Feeding a Puggle

[munlitsky]

I am getting a puppy soon, hopefully a puggle. What is best feeding-wise for this breed? How many times daily, food recommendations (dry/wet?). What are your opinions on the dog feeders and waterers? Do you think a puggle would overeat if i buy it a feeder? :confused:

Thanks for all your help,
*Holly.

[kelsiebug]

A puggle, O boy!

well i dont really know bout the feeding and all...maybe other people on here can help...

[Cheetah]

There aren't really any real feeding instructions for mixed breeds lol... My border collie mix is just fed according to her weight and her energy level... The first thing I would do is consult a nutritionist. Not a vet, a nutritionist. Here is a nifty food calculator that will get you on the right track.
http://www.mycockerspaniel.com/mer.htm

I would not recommend free-feeding (feeding the dog constantly all through the day) if you want a reliable potty schedule, and most vets and nutritionists will tell you that you risk your dog becoming overweight by free-feeding. I would just get a regular food bowl and feed the dog two to three times per day at set times.

[opokki]

Pugs and Beagles both seem to have a tendancy towards obesity. I wouldn't recommend a dog feeder if it involves free feeding. Its much easier to housetrain with scheduled feedings and often healthier (for those that tend to overconsume) too.

In general, puppies should get 3 meals daily until they are about 6 months old and then you can switch to 2 meals daily.
As long as the puppy can eat dry food without a problem, I don't like to mix wet & dry together. When I do feed wet I always give it as a separate meal because I don't want my dogs to ever refuse their food if I don't add the wet.

[KellySue]

I think all the posts above are right on target! :)

Obviously, you'll need to ask what the puppy is accustomed to eating. Make sure it's a good quality food. If not, consider slowly changing it over by mixing the foods at varying ratios. You might want to give your new pup a few days to a week to get used to being at your house before changing foods. All the new changes will be stressful enough and changing food many times can upset a pup's tummy.

If the puppy is used to eating wet food, you can go ahead and begin to change it to hard if the pup's teeth are developed enough and is already around at least 6 to 8 weeks. This change should include mostly soft and a little hard as they learn, to more hard (making sure they don't lose weight and are getting enough food). Hopefully, you'll be getting a pup that's at least 8 to 10 weeks or older and should already be eating hard. Hard food should make up the most of it's diet. Wet food is a great treat! It just tends to give a more loose stool and also builds up on teeth much easier as hard food tends to scrape itself off more. It's also usually better for the digestive tract.

The first few days, keep putting more food down for a baby puppy as they consume it. Remember, dogs like thier food based on smell moreso than taste most of the time so leaving out large amounts that tend to loose smell wouldn't seem as yummy as small amounts of fresh food throughout the day. Sometimes puppies don't want to eat as much as they should at one time due to all the stress of the transition. Remember, your baby just lost it's mother and siblings and all surroundings are different, even the water will taste different and the air will smell strange. It's a hard time. After your pup is acclimated, 3 to 4 times a day at the same times everyday is a great feeding schedule (as stated above by Cheetah: for the potty scheduling) (pups tend to need to go to the bathroom when they wake up and right after they eat and its also good to go right before bed time at the same time each night.) Each time, it's optimal to put down as much food as the dog can consume in ten minutes, as after that, they just tend to gorge themselves, as everyone else already said.

Also, ask if your new pup was used to drinking out of a water bottle or bowl. Switching can sometimes cause the pup to not want to drink as much as it should. They are two very different ways to get water. Of course, you can easily teach your baby to switch. Water bottles are great just for the reason that a puppy can't spill it or go to the bathroom in it etc. It keeps the puppy dry and the water clean, but, obviously, a bowl is great too. :)

Gah, I sure to yap a lot about dogs... sorry!

[munlitsky]

Thanks for all of the information, I could use all of the help I can get! Yea, I am definitely getting one that is 8-10 weeks I refuse to get one any younger! I am so excited. :D Ive got my eye on a black tri-colored puggle. I have never seen another one like it. It's adorable!

[skunkstripe]

What you need to know is how much the dog will weigh when full grown. With purebreds it's easy to predict. With mixed breeds it is not. And kibble bags tell you how much to feed puppies based on the ADULT weight.
If you overfeed, you will end up with a fat dog. Not a good thing. Some dogs will eat the right amount automatically-they will simply stop eating when they ar no longer hungry. Others will eat til they bust.
So.......find out the adult weight is my advice!

[Becky]

Hard food should make up the most of it's diet. Wet food is a great treat! It just tends to give a more loose stool and also builds up on teeth much easier as hard food tends to scrape itself off more. It's also usually better for the digestive tract.


I hate to disagree, but wet food usually has better ingredients than dry and usually less carbohydrates... carbs cause the tartar build-up on teeth. Wet food is probably better for their teeth in the long run because of this. I also don't believe, if fed proper amounts (and one that agrees with the pup), than canned will cause soft stools... any excess liquid in the canned food will probably be absorbed by the digestive tract

Kibble may be hard, but so are pretzels... pretzels don't clean our teeth (and we chew more than dogs).

If you want a food that really makes for clean, shiney teeth, I'd look to raw bones ;).

[Lynn]

I'm not sure I'd be as concerned about clean teeth but you need to think about teeth strength too. Soft food doesn't encourage building strong teeth as greatly

[Becky]

But, kibble isn't going to do that either. A dog doesn't chew kibble like we do, most of the time they actually swallow it whole... anything they do 'chew' (more like crunch in half then swallow) is only chewed by the molar. If you want to strengthen teeth, it'd be better to get some chew toys and play tug with the puppy.

I'm not try to push RMB down anyone's throats, but they'd do the same as well. Rec bones would too (I.e. marrow bones).

[Cheetah]

That is true... RMBs and rec bones do a better teeth cleaning job than anything else I've seen (aside from annual teeth cleanings), and they're so cheap! >^_^<

Personally, I don't think it matters whether you feed kibble, or wet food, because neither one is going to be especially beneficial to the teeth lol... >^^;<

[TheWhiz]

Maybe my dogs are weird, but they chew thier food.
I give them raw bones and greenies and they all have pearly whites.
Good Luck with your soon to be pup.