by staff
Bringing home a new puppy is an exciting time for your family! You have a new family member, but that family member requires a slightly different diet than the rest of you.
Choosing the right food for your puppy might feel like an overwhelming task, but we have some specific guidelines to help eliminate the stress of choosing your puppy’s food. Shopping for your puppy’s ideal food is not all that different from the suggested methods for shopping for your family’s food. 
Ingredients
The foundation of your new puppy’s health relies on the nutritional value found in his food. Choosing a pet food that has all-natural ingredients is a wise choice for your pet’s well-being. Dogs are carnivores in the wild which means that their diet should consist primarily of genuine meat products, even as puppies.
When you shop for your family’s groceries, you have probably become used to looking at the ingredients on pre-packaged foods. Foods with fewer ingredients or more recognizable language on the packaging are considered more healthy for your family. The same concept can be applied to the labels on pet foods. Look for puppy foods that advertise whole ingredients while grocery shopping.
Freshness
Products that are made to sit on a shelf for long periods of time tend to contain preservatives that decrease the nutritional value of the food. Ideally, your puppy’s food should contain limited preservatives or be entirely fresh.
You can consider frozen or refrigerated meats, canned dog foods, or even dried meats which can all be excellent choices for your new pet. However, be careful if your dog presents any unusual symptoms because some are allergic to certain foods, like chicken for example. Check out this article about Chicken Allergy In Dogs: Symptoms And Best Food Options.
Puppy Variety
Puppies require a higher intake of calories than adult dogs require each day. For this reason, puppy owners need to choose foods that are created for a puppy’s nutritional needs and are not marketed for adult dogs.
You should also keep in mind that your puppy may get bored eating the same food every day. It is crucial to find a puppy food that offers different flavors, textures, and food combinations. This will help to ensure that your puppy does not get bored with his diet. Rotating the different flavors that you have available will also help to keep boredom at bay when it comes to your puppy’s diet.
Other Considerations
When you bring your puppy home, you will want to ask what the puppy has been used to eating previously. Changing your new puppy’s food can cause several problems, including digestive issues and increased levels of stress. Considering that your new puppy will already be adjusting to an entirely new environment, you may want to wait a few days before introducing a new diet as well.
Another vital factor to consider is the breed and size of your puppy. Larger breeds will likely require a higher calorie concentration than “toy” or small breed puppies. This is due to the amount of energy that different breeds of dogs use each day to survive. Larger breeds require more energy. If you are unsure of the appropriate mix of food for your puppy, speak to a veterinarian.
Final Thoughts
There are seemingly endless choices of puppy food on the market. However, most of those choices are highly processed puppy foods whose ingredient list would not meet the standards for your family. Your new puppy deserves the same attention and care as your family’s weekly meals receive. Follow these simple guidelines to ensure your pet gets the very best diet available to him.
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This is fantastic, I love to see other folks bringing up natural food for dogs in their articles and not focusing solely on dry/industrial food types. I started my dogs on a natural diet a few years back and it was the best decision ever.