Puppy nutrition

[AmelieH]

Dear Dr. Jeff, I still have a few questions about the nutrition of my 11-week-old Flat Coated Retriever puppy (female). We discussed that thawed meat is okay. How much and how often should I give her per day? Three times a day? And should I also feed her vegetables and fruit mixed with the meat or better separately (mono meals)?Or should I better give meat twice and one cooked vegetable meal? I'm still very unsure about raw feeding. It might help me if you could write down an example feeding day, if that's possible? Or is there a good book you can recommend? Also, I wanted to ask what puppy supplement would you recommend (if I can't feed enough heart)?
Thank you very much!!!
Amelie

 

[aruna]

Hi, @AmelieH, Holistic Actions! support here - what great questions, so great you want to do good for your puppy. Luckily, we have so many great resources on feeding. I suggest you start with downloading the Uplevel Your Pet's nutrition workbook and watching our nutrition webinars - there are many theories and ideas on feeding and learning and exploring will get you to the place of feeling confident. You can find all the mentioned nutrition resources by clicking here.

 

[Dr. Christina]

I would suggest taking the time to study the Holistic Pet Health 101 course. Start with Lesson 2 - Nutrition. There are answers there to most of your questions - books, etc.

Most importantly, Amelie, is to remember there is no RIGHT answer for feeding a pup, any more than there is a RIGHT answer for what or how much to feed a human toddler. In the 101 course you will see that each dog may eat a totally different diet each day, so there is no one correct diet.

My suggestions may be slightly different from Dr. Jeff, @Dr. Sara, @Dr. Sue, @GinnyW and other community members. Feed 3 - 4 times a day, as requested by your pup. Some days feed the pureed vegetables (cooked, raw or both) separately, then try feeding together for a few days. See which she likes best and which seems to make her feel the best. @Dr. Sue does nutrition counseling at www.thrivepetvet.com if you need a little more help right away.

Think what they would eat in the wild, review the nutrition lesson, and remember there is not one way to feed. Think feeding yourself.
Dr. Christina

 

[Dr. Sara]

Dear Amelie,
I certainly agree with Dr, Christina that there is no one right way to feed a pup! It is essential that the calcium - phosphorus ratio of whatever diet you choose is balanced for growth, as a Flat Coated Retriever has a lot of growing to do. I require that my pups are fed a raw food that is balanced for growth. There are recipes for this, and it is possible to do it on your own. Nutritional diseases caused by feeding puppies unbalanced raw diets are one of the few justifiable complaints that nutrition experts have against raw diets. It is true that wild / feral dogs do just fine with a foraged diet. Feral dogs are also free to choose what they will eat, whereas our domestic dogs have to eat what we provide. Purebred dogs are also less genetically robust than their wild ancestors and cousins.

There are many holistic and homeopathic vets in Germany, so I would definitely enlist one to help you with the process of growing your pup in a healthy manner! If you are not sure who is near you, let me know what town you live in, and I can query my German colleagues. A local holistic vet will also be familiar with the raw foods, positive relationship based trainers, and safe flea products available in your area.
The IAVH website lists seven homeopathic vets; there are many others who are not listed!
I hope this helps,
Dr. Sara

International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy | IAVH

The International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy was founded in 1986 with the goal to preserve and to develop the knowledge of homeopathy in animals.

iavh.org

 

[AmelieH]

I would suggest taking the time to study the Holistic Pet Health 101 course. Start with Lesson 2 - Nutrition. There are answers there to most of your questions - books, etc.

Most importantly, Amelie, is to remember there is no RIGHT answer for feeding a pup, any more than there is a RIGHT answer for what or how much to feed a human toddler. In the 101 course you will see that each dog may eat a totally different diet each day, so there is no one correct diet.

My suggestions may be slightly different from Dr. Jeff, @Dr. Sara, @Dr. Sue, @GinnyW and other community members. Feed 3 - 4 times a day, as requested by your pup. Some days feed the pureed vegetables (cooked, raw or both) separately, then try feeding together for a few days. See which she likes best and which seems to make her feel the best. @Dr. Sue does nutrition counseling at www.thrivepetvet.com if you need a little more help right away.

Think what they would eat in the wild, review the nutrition lesson, and remember there is not one way to feed. Think feeding yourself.
Dr. Christina

thank you very much !!!

 

[AmelieH]

Dear Amelie,
I certainly agree with Dr, Christina that there is no one right way to feed a pup! It is essential that the calcium - phosphorus ratio of whatever diet you choose is balanced for growth, as a Flat Coated Retriever has a lot of growing to do. I require that my pups are fed a raw food that is balanced for growth. There are recipes for this, and it is possible to do it on your own. Nutritional diseases caused by feeding puppies unbalanced raw diets are one of the few justifiable complaints that nutrition experts have against raw diets. It is true that wild / feral dogs do just fine with a foraged diet. Feral dogs are also free to choose what they will eat, whereas our domestic dogs have to eat what we provide. Purebred dogs are also less genetically robust than their wild ancestors and cousins.

There are many holistic and homeopathic vets in Germany, so I would definitely enlist one to help you with the process of growing your pup in a healthy manner! If you are not sure who is near you, let me know what town you live in, and I can query my German colleagues. A local holistic vet will also be familiar with the raw foods, positive relationship based trainers, and safe flea products available in your area.
The IAVH website lists seven homeopathic vets; there are many others who are not listed!
I hope this helps,
Dr. Sara

International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy | IAVH

The International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy was founded in 1986 with the goal to preserve and to develop the knowledge of homeopathy in animals.

iavh.org

Thank you very much, Dr. Sara!