Our pet dog is more than mere happiness for us. We share a bonding with them that lasts forever. Do you know that following a good feeding habit is very important for your dogs? Many health disorders start affecting them without any prior symptoms. We can find out certain warning signs that can slowly inhibit them to a large extent later. Would you like to know how?

If we follow the necessary and regular food pattern with our dogs, we can sense any abnormality in their eating pattern for example: when they do not eat well or skip their meal. If they happen to eat throughout the day, we may not get to know if they skipped eating due to sick feeling or absence of hunger.

On the other hand when we feed them twice or thrice a day and if they tend to skip a meal, we can start monitoring them closely for any health repercussions. Also, regular meal patterns will help the dogs poop on schedule. We can plan our activities based on that..!! Certainly feeding the dogs at the right intervals is crucial. Let us discuss how this needs to be done.

Feeding puppies

New born puppies have to be given special care. For puppies a syringe without needle accounts for the size of a bottle. Milk formulas specifically for dogs are commercially available outside. It needs to be heated for about a hundred degrees Fahrenheit and slowly dripped into their mouth.

The quantity of milk that needs to be provided depends on their weight. For every ounce of body weight one cubic centimeter of milk has to be provided once in three hours. However, the breed also matters to an extent. It is good to get the quantity verified from the veterinary doctor. Follow this pattern for about three to four weeks and start moving to solids.

• Food – Typically a puppy should be fed three times a day. They will start building up a good metabolism. Regular timing could be fixed.
  • Morning breakfast can be set at 7 AM
  • Afternoon lunch at around 1 PM
  • Dinner at 6 PM

This is an ideal plan and fits perfectly as per schedule. Check out this link to know about what food can be provided to our dog pets – https://www.rspcapetinsurance.org.au/pet-care/dog-care/what-should-feed-dog.

They have to be trained to drink water at regular intervals too.

• Exercise – Along with food, puppies should be trained with good walking habits to get the digestion to happen properly. Take your dogs for a walk
  • Morning at around 6:30 AM before breakfast
  • Afternoon around 12:00 PM
  • Evening at around 5:00 PM before dinner

This pattern of the walk has to be slowly brought to 20 minutes so that they become healthy. Also, a puppy has to sleep around 16 hours a day in small breaks to develop a good physique.

Feeding adult dogs

Adult dogs have similar patterns with some minimal changes. It is a good way to establish a food habit starting from how the puppies are brought up and slowly bringing them to an adult lifestyle.

• Food – The food timings are similar to that of puppies. However, lunch has to be skipped. It is appropriate to feed the dogs two times a day.

We also certainly have some doubts regarding what are the human foods that can be provided. This link will be a useful resource to help you in this regard – https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/human-foods-for-dogs#section15.

• Water – Fresh water is very important for a dog. After any activity, either walking or playing dogs should have fresh water. The quantity and timing vary by the kind of activity that the dogs perform. Ideally, it can be normally set as:
  • Around 7:00 AM, the bowl can be cleaned and filled half
  • In the noon, the bowl can be emptied, rinsed and again filled half.
  • At dinner time, in the evening the bowl can again be filled half.
  • At night, before sleeping the bowl can again be filled one quarter.

It is highly recommended that dogs should be allowed to play and indulge in some activity for good digestion.

Try to spend some time in the morning and evening playing some games with the dogs to keep them fit. They get hungry and thirsty that lets you fix them to the proper food patterns. For good metabolism, an adult dog is advised to sleep at least 14 hours a day as well.

Feeding older dogs

• Food – Considering senior dogs, the feeding schedule remains the same as defined in the morning and evening for adult dogs. It is just that the quantity needs to be reduced to some extent. This is primarily because they limit their activity as they grow older.
• Water – It is found that older dogs drink more water compared to the younger ones. It is always advised to provide fresh water whenever they are in need.

The older dogs should be taken for short walks and other mild activities to keep them activated. They sleep around eighteen hours a day for good metabolism. Any changes in this pattern await a veterinary check-up.

We have on an average discussed feeding patterns in general. However, it is certainly true that there are different kinds of breeds and their activity patterns vary. An active breed sleeps less and plays more. These kinds of dogs can be fed thrice a day as their metabolism rates are higher. On the other hand, heavier breeds that grow larger always keep sleeping. They have to be fed twice and in limited quantities to stay fit.

Take some time to analyze the pattern in which your dog eats and plays so that you get a good hang of their metabolism outline. This along with a piece of good veterinary doctor advice will help you schedule the right food habits for your pet dog.

Keep monitoring for any changes and take frequent medical tests if necessary. Feed them regularly, play with them regularly, and you will get to enjoy with them forever regularly..!!

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