Dog Nutrition
How often should I feed my puppy?
6–12 weeks: Growing puppies should be fed a specially formulated puppy diet. Four feedings a day are usually adequate to meet nutritional demands.
3–6 mo: Sometime during this period, decrease feedings from 3-4/ day. Puppy should be losing their potbelly and pudginess by 12 wks. If they are still roly-poly at this age, continue to feed puppy-size portions until their body type matures.
6–12 mo: switch to twice daily meals. If your puppy is spayed, it’s important to note that altering lowers your puppy’s energy requirements slightly. If they’ve had this procedure, switch from nutrient-rich puppy food to adult maintenance dog food. Small breed puppies switch to adult food at 7-9 mo, larger breeds at 12-14 mo. Err on the side of caution: Better to be on puppy food a little too long than for not long enough.
After age 1: Most owners will choose to feed adult dogs their daily amount of food split between two meals.
Source: AKC Puppy Feeding Fundamentals: TImeline for Puppy Feeding
How much should I feed my dog?
Start by calculating your dog's daily caloric requirement. This calculator from the Merck Manual uses your dog's age, weight, body condition score and whether they are neutered or intact
After you calculate your dog's caloric requirement, you can calculate how many calories they should get from their meals (at least 90%) and how many calories they can get from treats (no more than 10%). Every food item has a caloric density, reported as kcal/ kg. Note, 1 kcal is the same as 1 calorie, like used for human food. The k
Why can't I just used a measuring cup to measure my dog's kibble?
You can, but there are two common issues that make this measurement inaccurate. One issue is the recommended serving size listed on most kibble is based on a range- for example, for a dog weighing between 3 and 12 lbs, the recommended serving size is 1/3 cup to 1 cup. This could mean a 3 lb dog could be fed 1 cup, and a 12 lb dog could be fed 1/3 cup. The second issue is different interpretations of "1 cup". Some may use a heaping cup- imagine a 3 lb dog getting a heaping cup of food at each meal. This could be 4x the volume of a 1/3 cup serving. For these two reasons, it is easy to overfeed your dog, leading to obesity. A simple food scale takes out the guess work!
Calculate Grams of Treats per Day
What should I feed my pup at meal time?
This question is best answered by your vet. But I'll share a few thoughts to consider.
AAFCO doesn't approve/ certify pet foods, but it sets scientific nutrient profiles and guidelines, and if a dog food meets those standards, a statement can be printed on the food container stating that the food is "formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles".
Source: AAFCO Website
Most home-made dog food is frequently nutritionally incomplete/ imbalanced.
Source
What Is Homemade Dog Food? And Do Vets Recommend It? "Many veterinarians, veterinary nutritionists, and animal and human health organizations recommend against feeding a homemade dog food diet—and research backs them up. Studies have shown that homemade dog food rarely provides complete and balanced nutrition."
Grain-free diets have been linked to dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs (enlarged heart).
Sources
Questions & Answers: FDA’s Work on Potential Causes of Non-Hereditary DCM in Dogs "Most of the diets associated with the reports of non-hereditary DCM have legume seed ingredients, also called “pulses” (e.g., peas, lentils, etc.), high in their ingredient lists (although soy is a legume, we did not see a signal associated with this ingredient). These include both “grain-free” and grain-containing formulations."
Diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs: what do we know? "Although there appears to be an association between DCM and feeding BEG, vegetarian, vegan, or home-prepared diets in dogs, a cause-and-effect relationship has not been proven, and other factors may be equally or more important. Assessing diet history in all patients can help to identify diet-related cardiac diseases as early as possible and can help identify the cause and, potentially, best treatment for diet-associated DCM in dogs."
What humans foods are safe and unsafe for dogs?
Safe Foods
Fruit: apples, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, pears, watermelon, pineapple, coconut, orange.
Veggies: spinach, peppers, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, sweet potatoes, green peas, tomatoes (when ripe), broccoli, mushroom.
Peanut butter (raw unsalted is best), cooked pumpkin*. Honey. Peanuts, popcorn.
Unseasoned cooked chicken, eggs, turkey, shrimp and fish. Pork, tuna.
Dairy- cheese, yogurt
Quinoa, oatmeal
Safe but non-beneficial foods: bread, ham
Foods to Avoid
Ice cream
Cinnamon, avocado, chocolate, coffee, caffeine
Citrus, grapes, raisins, nuts, onions, garlic, chives
Source: AKC People Foods Dogs Can and Can’t Eat
Source: AKC Fruits and Vegetables Dogs Can or Can’t Eat