What should I feed my puppy daily?

Your puppy will be better prepared for a healthy life as a dog if you feed him balanced, high-quality puppy nutrition. However, this begs a detailed explanation even for experienced dog owners. Dry food for dogs or wet one? What amount of food is enough for a puppy?

This detailed guide on feeding puppies might help you find the answers to these and other questions. To help you succeed in this exciting task, we have some tips Superior Care experts shared with us in this article.

A proper puppy nutrition

There are several things to think about when feeding puppies. Breed size, overall nutrition, and dietary type all factor in. 
First of all, puppies should get puppy food and not adult one. They must receive the right amount of nutrients to develop into healthy dogs when fed a comprehensive and balanced puppy diet.

To support healthy development, puppy diets are made with a specific ratio of nutrients. To strengthen their developing bodies, look for formulae strong in high-quality proteins. Puppies also need fats and carbs for energy, minerals for growing teeth and bones, and fatty acids for healthy brain and visual development.

Food for big and small puppies

Puppies require puppy chow, and it’s best when it is tailored to their breed ‒ small and large breeds have their differences in nutrition requirements. But no matter the size of the breed, the diet should be balanced and complete for developing puppies.

The unique requirements of breeds of different sizes account for the variations in formulae. Due to the increased risk of joint issues in large dogs, large-breed puppy food should have the right amounts of nutrients to promote their healthy growth and development.
Smaller size foods are sometimes preferred for smaller breeds so they can more effectively chew their meal and acquire all the ingredients they require. Interestingly, though, that kibble size isn’t necessarily determined by the size of the dog ‒ every pet is unique, and you as a dog parent should let your pet choose its own kibble size.

Wet or dry foods?

Dry food is a well-liked option, but there is always an alternative. You will notice both dry and wet puppy foods in any dog food aisle, so there is definitely a choice.

Choosing what to give your puppy can become difficult when there are so many options present. Fortunately, you can confidently feed your puppy either the wet or the dry formula as long as both are full and balanced for their developing body.

Sure, there might be a preference between dry and moist for you and your dog, but it’s also possible to offer a combination ‒ the most optimal solution contains 80% of dry food, 10-12% of canned food, 3-5% of treats, and 1-3% of daily nutrition in supplements.

How much food is enough?

Now that you learned what to give your puppy, how many meals does he actually require every day? As soon as they stop being breastfed, they need full nutrition. This shift usually happens between six and eight weeks. 
Note that puppies of bigger breeds will definitely need more meals a day. Think of the Labrador and Jack Russel ‒ they are going to grow very different in size, and they need just enough food to do it, not more and not less.