If you have brought a new baby dog at your home then it will not be easy for you to find the best food for it, if you are keeping a pet for the first time. In fact, you can find a wide variety of dog foods in the market from which you have to choose the best dog food for puppies so that it can help in the proper growth of your new friend. But before finding the right food for your puppy you must know the basic things needed in the diet of your little dog.
Right kind of puppy food
Actually the foods which contain higher amount of natural oils and fats, higher meat based proteins, formulated from popular animal source and low carbohydrate are considered to be the ideal for puppies. They must be free from artificial color, preservatives and flavors along with vegetable or animal bi-products. It must have all types of minerals and vitamins necessarily needed for most of the breeds of puppies. Calcium should be added in puppy’s food in the appropriate amount as most of them cannot stand with its excessive dose.
Effect of higher protein on puppies
It is, usually, misunderstood that higher meat based proteins can cause joints and hip problem to the puppies, but it is not true. In fact, the skeletal and hip dysplasia diseases caused among dogs are not linked with dietary proteins but with excessive use of calcium in their diet, genetic reasons or overfeeding puppies during their growth period. Instead of leaving food in your puppy’s bowl throughout the day you should regulate its eating schedule and serve measured amount of food at proper time to avoid the risk of skeletal diseases.
Provide proper nutritional content
The food for your puppy must contain the proper amount of nutrients to make it healthy diet for him. It should contain a lower amount of proteins and higher amount of fats and fiber to make it suitable for your little dog. Calcium, magnesium and phosphorus should be added appropriately as their too much or too less quantity can cause health problems.
Ensuring the balanced and complete diet for your puppy
A guideline has been established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials to ensure that you have created a nutritionally complete and balanced diet for your puppy. It should include 37 nutrients including 12 minerals, 11 vitamins and 10 amino acids. Instead of searching various nutritional foods you should focus on the AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement on the pack to ensure that food can meet up the nutritional requirement of your puppy.
Ensure the safety of the dog food
Some people give adult dog food to their puppy which is not safe for him as food for puppies contains certain nutrients more and some less than adult dog food. For this reason food prepared for adult dogs should not be given to puppies as that is specially made for the maintenance of adult dogs only.
Selecting the right puppy food
Thus, while selecting food for your puppy you must focus on the AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement to ensure its suitability for your puppy’s growth.