YOUR PUPPY'S FEEDING ROUTINE

A lot of times when we get a new puppy, we research to find the best food, toys, and supplies for him. But, do we really think about setting up our new family member's feeding routine? This is an important component to your puppy's development in his first year. When planning your new puppy's feeding routine you will need to ask yourself: Where? When? and How much? These are the important building blocks to a good routine.

Where? This is important to your puppy's eating comfort and your clean ups. Place the food bowls away from where everyone is. You don't want your puppy's eating area to be in a high traffic area. Place the bowls where it is easy for your puppy to get to. An ideal situation would be to have a special area just for puppy. Have his crate and eating area in this special area. It should be in an area that is out of the way, but is easily accessible to the main living areas where everyone is. The most important thing is that once you have established the puppy's eating area is not to move it, unless absolutely necessary.

When? From about six to eight weeks until about six months you should have scheduled feeding times three times a day. A young puppy will eat all he is going to eat within twenty minutes. It is a good idea to remove the food bowl after this time. Doing this along with a balanced diet will be important steps when you are house breaking your puppy. Once your puppy is about six months old to maturity, you can reduce the scheduled feedings to twice a day.

How Much? This will be dependent on the breed of dog you have. One of the most common mistakes with larger breed puppies is to overfeed them. You will need to learn how to read the nutrition label on dog food. This will give very good guidelines on different sized dog breeds and how much to feed them. You can also check with your vet, he will be able to give some very breed specific guidelines.

One final thought on your feeding routine. Don't change your puppy's food. If you change your puppy's food all of a sudden it could cause your puppy to have a very upset digestive system. Any time you do need to change your puppy's food, do so gradually over a seven to ten day period. Just add a little of the new food to the existing food, adding more each day, until the puppy is eating only the new kind.

Taking the time to set up your puppy's feeding routine will have great rewards now and in the future. Just remember to plan ahead to make your puppy's feeding routine