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Feeding Puppies |
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Until a puppy is 4 to 6 weeks old it will feed from its mother. When it is able to take solid food it is ready to join a human family. This can be at 6 weeks, but the 8-week old pup is better equipped to face life away from its mother and litter brothers and sisters.
From the time the pup is collected until it is 4 months old, it will need four meals a day. These should be given in the morning, at mid-day, in the late afternoon and at bed-time. At this stage its stomach is too small to allow it to digest its total rations in one meal. Ideally, the breakfast and bed-time feeds should consist of a branded baby food, a teaspoon or so of which, mixed with milk and a little sugar, should provide the pup with an appetizing milky porridge.
The mid-day and late afternoon feeds should comprise a saucerful of lean, minced beef, which has been lightly cooked and to which a teaspoonful of ‘Marmite’ or other flavoring may be added to taste. The meat meals should be supplemented with puppy meal or biscuit in the proportion of three parts meat and two parts biscuit. Meat and milk should never be served at the same time.
When the pup reaches 4 months of age, the bed-time feed can be omitted and, at 6 months, breakfast can be discontinued, so that the pup is receiving just two meat and biscuit meals a day. These should continue until the pup is 1 year old and is termed an adult.
In the case of toy breeds, like the Chihuahua or Yorkshire Terrier, owners may, if they wish, continue to provide their pet’s rations in two or even three, small portions a day, because a little dog with a tiny stomach may find this method of feeding more acceptable.
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