Puppy World: The First Year
Puppy world: the first year, from weaning to adult food
What to feed, how much, how to switch, what to chew, and the handful of training habits that make the feeding easier. The vet-reviewed version.
Weeks 4 to 8: weaning
Puppies start investigating solid food at around four weeks and most are fully weaned between six and eight. The jump from milk to solid food is a big ask of a small gut, so a proper puppy food from the first mouthful matters: softened with warm water at first, then dry. Puppies on the dam can pick up roundworm through her milk, so repeated worming in these weeks is essential, and diarrhoea in a puppy is a vet visit, not a wait-and-see.
Months 2 to 7: the main growth phase
A puppy needs 1.4 to 1.8 times an adult's energy per kilo, plus more protein and carefully balanced calcium and phosphorus. The trap is overfeeding: a puppy fed too much does not get fat, it grows too fast, and fast growth makes soft, poorly mineralised bone. Weigh weekly, follow the feeding table by expected adult weight, and if growth is running ahead, cut the ration by up to 15%. Do not add calcium, bones or supplements to a complete puppy food. The feeding detail.
Puppy Phase 1 (Baby Fit & Vital)Phase 1, to 7 months
Lamb & Rice Puppy (Baby)Lamb and rice
Salmon & Potato Puppy (Baby)Grain-free
Mini Puppy (Fit & Vital)Small breeds
Months 7 to 18: junior
Growth slows and the energy factor drops to 1.2 to 1.5. Our Young line switches to a reduced-energy Junior recipe here, so the dog finishes growing at the right pace. Large and giant breeds stay on junior food longest; small breeds are adult by about twelve months.
Junior (Fit & Vital)Phase 2, to 18 months
Giant Breed Junior Lamb & RiceGiant breeds
Puppy & Junior Lamb wetPuppy wet food
Switching food
A puppy's gut is not fully mature until three to four months. Change food at 10% a day over ten days, and keep the breeder's food for the first week home so only one thing changes at a time. The schedule.
Chews and treats
No hard chews (rawhide, pig's ears, bull pizzles) before three months, and after that only ones far too big to get much off. Treats count as food; take them out of the daily ration rather than adding on top. Puppy-formulated soft snacks exist for training.
The training that helps feeding
Two to three meals a day at the same times; food down for fifteen minutes, then away. A puppy that grazes is hard to house-train and hard to judge.
Say the name, and when the puppy looks, reward with a piece of the ration. Attention to you is the foundation of every command that follows.
Five minutes per month of age, twice a day, as a rough rule for walks, with free play on top. Stairs and jumping down from furniture are best avoided in large breeds while the growth plates are open.
Vaccination course, worming schedule, flea and tick cover, and weight and growth checks. Ask about feeding at the first appointment; vets say it is when owners are most open to advice.
- your puppy has diarrhoea or vomiting for more than a day, or seems quiet with it
- growth seems fast or the limbs look bowed or over-flexed
- your puppy is not gaining weight, or is losing it
Based on "The young dog: key aspects of dietetics" by Nicola Rinn, veterinarian, and "On the trail of the runs" by Cornelia Günther, veterinarian, Happy Dog veterinary team.
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