A friend of mine recently was given a new puppy and has not been a pet care giver in years.
She asked me how much she should feed him.  My first thought was to check the suggestion on
bag of the brand of food she decided to provide.

From personal experience, I know it is trial and error and my main goal was to make sure I didn’t feed too much.

It is not a simple answer and there are variables, obviously it will ultimately be a question for her vet,
but I did some research online and have found some items to consider that I totally agree with for her puppy.

1.Selecting the type food depends on breed of dog
2.How much will depend on age and will change as puppy gets older
3.Allergies may be present and changing food types may be necessary
4.Overfeeding can cause problems and managing food is an important question.

My pups are now over a year old but from 8 weeks to 16 weeks three times a day worked for us, morning, noon and around our dinner time.  A food formulated for puppies was given.

We left their dishes (we adopted two)down about 15 minutes or until done.  In our case, there rarely was any left for a “free feed” situation which was not recommended.

Gradually, we reduced to twice a day and have even been told to go for once a day.

It’s best to look at the individual manufacturer’s guidelines for the amount of puppy food you should give your puppy.  Notice whether it’s on a daily total or ‘per meal’ basis and adjust accordingly.

For example three cups daily could be broken down into two or three meals.

Fresh water should be available all day. I do not pick their water up at night as some recommend, my pups always had water right before they would nap.  Just remember when they wake, you need to direct then outdoors immediately.

Two great sites I found useful for information regarding pet food for puppies are Iams.com and Eukanuba.com.  I am not affiliated with either site but agree with their puppy food advice.

If you’re considering the purchase of a new pooch this Christmas, just think about what you’re going to let yourself in for. It is unfortunate that there are so many dogs in the shelters, but this is often because people cant cope after they bought the dog as a Christmas present, thinking it would be ‘fun’ without realising the hard work that goes into owning a dog. Worse still, they might just turf it out onto the streets. Naturally, this is a harrowing thought for pet lovers out there, but it is still a reality.

The moral of this day really is that a dog is for life and not purely for Christmas. Boyfriends buying a puppy for a girlfriend should carefully consider it to make sure the dog will be brought up in a suitable environment and that it is going to get enough attention. If you cant guarantee love, care and affection for your pet, its best not to buy it in the first place. The issue is that break-ups in the home are inevitable and the pet gets dragged into it and often associated with the person who bought it, so naturally they get viewed in a bad light. They don’t want to see the animal and the pet then gets treated very badly. It is sad that this happens, but pets should never be associated with the person that bought it. Remember, the dog is part of the family too.

In many respects, what we need is a more pro-active approach to dog health care, so that the dog doesn’t get sent to a shelter or end up on the streets. The dog should be loved like everyone else in the family too, and its health is important. If you feed, play and walk it then these are the basic things needed. Spend some time with your dog and swot up on dog health care tips so that the chances of it ending up onto the streets are less likely, as you understand what it takes to care for your pooch. With rising dog numbers in shelters up and down the country, something needs to be done to stop people from buying pets when they can’t look after them properly. Pets only make good Christmas presents when the dog health care is considered, and if not, don’t buy one.