Choosing Healthy Puppy Food

Puppies are like small humans; they grow like weeds and have enormous appetites! And what we feed them determines how they will grow and how healthy they will be when they've grown up. Determining which puppy food to give them can be done by a small amount of research and even asking a few questions. The major manufacturers of dog food each spend millions on studies and research into what works best for dogs at various ages. You don't want to feed your two month old pup the same diet as that given to a ten year old adult.

Age and lifestyle determine the type of food

Similar to people's diet, pet foods are separated into various categories which are meant to be the appropriate combination of vitamins, minerals, supplements, and fats needed for that particular age group. Working dogs, hunting dogs, as well as show dogs each have different daily requirements for optimum health, weight, and coat quality. Puppy food requirements are amplified due to the fact they are growing rapidly throughout their first year of life.

Dry versus wet dog food

Among the choices to be made when selecting a quality puppy food is whether to feed kibble, which is a dry bite sized dog food, generally made by compressing ingredients in its original dry form, or soaking it in warm water or even milk in the case of puppies. The dry food is excellent for maintaining healthy teeth and gums in adult dogs; however it may be too difficult for puppies to crush with their smaller puppy teeth. Soaking for a few minutes can create a much softer food, even mushy in consistency which might be more appealing to very young pups. Another alternative is feeding canned food which is already high in moisture content. A combination of dry and moist might be a good alternative on occasions, but feeding dry food only from about the age of six months on will provide all the necessary vitamins as well as mineral additives needed as long as the food is balanced and nutritious.

Researched, studied, tested, approved

Today the dog food industry is put through rigid testing and must be approved nearly as stringently as foods prepared for human consumption. The dog food industry does their own researching and performs studies to assure its products are healthy and well liked by not only the canines who eat it but their owners who do the purchasing. If it were left up to the dogs their food would most likely have a far different appearance and odour than it does after meeting the approval of the humans who choose it. Dogs eat most anything and often the smellier it is, the more apt they are to consume it. Dog food is manufactured to be pleasing in appearance and texture to us, the buying public, but the dog would most likely eat it in any form.

Sanitary and free from bacteria

Even though dogs may eat any road kill or offal they come across in the wild, we want to protect them from food poisoning and diseases when we feed them. Dog and puppy food go through strict manufacturing processes before they are bagged or canned and sold for consumption by our pets because we love them and wish them good health the same as we do our two legged loved ones.