How much food does my puppy need?
Once you have chosen a suitable food you need to decide how much to feed and how often. The top manufacturers all provide recommendations on the packaging as to how much of their product to feed and these should be used as a guideline. You can vary this to your own dogs needs by assessing their body condition and monitoring their weight. Ideal body condition is when you can easily feel the ribs with gentle pressure but cannot see the ribs.
How often do I need to feed them?
As a general rule it is recommended to split the food into three meals from the age of eight weeks. This can be reduced to two meals at the age of twelve weeks or earlier if the puppy starts to show disinterest in food. From sixteen weeks of age the puppy can be fed just once daily though twice daily feeding for life is OK too.
How to avoid a fussy eater.
Don’t let your pup become a fussy eater. When your pup was in a litter it needed to eat fast as soon as food was offered as it was in competition with the other pups. Eat now or get none was the name of the game. Once in their new home pups are fed frequently and usually alone. The pup may start to leave some food and the owner may offer something different to tempt it, or begin to leave food around all day in case the pup gets hungry. A sure recipe for disaster!
To encourage good eating habits it is advisable to leave food available on the floor for ten minutes only each meal time. Remove any remaining food and offer no more until the next scheduled meal time. Never be tempted to offer alternative food if your dog does not eat what is put in front of it. In the vast majority of cases the normal healthy dog will not deprive itself for more than two to three days.
Remember fresh water should be available at all times.