+ Types of Diets

You are not limited to dry dog kibble to meet your puppy's nutritional requirements. Various types of diets exist. Always discuss what is best for your specific puppy with your veterinarian.

• Kibble/Dry
• Canned
• Semi-Moist
• Home Cooked
• Raw

+ Choosing Appropriate Food

Not all kibble is made the same in terms of quality ingredients, safety, biological appropriateness, nutritional value, and additives. Additionally, dog food comes in "life stages" because of the differing nutritional needs for dogs at various ages.

“If you have other dogs at home, you might assume it’s okay to feed your adult dogs and your puppy the same food. But according to Dr. Jamie Richardson, chief of staff at Small Door Veterinary in NYC, “Puppies have different dietary requirements compared to adult dogs.”

They need higher levels of protein and certain vitamins and minerals. Because of this, Richardson recommends feeding them formulations specific to puppies until they are skeletally mature — around one year for small- and medium-breed dogs, or between 14 and 18 months in large- and giant-breed dogs.” (NY Mag)

‘Look for the AAFCO information. "The fastest way to know whether foods meet the nutritional needs of whatever you want to feed it to -- a puppy or adult dog -- is to look at the AAFCO statement," says Rebecca Remillard, PhD, DVM, a pet nutritionist at North Carolina State University.

AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials. The AAFCO statement tells you whether the food is "complete and balanced." That means you can use it as your pet's main food supply day after day. Another phrase you might see is that a food is for "supplemental and intermittent use." That means you should give it only as a treat. These foods should make up no more than about 10% of your dog's daily calories, Remillard says.’

+ Important Ingredients

The following indicators are typically found in a high-quality dog food and can help narrow your search:

• Superior sources of protein (for example, “chicken” or “beef” rather than “poultry” or “meat”
• Whole meat source as one of the first two ingredients. Meat contains amino acids that are most important to dog health.
• Whole, unprocessed grain, vegetables and other foods

+ Toxic Foods

Some foods that people enjoy can be harmful to dogs. Keep your puppy away from raw bread dough made with yeast, milk, large amounts of dairy products such as cheese, and salty food.

The following foods are toxic for dogs. It your dog ingests one of them, call your veterinarian immediately.

• Chocolate (especially dark chocolate and baking chocolate)
• Caffeine
• Onions, garlic and chives
• Alcohol
• Avocado
• Grapes and raisins
• Macadamia nuts
• Yeast dough
• Xylitol (artificial sweetener found in many diet foods, gum, some peanut butters etc.)
• Wheat
• Corn
• Excessive Salt
• Excessive Milk or Dairy (Always Avoid on HW Treatment)
• Vegetable Oils
• Brewers Rice
• Corn Syrup
• MSG
• Artificial Colors
• Nirtates (Sodium Nitrate)
• Soy and Soybean Oil

• Preservatives: BHA, BHT. Propyl Gallate, Propylene Glycol

  + Ingredients to Avoid

• Meat by-products

• Generic fat sources (e.g. animal fat”)
• Artificial preservatives, including BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin
• Artificial colors
• Artificial flavors
• Sweeteners

+ Feeding Schedules & Amounts

Puppies should eat three times a day from weaning through four to six months, if possible. After six months, twice-a-day feedings are fine.

Puppies need to take in a lot of calories to fuel their rapid growth. At the start, that means about twice as many per pound as an adult dog of the same breed. Puppies grow the fastest in their first five months.

Look for feeding charts on commercial puppy food labels. You can use them as a guide. They provide recommended amounts based on a puppy’s age and weight. Adjust as necessary to keep your puppy in the best condition, something you may need to do weekly.

+ Transitioning Between Foods

Once puppies have reached 90% of their expected adult weight, they should switch from a growth diet to one that’s suitable for maintenance. Small breeds may finish growing by nine to 12 months; for large breeds, expect 12 to 18 months.

+ Graduating to Adult Dog Food

Once puppies have reached 90% of their expected adult weight, they should switch from a growth diet to one that’s suitable for maintenance. Adult large breed dogs typically eat twice per day, ranging from about 1 1/2 to 2 cups depending on your dog's adult weight and guidance from your veterinarian.

+ Weight Management

If your dog needs to lose weight, you can reduce the amount of dry food, and add steamed, chopped green beans (either fresh or frozen), to help fill up your dog.

Labs love to eat, so weight control is important. If you are giving treats, reduce the amount of regular food to compensate for it. Very small treats do just fine for training, so you don’t have to load your Lab up with calories if you are doing a lot of training.

+ Upset Stomach / Diarrhea Remedies

Puppies immune systems are still developing and they chew and swallow all kinds of stuff. It is easy to upset their tummy.

A very common cause of a puppy’s upset stomach is… he’s eating too fast. Shortly after a meal, you may hear a rumbling belly or notice gas and vomiting.

Now, sometimes illness is serious. Here are IMPORTANT SYMPTOMS to look for that go beyond a simple upset stomach: dehydration, low energy, confusion, and, even more serious, a drastic change in weight. If, for any reason, you think your puppy has a serious illness, the best thing you can do is contact your veterinarian.

The treatment for your puppy’s diarrhea depends on the cause. Mild diarrhea caused by stress or a dietary transition often clears up with the addition of a bland diet, although it is always a good idea to consult your veterinarian about at-home treatment options and to rule out anything more serious, especially if the diarrhea continues for more than a few hours. Make sure you provide your puppy with plenty of fresh water, as even mild diarrhea is dehydrating. Most cases of diarrhea in puppies are preventable.

Here are some tips to help keep your puppy’s digestive system working smoothly:

• Transition your puppy to a new diet slowly

• Vaccinate your puppy at the appropriate ages and keep unvaccinated puppies away from unvaccinated dogs and public places like dog parks and kennels

• Kennel your puppy when he is not supervised to prevent accidental ingestion of garbage and toxins

• Talk to your vet about parasite prevention, and pick up after your dog

+ Vaccinations

A Typical Vaccination Schedule for Your Puppy's First Year

A Complete Visual Guide To Your Puppy's First Year of Vaccinations

+ Preventatives

You should start a puppy on heartworm prevention (i.e., heartworm medicine) as soon as possible. The American Heartworm Society recommends starting a puppy on heartworm prevention no later than eight weeks of age. Each heartworm prevention product will have different ages and weights in which it is safe to start a puppy on heartworm prevention. Your veterinarian will be able to help you determine which heartworm medicine is safest for your puppy’s age and weight.

If your puppy is less than seven months of age, he can be started on heartworm prevention without having a heartworm test. It will take at least six months for heartworms to mature enough for a heartworm test to be positive if your puppy was infected while not on prevention. Your veterinarian will be able to help you choose a safe heartworm prevention product to start him on, as well as your puppy’s heartworm schedule. You should have your dog tested six months after this visit and again six months later to ensure your puppy has not developed a heartworm infection while not on prevention. Your dog should be tested yearly after this to ensure he continues to remain heartworm negative or free of heartworms.

+ Social and Behavioral Wellness

Companionship and social well-being are as vital to your puppy's quality of life as food, water and shelter.

Severe distress due to isolation or lack of social bonding can result in a depression of the immune system, thereby increasing the chance of illness. Loneliness can also cause the animal to care for himself less, and that includes a failure to eat or drink properly. Even when provided with food and water, he may not bother with them, and this will lead to weakness and ill health.

Dogs also suffer emotional distress when deprived of companionship with people and other animals. This is true for both puppies and adult dogs.

Being a good, responsible puppy parent must include being a good companion to him. Depriving a dog of essential social needs is just as bad as depriving him of essential physical needs.

Training and behavior certainly have some overlap, but for the most part are very different things. Behavior refers to the collective response to stimuli, coping skills, and general mental state of being. Training refers to the dog’s repertoire of learned skills. You can have a completely untrained, but behaviorally normal dog or an extremely well trained, but horribly anxious dog. Most people want a combination of the two.

Training problems are often termed “nuisance” behaviors. Animals with training problems can learn new responses, are relatively relaxed, but do naughty things like jumping up, chewing on inappropriate items, or not quite understanding house training. Behavior problems are motivated by an underlying emotional abnormality. For example, maybe he can’t concentrate while out on walks because he’s constantly worried; she urinates in his kennel when home alone because she’s panicking. For most pet owners and trainers, it can be difficult to tell the difference between training problems and behavior problems. It comes down to the underlying motivation of the behavior, not necessarily the manifestation.