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What did you feed your new puppies?

2K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  eegreen 
When I got my first Dobe the breeders all said don't feed puppy food--grows big dog puppies too fast. That was in 1959. So I fed all puppies adult food as soon as I took them home and I left them eating whatever the breeder fed (for about 3 to 4 weeks. ) Than around 1990 large breed puppy food came along. I used it briefly but soon went back to feeding adult food (or all life stages food) so basically all my puppies are on adult food by the time they are 4 months old.

Bowls? I use stainless steel--washed every time it's used with hot soapy water or in the dishwasher. Alternate would be glazed crockery ditto for keeping clean. Puppies eat out of the same sized bowls the adult dogs do. I don't use anything to slow a puppies eating down. If they eat too fast and choke on it they shortly learn to slow down.

In a wild canine fast eating is a survival trait--puppies who eat fast get full meals. They grow and thrive.

I also don't spend any time sticking my hand in my puppy's food bowl to teach him not to protect his food. It's his food. I give it to him and leave it alone until he's finished eating.

dobebug
 
Well, I guess the answer is "sometimes". One of my breeders liked dogs fed elevated--he said it made it easier to teach them to stand on their front and reach (stretching and arching their neck to reach the food.

Mostly I didn't bother to elevate the food--and I taught the dog to stand four square and lean forward and reach up for bait.

I did have one dog who was fed elevated to keep the resident cat to keep from standing in the middle of his (the dogs) food dish and effectively keeping the dog from eating.

dobebug
 
I NEVER free feed--and only occasionally do I leave any food more than 10 minutes (the truth is that my dogs inhale their food and it takes at most around 2 minutes.)

Free feeding deprives you and your dog of an early warning sign that something isn't right with the dog who normally inhales food like a vacuum, suddenly picks at the food or doesn't eat all.

dobebug
 
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