What Do I Need to Feed My 5 Week Old Puppy
What is the ideal five-week-old puppy feeding schedule and what should they be eating? It's a specific question, but an important one. Most puppies grow pretty dramatically in the space of the year.
All that growth makes nutrition especially important. Getting it wrong can lead to all kinds of severe health issues later in life. Therefore, the time leading up to this important developmental phase is critical to understand five-week-old puppy nutrition.
Why is feeding puppies puppy food important?
There are multiple reasons to feed your puppy the right puppy food for their breed and size. Similarly, feeding a five-week-old puppy adult dog food can be very bad for them. The basic issue is that puppy food should have its macro and micro nutrients specifically formulated for puppies according to the size of their breed.
In short, adult dog food simply does not have the right blend of nutrients for a puppy's long-term health.
For instance, all puppies need a specific ratio of calcium to phosphorus. However, this becomes even more vital for large-breed puppies who can develop bone and joint deformities if they get the wrong amounts. These puppies also need low fat, low calorie diets to slow their growth and keep them from becoming overweight.
On the other hand, small breed puppies can have a higher amount of fat in their diet provided they stay lean too.
Puppies and senior dogs also need far more of the omega-3 fatty acid, DHA, than adult dogs do for their brain development. So this is something you should look for in any youngsters' meals.
DHA is most widely available in fish oils. This specific kind of omega-3 is also much harder for a puppy to synthesize from plants, so vegetable oils like canola don't really provide enough.
There is no good food that is appropriate for all puppies of all sizes or for dogs of all life stages either. Neither is adult food properly formulated to meet the nutritional requirements of puppies. It may have too much or little fat, phosphorus, calcium, DHA, or protein. All of this can cause serious health risks like bone disorders and renal diseases.
But is a five-week-old puppy old enough for puppy food?
Most of a five-week-old puppy's diet should come from properly formulated puppy food, and not milk or any other substitute.
Keep in mind that puppies will begin weaning at three and a half weeks. And by six weeks, they should be able to eat puppy food alone without any extra nutrition from mom. So at five weeks, they are usually right at the point where they should be completing the weaning process and most litters will still be suckling once or twice a day.
Therefore, if your pup is still suckling, it is just as important to still focus on the mother's nutritional needs.
Weaning and how it impacts a puppy
Puppies usually start developing teeth from about three weeks, and nursing will become uncomfortable for the mother shortly after. She will begin the weaning process, either cutting feeding time down or avoiding it as long as she can.
You will need to intervene at around this time. Puppies are at risk of receiving too few nutrients when this happens and the smallest pups in the litter are at the highest risk of malnutrition. They are also initially quite stressed by the fact that their mother has started tapering off the nursing.
Weaning puppies should only get a thin gruel of special puppy weaning formula for the first few days while they learn to lap. Gradually you will add their puppy food to the watery formula. From here solid food should be soaked blended it into a type of porridge or gruel. Over the next three weeks, the excess water is slowly reduced until they are eating just their properly-formulated puppy food.
Remember that the slightest change in diet can cause a pup an upset tummy. To that end, you should add a quality probiotic powder to their food throughout this process. Look one that contains L. Rhamnosus as it helps aid the immune system, as does about 2 grams of dried egg yolk a day.
During weaning, the enzymes and microbiome in their stomach starts changing. Soon, they won't be able to digest the lactose in cow's milk, so make sure that you never feed your five-week-old puppy dairy.
Feeding a five-week-old puppy litter
At five weeks, puppies are also too young to be homed and should still be in their litter. This means that each puppy should be fed in a separate bowl and supervised to stop any squabbles over food.
Suppose you start feeding a litter in a single large bowl. In that case, it can trigger competitive behavior as they all try to push each other aside to try to get to the food. This can lead to smaller puppies not getting enough and it encourages puppies from a young age to "fight" for their food. Thus, a litter eating out of the same bowl altogether can be more prone to being food aggressive later in life.
The transition can also affect how well a puppy takes to eat solid food. For example, competitive eating could cause a puppy to gulp their food up in a hurry.
It may look adorable, but this behavior poses a serious choking hazard, particularly when the pup transitions from soft food to more solid food like kibble.
It's not about 'more'
The commonly held belief is that puppy food must also contain more of everything: more fat, more vitamins, more minerals, and more proteins and carbohydrates. However, that assumption is pretty flawed.
Diet imbalances and excessive food intake can harm growing puppies. For example, large-breed puppies run the risk of developmental orthopedic diseases such as hip and elbow dysplasia or osteochondritis if given too much calcium.
There are serious health risks
'Developmental orthopedic disease' is an umbrella term for many diseases that start during a puppy's growth. These diseases can have a debilitating effect on a dog's quality of life.
Some of the associated diseases, like hip and elbow dysplasia, or osteochondritis can cause a dog severe pain for many years. And that is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the importance of puppy nutrition.
Quality puppy foods aim to address such health problems by providing your puppy with all the nutrients needed to stay healthy. Naturally, the catch is that different puppies have different needs.
There's no one-size-fits-all puppy diet
So, your puppy must eat puppy food, but it's equally important that it's the right kind of puppy food. There are many factors to consider when ensuring your puppy is on the right food.
First of all, your puppies should always be checked for any hidden problems such as liver, heart, or kidney issues. The earlier dogs with underlying problems can be put no the correct diet, the better.
One of the most important things to note is that large and small breeds have very different nutritional needs. Therefore, it is troubling when one looks into and realizes how many dog owners take the 'food is food' stance in feeding their puppies.
Large and giant breed puppies
Giant and large breed puppies are more at risk for various bone and joint diseases, including those under the developmental orthopedic disease umbrella. And again, it's not simply a matter of 'more.'
For example, the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is critically important. It requires balance rather than increasing the amount. For large breed puppies it is vital to check the label and note that the ratio of Ca:P should be between 1.1:1 and 1.3:1. If they do not specify the ratio, or if you can't work it out from the label, don't buy the food.
Specific nutrients given in the right amounts are just as important. For example, provided your five-week-old puppy is has no health problems, you want to make sure the macro and micro-nutrients fall in the following brackets:
Protein: 29-34 %
Carbohydrate: 30-40%
Fat: 11-16 %
Fiber: 2.4-5.6 %
Calcium: 0.8-1.5 %
Phosphorus: 7-1.2 %
Magnesium: 0.09 %
Vitamin D3: about 700 IU/kg
It is important to understand the health risks that various foods can pose. For example, if your puppy's food provides them too much calcium, they are at risk of developing skeletal defects. These include conditions like hip dysplasia, panosteitis, and depressed growth.
That said, if their diet provides them with too little calcium, your puppy runs the risk of reduced growth and pathological fractures. This kind of balancing act applies to most of your puppy's nutritional needs.
Furthermore, any puppy that will be over 50 lbs (22kg) as an adult should also eat a low calorie diet, as eating a high calorie diet encourages their bones to grow too quickly. It can also lead them to being overweight which is just as big of health risk
Small breed puppies
Small breed puppies should primarily eat puppy food intended for them and they can eat a regular amount of calories. A good macro and micro percentage diet for them usually looks like this:
Protein: 30%
Fat: 20% (reduce as soon as puppy reaches adulthood)
Carbohydrate: 40%
Fiber: about 4 or 5%
What do five-week-old puppies eat?
At five weeks, puppies should be eating moist but solid food, like kibble left in warm water to create a mushy paste. The food should be easy to chew and swallow, so dry kibble should still be soggy to avoid being a choking hazard. Canned food for puppies of the right size and formulated for weaning puppies is also appropriate.
Puppies started on a raw or freeze-dried diet will also have a lower chance of skin allergies and gastrointestinal problems as they age. But it is critical to make sure the raw diet is properly formulated for the puppy size and life stage . Make sure to look at the guaranteed analysis and ensure that it matches the nutrient profiles we described above.
The important thing is that they get all the nutrients they need in a carefully balanced diet. That could mean adding a mother and puppy formula to their diet and including quality probiotic powders in their food.
How much should I feed a five-week-old puppy?
The answer depends heavily on the puppy's breed and how far along they are in the weaning process. If you have a properly formulated puppy food, you can follow their feeding instructions, and divide their daily feedings into three or four meals a day.
However, puppies have different metabolisms and different growth rates. At five weeks, a vet can help establish a healthy growth rate for your puppies' breed. The amount they get fed should depend on that and on if they are a healthy weight.
Judging your dog's weight is the best indication of how much to feed. If you can count ribs and see the hip bones, you need to up their food intake. But if your puppy looks a little round and pudgy, it needs to be restricted, no matter how cute they are.
Never indulge in free-feeding. Monitor the portions of each meal and remove anything that isn't eaten after 15 mins.
How often do five-week-old puppies eat?
Five-week-old puppies should eat three to four times a day.
Tiny breeds or dogs bred to be "micro" or "teacups" are sadly prone to hypoglycemia. That means that pups may need to eat more frequently and may need up to four to six small meals a day. In some cases, they may need to be fed even more often.
Left unchecked, it may seem like a five-week-old puppy is an insatiable eating machine. They will often eat as long as there is food in front of them.
It's easy to assume that they are hungry all the time, but for their sake, it's best to keep in mind that puppies overeat. So at some point, they are just eating because there is food.
That makes free-feeding unsuitable for puppies in general. Puppies should be neither fat nor thin, and the trick is to formulate a diet that meets their daily nutritional needs.
You then need to split their meal into three to four separate feeding times. Routine is always good for dogs, and you should try to keep your puppies' mealtimes on a regular schedule. If you are feeding three times a day, then feeding early in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening is good schedule.
If they have started house-training, limit food and water intake after 7 pm to help get through night without too many potty runs.
Where to buy food for your five-week-old puppy?
The Pet Assistant marketplace is a great resource for figuring out what food is best for your pups and how you can buy it. The simple diagnostic tool calculates most of the details for you and then lists the best option for your puppies' diet.
The Pet Assistant diagnostic tool also gives products a subset of ratings. These ratings explain what in the suggested foods make them a good option and the potential drawbacks the food will have.
Summary
Five-week-old puppies are usually just ending the transition from mother's milk to solid foods. So not only is the food you choose important but also the way you feed it to your pups.
At first, you'll need to add a substantial amount of warm water to their dry food hours before the puppies have to eat. With time you will decrease the ratio of water to dry food.
Different breeds have vastly different nutritional needs. Therefore, you must feed your puppies the right food for their breed/size. They also need to be fed three to four times a day for most breeds, although very tiny breed may need to be fed more often.
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Source: https://www.petassistant.com/blog/five-week-old-puppy-feeding-schedule-everything-you-need-to-know/#:~:text=Most%20of%20a%20five%2Dweek,any%20extra%20nutrition%20from%20mom.