Feeding a growing dog

Have you recently become a dog mom- or dad and are now wondering how to feed your growing up darling in the best possible way? What do you have to pay attention to when feeding? TOBALIE would like to show you the most important points when feeding your new family member.

“The best food”?

As a new dog parent, you naturally want to do everything right. The right feeding is very important in this context, as it has a strong influence on health. And health does not only mean physical well-being, but also the dog’s mind can depend on it. Is there now the ideal food for growing dogs?

If you now want a clear answer to this question, you will unfortunately be disappointed. The correct feeding is very individual and depends on many factors. A dog can be fed a healthy diet both with ready-made food and with self-prepared food. The most important thing is that your pet is optimally supplied with all nutrients. Unfortunately, you can find very different, often even contradictory information on the subject of “proper nutrition”, especially on the Internet. Ask a veterinarian or contact one of our dog nutritionist. 

Helpful tips

How your dog is now optimally supplied with all nutrients would go beyond the scope here and can also be considered individually. Here are a few tips on how to feed your growing fosterling optimally:

• Align the amount of food according to the growth of your dog, less according to the package information. (A specialist veterinarian can draw up growth curves) Small dogs are usually 12 months old, very large dogs grow up to the 18th month.
• Weigh and create a weight curve in the Pet profile! Place your darling on the scales at least once a week to see how fast he gains weight. Especially big dogs should not grow too fast. 
• Ready-made food should always be made for the young dog. Changing a growing dog to an “adult” food at an early stage can lead to nutrient deficiencies, as he needs more of certain nutrients and fats during growth.
• The feeding recommendations should be clearly understandable and designed for puppies. You should therefore be guided by age and expected final weight. If the instructions are confusing or deviate strongly from comparable products, better hands off!
• If you want to cook or “Barfen” yourself, professional advice is recommended. An over- or undersupply of nutrients can have a dramatic effect on puppies, especially large breeds, within a few weeks and in the worst case can cause lifelong problems for the dog! Specially trained veterinarians can create individual feeding plans.
• „Goodies“ should be included in the calculation of the food quantity. Since food rewards are indispensable in the training of a young dog, you must not forget them in the calculation of the food quantity. Low-calorie alternatives are fruits and vegetables, “light” cheese, cooked noodles or dried lungs.
• If you know the parents of your puppy, ask  about their weight. For breeded dogs it is assumed that the littermate will reach the weight of the cosexual parent.
• In order to judge the correct growth, only the weight is decisive, NOT the shoulder height! Too rapid growth is one of the most common mistakes in puppy breeding. On the other hand, slower growth does not hurt.
• The growth rate is determined by the supply of energy (calories per day), not by the protein content or other nutrients. Barfen also does not protect against growth damage !- if the energy (amount of food) is too much, it is irrelevant whether it comes from carbohydrates or fat.