Do Lab Puppies Need Puppy Food

The best dog food for lab puppies is one that offers both excellent nutrition and taste. In that case, you won’t find anything better than the Wellness Complete Health Natural Dry Puppy Food. The formula contains everything each growing Labrador requires.

Do lab puppies need puppy food. Best Puppy Food for Medium Breeds. Puppies classified as medium breeds may grow up to be dogs weighing in anywhere from 21 to 50 lbs. They don’t require the specialization that small or large breed puppies do, but you still want to choose the right food for them. Nutritional requirements for medium breed foods are at least 22% protein and 10%. Most Lab puppies will be taken home for the first time at around 7-8 weeks and at this age their teeth will be developed enough to eat dry food comfortably. If your pup arrives before their teeth have quite developed enough to enjoy dry food than any proprietary food watered down to a soup like substance should be sufficient for the puppy. Most puppies can in fact do fine eating regular high quality dog food. I have said many, many times on this blog that in my opinion there is no one “right” food for any dog, cat, or human. Because puppies need so many nutrients to grow, it’s important to give them food that provides complete and balanced nutrition. A puppy should get most of his calories from puppy food rather than from treats, which typically don’t provide complete nutrition.

Puppies need puppy food. Feeding puppies a complete and balanced puppy food ensures they get the proper nutrition to develop and grow into healthy adult dogs. Puppy foods are formulated with a balance of nutrients to help puppies grow up healthy and happy. Look for protein-rich formulas to support their growing muscles. Most puppies join their new homes from 8 to 12 weeks of age, leaving their mothers, littermates, and infancy behind. Many people get a puppy at this age—the imprinting stage. This is a time of rapid brain development when the dog is impressionable and ideal for training. The puppy is learning to be a dog. And, the dog is picking up its good and bad behavior tendencies from their experiences. There is a large variety of high-quality puppy food available for you to feed your lab. When looking for a puppy food for your labrador, look at labels that meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profiles for “growth,” “all life stages,” and “including growth of large size dogs.” Foods with these labels meet the nutrient guidelines for the proper. The quantity of food that your puppy need will vary from pup to pup, but generally, 8 week old lab puppy will need 2 cups of puppy food every day. Never leave the food out for puppies to come eat as they wish, because then it will be harder to know how much they have eaten at what time.

Feeding an 8 week old puppy. Puppies need feeding much more frequently than older dogs, not because they can’t eat a whole day’s food in one go, but because if they do, it upsets their tummies. And looking after a puppy with diarrhea is no fun. So don’t be tempted to let your puppy keep eating just because he seems hungry. Posting a Labrador puppy food chart will help you keep track of feeding times and amounts. Pros And Cons Of Kibble. Kibble that is specifically formulated for puppies is a popular puppy food choice. Made of ground meal, these dried, ready-made pellets contain all of the nutrients a Lab puppy needs for a healthy balanced diet. The age to switch from puppy food to adult food should really be decided by your puppy’s growth. When they are close to full adult height is best. When they are close to full adult height is best. Don’t switch before 6 months, but really, anytime after is OK and you don’t have to wait until 12 months old as written on most labels. Puppy food should also be higher in calories than adult food to compensate for the energy puppies expend by growing and playing. About half of the calories they consume are spent on tissue growth and development. You should consult your veterinarian to determine a healthy food for your growing puppy.

During the first few weeks of life, a puppy’s primary activities are feeding, keeping warm and developing social skills. In most cases, humans will simply watch the mother dog provide all necessary care for her puppies. However, if the puppy in your care has been separated from his mother, or if the mother dog has rejected her young or cannot produce enough milk, caring for the pup is up to you. Whether your dog needs puppy food or not varies by breed and age since not every dog matures the same. As previously discussed, smaller breeds typically peak earlier than larger dogs do. A lab tends to reach adult size between the age of 12 to 18 months. Start to wean your Lab off the puppy food and onto the adult food bit by bit, no more than half a cup at a time. On the first day of the switch, you might feed a cup and a half of puppy food and a half-cup of adult food. On day seven, you might feed 1-and-a-half cups of adult food and half a cup of puppy food. The Problem of Puppy Vitamins. Puppy vitamins of all types encourage growth in your dog. If your dog is properly fed with a well-balanced and vet-approved dry dog food, he will have all of the nutritional elements necessary to grow as normal. Puppy vitamins, therefore, may cause your pet to grow too big or, more commonly, too fast.