FAQ # 4: Can I feed adult “Dog Chow” to my puppy?
A: Unless you have no other recourse (like no food in your house during a natural disaster), then the answer is a resounding “NO”. Offering the young puppy adult commercial dog food compromises the ability of your pup to thrive and prosper physically and physiologically, because you would be robbing your puppy of appropriate and important nutrients, which it needs and which may not be found in adult dog chow.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) endorses what I have just written in the previous paragraph. The AKC advocates four feedings a day as being adequate. Large breeds should be fed unmoistened dry food by 9-10 weeks of age; small dogs could wait until 12 weeks for unmoistened dry food. Later the puppies’ feeding schedule can decrease to three times daily (eg. 7am; 2pm; 9pm – or whatever your personal lifestyle dictates).
FAQ # 5: Doc, why are you insisting that we force pups to nurse from their mother from day one to day 30 and beyond?
A: The answer is simple. In all mammals the first days after the mother delivers her baby, the maternal milk (called colostrum) is quite specialized, especially during the first 3-5 days after the birth of the baby. This “First Milk” differs from the milk produced later, in that it has a higher content of proteins, antibodies against certain diseases (which the mother may have previously contracted or had been vaccinated against), vitamins and minerals. In addition, that colostrum has less sugars and fats than the milk produced later by the mother. Colostrum is truly a “Wonder Milk” supplying essential immune bodies to the newborn animal, while it aids also in the improvement of intestinal function.
NB: Next week we will deal with the automatic question which follows from the paragraph above: What can the caregiver do if the mother abandons her pups, or if she is ill and has to be removed from her pups, or – horror of horrors – if she dies at pup-birth or immediately thereafter.
Now for some other related considerations associated with puppy nutrition.
All the advice given so far must be contextualized. As I said before one size does not fit all. Different breeds, large dogs, small dogs have varying puppy nutrition requirements, which are quite different from adult dogs of the same breed.
Later, in associated “Pet Care” columns, we’ll deal with actual feed content for puppies especially relative to:
Energy – Young growing pups need greater amounts of energy per unit body mass
than fully grown adult dogs.
Minerals – Especially Calcium and Phosphorus.
Fats – Fats and Fatty Acids are the nutrients which provide more energy per gram than all other nutrients.
Vitamins – Should the caregiver supplement the puppy-feed with vitamins?
Fibre – Although young growing dogs have immature gastro-intestinal tracts, there is a need for fibre in the diet. This will be explained.
Protein – Can a puppy be fed diets with too much protein?
I had mentioned right at the outset that acquiring and nurturing a dog over the years can be a relatively expensive undertaking. On a more philosophical note, the question has been asked whether families already income stressed should place on to themselves the extra burden of spending money to feed (and otherwise care for) the pet. Actually, I find the question quite odious. Are we saying that economically challenged families should be deprived of and not experience the joy pets bring to a family? But since we are dealing with answers to questions on puppy nutrition, the issue of homemade food for puppies must be dealt with. The internet may document homemade formulae and recipes that are in themselves expensive here in Guyana if we were to follow such advice. We will expand on this matter of homemade diets which were first posited in last week’s (July 12, 2020) Pet Care column, at a later date.
