Correct nutrition is essential for puppy to reach its full potential
The old adage of ‘you are what you eat or what you will become’ certainly applies to puppies. Puppies are born blind, deaf, with a very limited sense of smell as well as an under-developed nervous system. They have no adipose tissue which only starts forming in the third week of life, along with temperature control mechanisms. Puppies therefore need warmth as well as their mother’s nutritional excellence in order to flourish and move to the next stage.
The next stage of course is weaning. Weaning usually starts as the mother’s milk supply levels off and starts to decline. The most important thing to remember at this stage is that not all breeds develop at the same rate. Small breed lactation levels off after the most intense growth period; however in medium and large breeds supply is suddenly cut off at a critical point in their growth. The disparities are quite marked if you consider that an eight-week old Maltese is about half its adult weight by three months, whereas a large-breed puppy such as a Rottweiler doesn’t reach half its adult weight until six months of age. A Miniature Poodle at eight months will have reached its adult weight whereas a Newfoundland will continue to grow and develop until 18 months when is about 100 times its birth weight!
Weaning is important, but remember that stresses do arise that can affect the puppy at this stage. As in all dietary changes weaning should be gradual from a milk diet i.e. mothers milk to a growth diet. There is a very fine balancing line here because the ability to digest cooked starches is slowly increasing while the lactose digesting enzymes are decreasing. But they aren’t necessarily in sync and can result in puppies suffering ‘weaning stress’.
Weaning stress can take the form of anxious puppies and upset tummies. This is why it is so important at this stage to make sure that your litter is offered food designed for weaning puppies. During this growth period any imbalance in nutrients can affect tissue and skeletal growth. In large-breed puppies such as Great Danes weaning normally takes place at the time of major skeletal growth, therefore excesses of calcium and proteins can affect the formation of bones. Conversely,
food too high in energy causes growth spurts which also cause joint dysplasia.
In all areas puppies’ requirements of protein and mineral calcium is higher than adults. If incorrect food is offered puppies (especially large breeds) may be stunted and develop abnormally. Puppies fed the correct age-related and breed-related food will develop within the parameters of that breed. There are charts available which indicate fairly accurately final height of different breeds – for instance a four-month old German Shepherd Dog weighing about 14kg and and about 45cm high should, when fed correctly, be around 70cm and 45kg as a young adult.
No puppy should be underfed or overfed. Feeding a puppy an adult maintenance diet is not going to do your puppy any good. A puppy’s skeletal and physiological demands are very different to those of an adult. After the growing phases are over most manufacturers recommend your young adult be changed over to an adult maintenance diet, but be aware that growing periods are different for different sizes.
Maintenance diets are lower in protein, energy and fat and to a puppy used to a puppy diet it is generally less palatable, so a gradual changeover is needed.
Most growth-related disease is confined to large and giant breeds and these can include dwarfism and retarded growth. Rickets, with all the high-quality diets available is very rarely seen these days. Often bone problems are seen in puppies that are fed home-made diets which often do not include sufficient calcium or excess calcium, both resulting in bone deformations and joint problems.
Some joint diseases are lumped together under a heading called osteochondrosis (OCD). OCD causes hypertrophy of the joint cartilages which can result in crippling pain and joint deformities. OCD is often seen in Labradors and Boerboels. Obesity in puppies can also lead to joint problems but this is mostly seen in small breeds such as Yorkies and Maltese. Strange as it might seem poor quality food can also lead to mental retardation, poor eyesight and generally poor do-ers in adulthood with a concomitant compromised immune system and generally lower life expectancy.
Poor nutrition, whether caused by underfeeding, overfeeding or incorrect feeding can result in a puppy not reaching its optimum size and mental acuity determined by his ancestral genes.
By Fran Cristina
Article from: All About Dogs Nov/Dec 2010