What's the best puppy food to give your new arrival?
A healthy dog is a happy dog, and the first pillar of health is the right food. If your dog enjoys their food, it is one less thing for you to worry about.
To start with you may find the best food is to continue feeding your puppy the same food as it was already having. It is easier in those first few days to know that there is something familiar, when everything else has changed. Once your pup has settled, you can opt to carry on using the same brand or look around for alternatives.
The main thing for puppies is to make sure that you are using a puppy food, rather than an adult dog food. A growing puppy needs a range of nutrients and vitamins that are not going to be present in an adult food. From here it is a bit of trial and error, as well as a consideration of what your budget will stand. Most dogs will eat most things that you give them - but they do have preferences, which may emerge over time. You may also find that certain foods give them allergic reations or upset tummies and need to be avoided.
Dry foods, or kibbles are tend to be cheaper, but they are perfectly adequate - and most dogs will happily eat them and thrive on it. If you do introduce wet foods, or allow your puppy to have scraps from the table they may get fussy and stop eating their kibble - so consider the costs before you cave in too easily. We've used Harringtons Grain Free Puppy food for the most part.
Our puppy is a bit of a fussy eater. Entirely our fault. As a Christmas pup, she developed a taste for chicken - and now will always beg for it whenever we have any! She will hold out on not eating the kibble until she is sure that nothing else is on offer. Some days we add a bit of bone broth, or the liquid from a salmon tin to it and she wolfs it down. She also likes my porridge - so I put kibble the saucepan and she licks it clean.
For young pups, frozen carrots make a great treat when they are teething.
