Adopting a puppy can be a wonderful and rewarding experience for any family. However, taking care of a puppy also involves a lot of responsibility. You need to be prepared to spend money each month for vaccinations, veterinary visits, pet supplies and toys. Also, you need to make sure that you have a good understanding of canine nutrition, so that you can choose the right type of food to feed your puppy. Here is a bit more information about puppy food, and how you can choose the type of food that’s right for your puppy.
Read the Ingredients
It’s very important that you use the same standards for your puppy’s food formula as you would for an adult dog. This means that you should choose a formula that is low in carbohydrates, and that has a large portion of its protein coming from animal sources. Avoid any puppy food formulas that include artificial preservatives, artificial colors or chemical flavorings. You should also try to avoid any puppy food formulas that contain added sugar or salt. If your puppy’s food formula includes a fish or fish meal, be sure that it was not preserved with ethoxyquin, since ethoxyquin has been suggested to be connected to certain types of health problems in dogs.
Grain Free Puppy Food
You may even want to consider feeding your puppy a grain-free formula, since grain-free feeding has been associated with health benefits in dogs. Many pet food companies operate on the philosophy that the best food for a puppy should mimic the diet of dogs in the wild. Wild dogs (or wolves) eat a large percentage of meat. The meat that wild dogs eat is from grass-fed animals, who have a diet of various vegetables, fruits and herbs. To mimic this diet, many companies are now producing grain-free formulas that rely on other sources of carbohydrates. In general, even if you aren’t feeding your puppy a grain-free food formula, you want to make sure that it includes only complex carbohydrates.
Puppy Health Conditions
If your puppy has a specialized health condition, this may affect which types of food formulas you can feed your puppy. Although rare, your puppy may develop diabetes, which may mean that managing their condition could involve using a diabetic dog food formula. Or, your puppy could have kidney problems, which would also need to be managed by using a specialized puppy food formula. In general, many of these “veterinary” diets are offered by your veterinarian, and may only be able to be purchased by obtaining a prescription.
What breed is your puppy?
Though this is a controversial subject, some pet nutritional experts believe that large breed puppies should not have a high amount of protein while growing up, since it may cause them to grow too fast, contributing to joint problems. However, the information on this subject differs depending on its source. In general, it’s probably the best to choose a puppy food that matches your puppy breed’s specific rate of growth. Different breeds of dogs have different metabolic rates, which can affect how quickly they can process the nutrients in their food.
Why Buy Ultra Premium?
Many people shop at the pet store, and think, “Why would I buy an ultra premium formula? This budget formula is so much cheaper!”. However, the reality is that you may end up spending more money by purchasing a budget puppy food formula. This is because inexpensive puppy food is often filled with cheap fillers, chemical preservatives and low-quality protein sources. Eating a low-quality diet can mean that your puppy will develop health problems, which may cost you a significant amount of money in veterinary bills.