What can a pup eat and drink? Tips on the right food for pups

Good food is very important for a pup to grow into a healthy adult. We are happy to help you make the right choice in order to support your pup to the best of your capabilities.

From mother’s milk to solid food

For the first month of a pup’s life, mother’s milk will tick all the boxes. It contains all the vital nutrients a puppy needs at that stage. The milk is rich in energy, proteins, fat and calcium. In addition, it contains protective substances the puppy cannot do without. After the first month, you can start adding canned puppy food or wet food high in protein and fat. Make sure the puppies eat about 5 to 6 times a day during this phase. Wet food is best because it is more suitable for the pup’s tender teeth.

What can a pup eat after 8 weeks

After about 8 weeks, you can start feeding your pup kibble. This is probably the age at which you received the purchased pup. Yarrah offers special puppy food specifically geared towards healthy growth and development of your puppy. A healthy pup grows fast and needs a lot of nutrients to facilitate healthy and proper growth. Puppy food contains more energy and proteins than food for adult dogs and the kibble is often a bit smaller in size which makes it more suitable for the puppy’s young teeth.

Important nutrients for a pup

Puppies grow fastest during the first stage of life. Supporting their growth requires balanced food containing the right amounts of fat and proteins. Fats and proteins are vital nutrients for a puppy. The pup needs proteins to grow properly and fat provides the energy it needs in order to get enough exercise. Yarrah Puppy dry food contains an optimal ratio of 28% proteins and 16% fat.

Water and wet food

Of course, a puppy also needs fluids. The body of a puppy contains more water than that of an adult dog, which increases the risk of dehydration. Do make sure that your pup has access to fresh drinking water every day. As a rule of thumb, a dog needs about 50 ml water every day for each kg of body weight. This makes it easy to calculate how much water you should be giving your puppy. Keep in mind that it will need more than that on a particularly warm day or if it gets a lot of exercise. Giving the pup wet food is another way of making sure it gets some extra fluids. Yarrah offers wet food for dogs of all ages.

How many meals a day?

How often you need to feed your pup, depends on its age. A pup that is up to 10 weeks old, needs 4 to 5 small meals a day. Between 10 weeks and 5 months, it needs 3 meals a day and after the 5th or 6th month, it will only need 2 meals a day. The most important thing is to feed your puppy around the same time of day, every day; its internal clock will calibrate as a result. Check the feeding schedule on our products for the recommended daily amount of food. In addition, you can use our food calculator to determine how much daily dry and wet food a dog needs.

Switching to different food

If the breeder was not feeding the pup Yarrah food and you would like to switch, make sure you allow it to get used to its new food gradually. Want to switch? Mix Yarrah’s organic food into its current food throughout the first week. Slowly increase the proportion of Yarrah, and decrease the proportion of current food. This allows your dog to get used to Yarrah food without artificial scent, pigment and flavouring gradually.

Tips:

• Never feed it more than the recommended amount, this may cause overweight which may put a severe load onto the rapidly developing bones and joints of the pup.
• Make sure it has access to fresh drinking water at all times.
• Make sure there is enough variety in the daily menu.
• Avoid stress and make sure the pup can eat uninterrupted. Give it some time to rest after eating, do not walk it right after a meal; it is better to do that before the meal.