Ensuring a Good Start Puppy nutrition for healthy growth and development By Sarah-Jane Godfrey, DSM Nutritional Products
nutrients, and the development of her nutritionally dependent puppies, pre and postnatally, she must be fed an appropriate amount of food according to the stage of pregnancy or lactation and pup numbers being reared. Nutritionally balanced, all-breed complete puppy diets, or all-life stage foods, rich in quality proteins and essential fats, plus essential minerals and vitamins are considered suitable for the breeding bitch. Feeding the bitch in late pregnancy a calcium supplement is contra indicated as the increased requirement will be met by increased food intakes required in late pregnancy and lactation. During the last third of gestation, the bitch’s energy requirements and proportionally the protein requirements, increase significantly, rising to 40-60% above maintenance. Practically this means increasing the food intake from those maintenance levels fed during weeks one to six The growing period for the puppy, as it is for all animals, is a delicate
of gestation up to 1.4 and eventually 1.6 times maintenance just before
stage of life. To grow up normally the puppy requires the correct
whelping, which is likely at the end of week 9. Often feeding twice per
intake of energy, amino acids, fats, macro and micro minerals and
day, or more, is helpful as stomach fill of the bitch may be limited with a
also vitamins right from the point of conception. Balanced and optimal
large litter. Through early and peak lactation the bitch will again benefit,
nutrition of the puppy with these key nutrients supports normal organ,
particularly with a large litter, from being be fed multiple times per day
skeletal, muscle, brain, eye and neural development, in addition to the
to allow her to take in the large volumes of food required to sustain the
development and function of the immune system. Nutritional support of
huge increase in nutrient demands during these critical time points (4).
the young gastrointestinal tract is also vital to help set up a balanced
The bitch’s energy requirements can be calculated using the equations
gut microflora, which is increasingly known to be essential for good
described in Table 1 (5). However, a simplified general rule of thumb
all-round health. The precise nutrition of the puppy at the start of their
during lactation is to feed maintenance levels of food plus 0.55 times
life is their foundation for a long and healthy life as an adult dog.
maintenance per puppy being reared.
Puppy Growth
Table 1: Equations for the calculation of the energy requirement
Dogs are amazing! As altricial species, puppies are born blind, deaf,
for the reproducing bitch
helpless and completely dependent on their mother, yet by the time they have reached adulthood they have increased their body weight by 40 or 50 times that of their birth weight (1). After birth they go through
Energy Requirement of the Bitch (kcal/day) Gestation first 4 weeks of gestation
132 kcal/kg BW0.75 132 kcal/kg BW0.75 + 26 kcal/kg BW
their own nutritional challenges (2,3).
last 5 weeks of gestation
The nursing stage
1 to 4 puppies
145/kg BW0.75 + 24 n x kg BW x L
During their first few weeks of life puppies spend much of their time
5 to 8 puppies
145/kg BW0.75 + (96 + 12 n) x kg BW x L
sucking milk and sleeping. Once their eyes have opened, normally
n = number of puppies; L = 0.75 in week 1 of lactation; 0.95 in week 2; 1.1 in week 3 and 1.2 in week 4
3 critical stages of life in their first 12 months - the nursing stage, the weaning stage and post weaning stage. Each of these stages bring
Lactation
between 12 to 14 days of age, and the ears by day 20, by day 21 they are well on their way to starting learning about their new world and how to socialise. For the first few weeks of life, puppies are entirely reliant on
The weaning stage
their mothers’ milk, the quantity and composition of which are affected
When it comes to the puppy, up to 3 to 4 weeks of age the bitch’s milk
by the quality of the nutrition that she received during late gestation,
is normally sufficient to sustain the nutrient needs for growth; thereafter
and of course, during the present lactation period.
this is not the case. While suckling even very young puppies will drink
To meet the bitch’s changing needs for energy and other key
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Pet Food Supplement 2020
water, so it is important that puppies have free access to fresh water
