your puppy but it does vary. Best thing to do when adding up fat to your puppy food is to keep an eye on your puppy. Don't let him start becoming fat.

The same as humans, too many carbohydrates can be bad for your puppy. Usually carbohydrates are used to bulk up a prepared dog food with 50% or more of the food coming from inexpensive carbohydrate, and particularly starchy, sources. This is not essential for dogs and studies have found that dogs do not need carbohydrates as an vital part of their diets.

Reading dog food labels you may find carbohydrate sources such as grains, potatoes, rice, milk and also sugar in some form. As these habitually have been cooked, a dog can digest them fairly. Give a dog a raw potato or whole grains and you will find a dog that will not be able to lever these. In other words, you will have a dog with an disturbed digestive system. Some uncooked starches cause diarrhea and some, such as whole grains, pass right through undigested by his digestive system. Not a good thing when puppy feeding.

Dog food labels read them and make sure the dog food or puppy food you buy has these elements within it. Don't buy anything with too many carbohydrates in it as dogs just don't require it. But do buy dog food and puppy food with protein sources, fat and vitamins and minerals. Some green vegetables in the combine will not harm at all.