Should Dry Food Be Wettened?
Acclimating a Puppy to Dry Food
The transition to dry food in puppies can be completed very quickly if the right steps are taken. There should be no haste in starting a puppy on dry food after mother's milk, and if possible, the puppy should receive mother's milk for at least 10 weeks. For puppies weaned at 10 weeks, the period of getting used to dry food begins. In the first stage, which is very important in dogs' nutrition, it can cause swallowing problems in your puppy. In such cases, the first preferred option is to wet the dry food slightly.
Wetting Dry Food
Care should be taken when wetting dry food. Because after a while, your dog may demand that the dry food be constantly wet and refuse to eat dry food. To avoid encountering such a problem, the dry food should be wet during the acclimation period, but the amount of liquid poured on the first day should be measured, and the amount of liquid should be gradually reduced each day, finally transitioning to dry food. As the amount of liquid decreases regularly, your dog will get used to dry food without even realizing it and will start eating dry food with pleasure.
How Much Dry Food Should I Give?
The most important factors determining the amount of dry food you will give your dog are the dog's age and weight. The breed and general health status of the dog also have a significant effect on the amount of food given. For example, if your dog is evaluated as overweight by your veterinarian, the amount of dry food to be given daily will automatically decrease, and if your dog is evaluated as underweight, the amount of dry food will be increased. In addition, since young puppies and young dogs have a much higher daily calorie requirement, these dogs need to eat more food, while adult dogs should be given less food to protect them from obesity due to the decreasing activity level with age. For puppies whose all conditions are considered to be progressing normally, 3 scoops a day, 2 scoops for young dogs, and 1 scoop a day for adult dogs is sufficient. For adult dogs, 1 scoop of food per day should be divided into two meals.
