As a Survey conducted in the US, more than 60% – 80% of dog owners feed commercial dog foods to their puppy yet a significant amount of dog owners prefer to prepare homemade puppy food on their own for the following reasons.
- Some Dog owners feel that the nutritional label on the commercial dog foods is misleading and not transparent enough.
- They think that the ingredients used in commercial foods are of lower quality.
- They also think that commercial dog food contains chemicals and additives.
Pros of Homemade Puppy Food
- Dog owners like preparing food on their own for their dogs.
- They want to use only organic and chemical-free ingredients on their puppy food.
Cons of Homemade Puppy Food.
Though the decision to stick with homemade food appears like a good one, preparing a balanced diet for a puppy is not that easy. Feeding unbalanced homemade foods to a puppy can lead to nutrition deficiency and related diseases.
Dietary requirement of a puppy
Young Puppies spend almost 50% of the energy obtained through food into growth. So the diet for a puppy should be higher in calories in order to meet the energy required for growth.
Protein
Young puppies need the maximum amount of proteins and the need will reduce as it grows older. Puppy meal should contain at least 20% – 30% raw protein content in it.
Fat
Fat is an essential macronutrient that every growing puppy needs at least 10% – 25% of total nutrition in each meal. Fats provide a considerable energy boost to puppies and also aids in bone development.
Vitamins and Minerals
Calcium and Phosphorous are two important minerals required at the growing stage. Puppies need the most calcium until the age of three months. Multivitamins tablets can be substituted for dietary vitamin daily requirements.
When to start feeding a weaning puppy?
As soon as the puppies are born, the mother dog will start taking care of puppies by nursing them, right from feeding on its breast milk to pampering them with warmth.
During this period, there is a direct transfer of nutrition happening from the mother dog to the puppies and hence it is very important to take good care of a mother dog to support her taking care of the puppies. Mother’s milk has the necessary proteins, fats, and other nutrients required for the first three weeks.
Puppies Should start to consume other forms of food after three weeks of age to have supplemental iron as their mother’s milk lacks in it.
What Homemade foods are good for a weaning Puppy?
The homemade food for weaning puppies should be lighter and digestible and be grounded with little water for smoother digestion. As Food intake increases, the amount of water can be reduced. After the weaning period, puppies should be introduced to the regular diet gradually. So Let’s see how to prepare a vet-approved homemade puppy food with balanced nutrition.
Vet Approved Homemade Puppy Food Recipes
Chicken Rice (Balanced diet)
Ingredients required:
- Roasted Chicken Breast – 4 ounce
- Cooked Rice – 2 cups
- Olive oil – 1 tbsp
- Salt – 1/4 tsp
- Bone meal powder – 2 tsp
- Multivitamin and Mineral tablet of kids – 1
Cooking Instruction
- First Make the Chicken Rice as Usual with the above recommended culinary ingredients (Chicken Breast, Cooked Rice, Olive oil and Salt)
- Allow 3 – 5 minutes for the cooked food to become slightly warm
- Now Add the bone meal powder and multivitamin tablet into the food and mix well.
- Now the Delicious and Balanced homemade puppy food is ready.
Egg Rice (Balanced diet)
Ingredients Required
- Boiled Eggs – 4
- Cooked Rice – 2 cups
- Olive oil – 1 tbsp
- Salt – 1/4 tsp
- Bone Meal Powder – 2 tsp
- Multivitamin and Mineral tablets of Kids – 1
Cooking Instruction
- First Make the Egg Rice as Usual with the above recommended culinary ingredients (Eggs, Cooked Rice, Olive oil and Salt)
- Allow 3 – 5 minutes for the cooked food to become slightly warm
- Now Add the bone meal powder and multivitamin tablet into the food and mix well.
- Now the Delicious and Balanced homemade Egg Rice is ready for your puppy.
If you need more ideas on home-based puppy food, we recommend you to speak to a qualified veterinarian, you can ask a veterinary doctor online for professional advice