Info about Dog Food
How Many Times Should I Feed My Dog?
I firmly believe that a dog should be fed twice a day. For puppies, three meals are even better. Of course, if you work during the day and can’t come back during your lunch break to feed your puppy, feed him two meals a day. It has been proven that feeding twice a day has real positive impact on your dog’s behavior. Dog food stays in your dog’s stomach between 4 to 8 hours. Consequently, if you feed your dog only once a day, it means that he lives on an empty stomach 16 hours a day. Most behavior problems, like chewing and restlessness, originate from dogs who are simply hungry.
On the other hand, if you feed your puppy twice a day, he’ll have an empty stomach only 8 hours a day which corresponds, if you think about it, to a good night sleep!
How Much Food Is Enough?
Start by feeding the portion indicated on the food bag depending on your puppy’s age and weight. The easiest way to know if you feed too much or not enough is, believe it or not, by counting the number of stools your dog produces. If your dog defecates more than three times a day, you are giving him too much food. All you have to do is adjust the portion of food until your dog defecates three times a day.
By the way, don’t switch to another type of food during housetraining. A puppy’s stomach is easily upset by a change of food and it’s hard to housetrain a puppy who has diarrhea! Once your puppy is housetrained, it will be easier for him to adapt to the change.
Label Reading 101
I’ve told you how important a good quality food can be in your dog’s life. However, I still have not told you how to differentiate a good quality food from a cheap one. The surefire way to make sure you’re feeding your dog appropriately is to read the label to know exactly what is in the bag.
Dog food is a science in itself and I won’t pretend that I know everything about it. However, after reading a lot on that subject, I can give you one principle to follow that will help you make a good choice. Basically, two of the first three ingredients, and preferably the first two ingredients, listed on the label should be animal proteins (beef, chicken, lamb, and fish). The law requires manufactures to list the ingredients in the order of predominance by weight. So, the first ingredient listed on the label is the one found in biggest proportion in the food composition.
Although it is a bit technical, I encourage you to read the article entitled “Interpreting Pet Food Labels” posted on the website of the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the following address:
http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/resourcesforyou/ucm047113.htm
Water
The same principle for food applies to water. If you don’t monitor how much goes in, you won’t be able to predict how much will get out.
During the housetraining process, you won’t let your dog have access to all the water he wants. You’ll give him water at specific moments and never after 7:00 p.m. if you don’t want to get up three times during the night.
However, if you get your puppy in the middle of a scorching heat, you’ll have to make an exception to the 7 o’clock rule. When it’s very hot, I give my dogs ice chips. They love them and it really helps bring down their internal temperature.
Once your dog is housetrained, you will make sure that he always has access to a fresh supply of water.