Puppy Diet
Your puppy will be sent home with some of the kibble and other food they are currently eating. Use the supplied food to slowly transition your puppy if you are planning to move to a different food. It is normal for pups to take a week or so to adjust to fully to their new environment and consistently eat their meals.
We recommend continuing your puppy on a high quality puppy formula kibble. The food you choose should have a slightly higher protein and fat content than adult food and should be labeled as a puppy or all life stages food (I aim for foods containing 28% – 30% protein and 18% – 20% fat). We prefer foods that do not have legumes high on the ingredients list as there is ongoing research into the effects of adding these to canine foods. We also recommend rotating foods fairly frequently. Often we will feed kibble for one meal and then raw or freeze dried or a different kibble at the other meal.
The following web site is recommended http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ as a good resource for researching dog foods. Your 8 week old puppy is currently being fed 1/4 cup of dry kibble 3 times daily. This could be gradually increased to 1/3 or 1/2 cup of dry kibble at each meal through the peak growth period, depending on your pup’s body condition. Pumik are a lean and muscular breed so monitor the amount of food based on body condition. By 6 months the puppy should be transitioned to adult food and receiving close to an adult portion. Our adult Pumik are fed 1/2 cup kibble or the equivalent morning and evening. Other brands of dog food that we have used and recommend with Pumik are as follows.
Canidae All Life Stages – a good all-round food with moderate protein and fat
Kirkland Adult Premium – a chicken and rice based food with moderate protein and fat
First Mate Grain Friendly – either the chicken and oats or wild pacific fish flavors. This company also makes heart shaped treats using a similar formula
Northwest Naturals Freeze Dried Nuggets – a blend of poultry or meat and fruits and vegetables that can be used as a topper or supplemental food
Vital Essentials Freeze Dried Raw – a completely poultry or meat based product. The pieces are very small, do not break apart, and can easily be used for training.
Northwest Naturals Frozen Raw – we rotate raw food into our Pumis’ diets from time to time. This one has a mixture of poultry or fish or meat and vegetables and fruits. There are many similar products.
Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Chicken – we rotate freeze dried foods like Honest Kitchen into our Pumis diets from time to time. This one has moderate protein and fairly high calorie content for active dogs.
Supplements
We have tended to use few supplements with our Pumik over the years. A well balanced meat-based diet with the addition of vegetables from time to time, like pumpkin, and a small amount of plain yoghurt has worked well. Currently we only use the following:
- Fish oil, possibly thought to be an all round supplement for skin, coat, strengthening the immune system and preventing inflammatory conditions or also just a good source of additional fat in the diet (Sea Pet or Grizzly Salmon Oil or Pollock Oil are brands of bottled oil we liked or simply feed a whole tin of sardines in water as a meal once weekly)
- Priobiotics as a way to aid digestion and overall body condition. We recommend Priobios, which is inexpensive and widely available online.
Dog Treats
For training we prefer small, easily digestible treats. Often we will use freeze dried raw food nuggets as a high value treat. For home made treats this has been one of our favorite recipes.
Salmon Treats
1 -14 oz can of pink salmon
1 cup corn meal
1 cup flax seed meal
1 cup wheat germ
5 eggs
Mix all ingredients. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with oil. Press mixture into pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 – 40 minutes. Cut into small pieces. Can be frozen.
MayaLu Dogs 