A simple method to follow when balancing for your puppy:

1. balance amino acids,
2. balance fatty acids,
3. balance minerals and vitamins
4. remaining calorie target is as close to zero as possible (-30 to +30 kcal)

Don’t forget to choose ingredients that are palatable to your puppy. Remember that meat grinds (ground food) are good for mixing supplement powders, pureed veggies, etc.

Growing puppies require approximately twice the energy of adult dogs at maintenance. Because the energy requirements are so large, the energy density of the diet is an important factor. Puppies have a more limited capacity for digesting a meal (Earle, 1993). Due to their small gastrointestinal tract size, puppies can only consume a limited amount of food per meal. The puppy’s growth rate will be limited by its food intake. Therefore, it is best to feed an energy dense diet two or three times per day. Do not free feed.

All foods and treats should be tracked closely, with special attention paid to calcium, phosphorus, and metabolizable energy (ME), when designing diets for large- and giant-breed puppies.

Use a powdered calcium source to better control calcium intake.

Never free feed.

Try to weigh your puppy every week. If you have a human scale but not one that is suitable for a puppy, then a) weigh yourself, b) weigh yourself holding the puppy, and c) Subtract the weight in (a) from the weight in (b), to get the puppy’s weight.

Next, open the recipe you are feeding after recording the new weight for your puppy in the PETS module to see if the recipe needs adjusting. Make adjustments, if necessary.

A body condition score (BCS) is a method for assessing the puppy’s body composition, particularly the percentage of body fat (% BF), and for estimating the degree of over- and underweight. A scale of 1 to 9 has been proven effective for dogs and cats (Laflamme D 1997a, Laflamme D 1997b).

Please refer to Step 3c for guidance on how to adjust your puppy’s weight to compensate for a BCS that does not equal 4 or 5.

Stay away from the following foods.

Alcohol, Apple Seeds, Avocado, Candy, Chewing Gum, Toothpaste & Mouthwash, Cat Food, Chocolate (Cocoa powder, Unsweetened baker’s chocolate, Semisweet chocolate, Dark chocolate, Milk chocolate, White chocolate), Coffee, Tea & Other Caffeine, Cooked Bones, Corn On The Cob, Garlic, Grapes & Raisins, Hops, Macadamia Nuts, Marijuana and other drugs not recommended by your veterinarian, Onions & Chives, Persimmon, Peach & Plum Pits, Rhubarb & Tomato Leaves, Tobacco, Xylitol and foods containing xylitol, Yeast.

Although the database stores copper values for fresh, raw pig liver, it is not bio-available. So subtract the copper added by this ingredient if you use it in your recipe. Our Pet Diet 365 line of products handles this automatically.

1. Freeze meat for 3 weeks before using to help reduce pathogens
2. Store pet food separate from human food.
3. Thaw frozen meat in fridge prior to feeding.
4. Raw meat can keep in the fridge for up to two days. Raw fish can keep in the fridge for one day.
5. Feed food in glass, ceramic, or stainless steel bowl.
6. Do not leave food out for more than 15 minutes. If pet has not eaten then store the remainder in fridge until later that day.
7. Thoroughly clean all surfaces and bowls with hot, soapy water.