as possible. Puppies have tiny stomachs and should be fed only small amounts frequently – as many as four or five times a day. After two or three weeks, reduce the number of feeding times to three and slightly increase the amounts given at each meal. Every breed will differ but by the time your puppy is five to six months he should be on two meals a day. Always feed him the best food available, at the same time and in the same place to establish a routine. A wide range of specially formulated food for puppies is available, including complete dried foods, canned foods, biscuit meal and mixers. Alternatively, cook fresh meat and mix it with special puppy biscuit meal. However, the advantage of the commercial puppy foods you can buy is that they provide the right scientific balance of vital nutrients for a growing dog.
Feeding guidelines
After weaning, puppies need small feeds frequently: four meals a day plus two puppy milk drinks. There is no way to know exactly how much to feed a puppy as every breed differs. A general guide using complete puppy food is 22 g (3/4 oz) per 450 g (1 lb) body weight daily, bearing in mind that medium-sized dogs double their birth weight every seven days, and larger dogs grow even faster. Every major specialist dog-food manufacturing company gives guidelines and most have a telephone helpline. The best way to monitor progress is to weigh the puppy daily. Any standstill or loss of weight needs immediate investigation, so make sure he is getting his proper quota and slightly increase the amount given if necessary.
Feeding tips
It is always unwise to feed your puppy titbits from the table. If you don’t start now, he won’t bother you when you are eating.
• Don’t offer him sweets, sugar-based biscuits, cakes and chocolate. He’ll eat them but they are bad for his teeth and his weight.
• If your puppy does not eat his food immediately, don’t leave it down for long in case insects contaminate it.
• Don’t allow him to eat the cat’s food or milk, nor should you feed them together.
• Don’t feed him cow’s milk while he is still very young. Some dogs react unfavourably to it and it may cause diarrhoea. All he needs is water to prosper.
• If he has a diet of complete dried food he will need plenty of water, so make sure he has a continuous supply and change or top it up frequently.
• If you introduce new foods, do this gradually so as not to upset his stomach.
• Don’t give your puppy cooked chicken, lamb or pork bones as these can splinter and cause serious injury. Hide chews will help with teething and cleaning teeth.
• Large knuckle bones can be given but train your pup to give them up to you – young dogs can soon become over-protective of their food and treats. It is wise not to let the puppy have them for too long as he may manage to chew small pieces off that can eventually become impacted in his stomach.
It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of giving a dog the correct food. There are hundreds of brands from which to choose, so pay special attention to the manufacturers’ recommendations and be sure not to overfeed your puppy. Dogs are running creatures and should be slim with hard muscles. Even small dogs, such as Pekingeses, should not carry any excess weight. If you are unsure about how much food your pup should be eating, then ask your vet for advice.
Do not be tempted to give him extra supplements of vitamins or minerals unless it is on veterinary advice. The modern convenience foods are said to contain all the essential nutrients and therefore there is no need for supplements. Some experts believe that to reach their full potential young adult dogs should have meat or offal as part of their diet. Whichever type of food is offered, an unlimited amount of fresh water should always be available.
Night-Time
Missing the comforting presence of his fellow litter-mates, your puppy may cry during the first few nights so tire him out by playing with him before he goes to sleep. Place a hot-water bottle under his bedding, put a ticking clock in with him and play the radio quietly – you are trying to fool him into believing that he is not alone.
It is best to place the box on a washable, non-carpeted floor and to surround it with newspaper in case the puppy wants to urinate during the night. Puppies rarely soil their bed.
If he howls during the night and you go to him he will think you are answering his call so steel your heart and try not to go. However, it is cruel to let him cry all night and if he is very persistent and cannot settle, you may have to take him into your bedroom. Put his box by the bed and comfort him by stroking him from the bed, but on no account let him get up onto the bed because you may be setting a pattern that will be very difficult to change when he grows to his full size.
When he is relaxed, you can move his box a little closer to the door each night until it is outside, and then it can be taken back to the kitchen. However, if he does sleep upstairs, make sure that he cannot fall downstairs – his bones will not be calcified until he is about six months old and will break comparatively easily at this age. As a temporary precaution, place a child-proof stair gate at the top of the stairs. This can be used at the bottom of the stairs during the day to prevent him climbing upstairs. If he does go with you, always carry him up and down as he is likely to injure himself if he falls.
Life Expectancy
Like their owners, dogs are living longer nowadays, but few will pass seventeen years, which is eighty-four human years. The record for canine longevity is claimed for a twenty-seven-and-a-quarter-year-old black Labrador that died in Boston, Lincolnshire, though there are less reliable reports of another dog tottering up to an incredible thirty-four years!
| Dog Years | |
| Age of dog | Equivalent age of a human |
| 1 year | 15 years |
| 2 years | 24 years |
| 3 years | 28 years |
| 4 years | 32 years |
| 8 years | 48 years |
| 12 years | 64 years |
| 15 years | 76 years |
| 20 years | 96 years |
Did you know?
Like cats, dogs are very sensitive to vibrations and they will give warning of earth tremors some time, and occasionally even days, before humans are aware of any movement in the ground. In 1853, the famous British meteorologist, Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy, wrote: ‘In the town of Concepción on the Pacific Coast of Chile at 11.30am the dogs fled out of the houses. Ten minutes later an earthquake destroyed the town.’
The curious thing is that dogs react like this only to the imminence of true earthquakes; somehow they can tell the difference between the advance tremors of the real thing and the 150,000 other vibrations of the earth’s crust that occur each year and that cause the animals to show not the slightest alarm. Even scientific instruments cannot tell the difference between the two kinds of tremor, so how does Fido do it? No one yet knows.
One year of a dog’s life is equivalent to seven of a man’s, or so the saying goes, but it isn’t true. A one-year-old bitch is mature and can have pups; a seven-year-old child cannot. Many dogs reach fifteen years of age but few folk celebrate their 105th birthday. A more realistic
