Is homemade dog food bad for puppies? What should I feed my puppy?

It is difficult to make and feed a balanced home made diet. More often that not, the dog will develop a nutritional deficiency. This is especially true for puppies. Ideally, Murphy should be fed a good quality commercial puppy diet. Brands include ProPlan, Orijen, Canidae and Acana.

Hello. By homely, do you mean a homemade diet? If so, it is very difficult to prepare a diet that has all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids & proper balance of protein, carbohydrates & fats that meets a dogs nutritional needs. Royal Canin is an excellent food, so I would really try to maintain this. If you truly want to do a homemade diet, then I encourage you to visit this site that will help you to develop a nutritionally sound diet plan. Thanks for using PetCoach. https://securebalanceit.com/

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Orioz! Once Orioz has stopped vomiting, gently start syringe feeding a well balance canned puppy food (purina proplan puppy, royal canin, Hills, etc). Syringe small amounts several times per day. Add water to the canned food to make it more liquidy so it can pass through the syringe. Skip a feeding if he vomits. Continue syringe feeding until he starts to eat on his own. This can take several days. I hope this helps and I wish Orioz a speedy recovery!

Homemade foods are tough because they are almost always deficient in vitamins and minerals without a supplement. It is not impossible, however. I like the website balance it.com. You can set up an account, look for recipes, and they can even analyze the nutrients in your current recipe. The key is a meat+ grain+ fruits and veggies for nutrients. Good luck!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry Dobby is so sick. First, I would ask his veterinarian what the best food for his condition is. Otherwise, here are my favorite foods for sick animals that aren't eating well. If it is available to you Hills Science diet A/d formula or Royal Canin R/S are critical care formulas that are baby food consistency and very calorie rich for sick animals. They can be thinned with a bit of water and syringe fed if needed. If these are not available, any high quality wet puppy food can be blended with a bit of water to make a slurry if needed. Best of luck, I hope Dobby recovers soon.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Any of the following brands can be fed so long as it is puppy food for small dogs. The food needs to be slowly transition over 7-10 days introducing the new food in about 20% increment every other day. For detail, contact your veterinarian on how to transition the food. Recommended brands are Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina Pro Plan, and Iams. Choose one, and stick with it until about one year of age. After that, transition to an adult formula for small breeds from the same brand. Void feeding anything other than the dogs food and a few treats made specifically for dogs. Hopes this helps!

Hello. Unfortunately, there has been an explosion of new & "boutique" type foods that have hit the market lately, some are fine to feed, some are just gimmicks & have no science to back up their claims. You should always look for the AAFCO statement on every label, but be aware that this is a voluntary claim & there is no regulatory agency watching out for dishonest manufacturers. Personally, I recommend sticking with the 3 biggest companies that can actually provide the science behind their pet foods. They are Science Diet, Royal Canin & Purina. All three of these have developed formulations to fit every lifestyle, every trend, & every stage of life that you just cannot go wrong feeding one. If the food you have is suspicious, I would transition Diggy off as soon as possible to another puppy food soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.