What happens if your puppy is too skinny?īeing underweight can interfere with your pup’s healthy growth.Īlso, there might be an underlying reason why your pooch is not gaining weight like she should. Watching the weight development and the body condition score, you can react early if your puppy’s growth comes to a halt. The body condition score is a hands-on way to determine how much “fluff” is on your puppy. Weighing your Pitbull pup regularly-at least once a week-is very important.Īdditionally, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your puppy’s body condition score. Just as with raw diets, ensure your puppy is getting all the necessary nutrients in the right ratios and amounts. Also consider this if there are immuno-compromised individuals or small children in your household that are in danger of meat-borne pathogen infections. What about feeding your dog home-cooked meals? If raw feeding isn’t for you, cooking for your pup can be an option. We can’t stress this enough, as raw meat is frequently contaminated with harmful bacteria and parasites. One last important thing to pay attention to when feeding a raw diet is hygiene. It’s certainly a good idea to keep children away from your puppy’s food bowl at meal times, anyway. Your dog will not become “blood-thirsty” because of a BARF diet.Īnecdotally, though, some dogs are more defensive of their food bowl on a raw diet. This theory has absolutely no scientific truth to it. In a breed like the Pitbull-that already has an unwarranted bad reputation, and certainly a dangerous bite-this is often used as a key argument against raw feeding. There’s a stubborn myth out there that raw feeding makes dogs more likely to bite, as it’s said to “bring out their wild side.” We suggest working closely with an experienced vet or canine nutritionist to put together a complete and well-balanced meal plan. They haven’t been able to refute it either, though. Studies haven’t been able to conclusively prove that raw feeding is better than commercial diets. The veterinary community is still rather divided on this subject. Supporters of raw feeding claim that it makes their dogs healthier and the coat shiny. These diets contain mostly raw meats, bones, and some vegetables and fruits. The biologically appropriate raw foods (BARF) takes a different approach: It tries to mimic what your dog’s wild ancestors eat. Many dogs have loose stools when fed wet food in large amounts. The downside of the moisture is that wet food spoils more easily.Īdditionally, there is no mechanical abrasion of your puppy’s teeth, so there is no “ teeth-cleaning effect” as there is when feeding kibble. The moisture unfolds all the aromas in the food, making wet food extremely palatable for most dogs. The difference from kibble is that wet food contains about 75 percent water. Wet food is also a commercial type of dog food. To make sure your puppy has all the nutrients it needs to grow up healthy, choose a kibble designed specifically for medium-sized puppies to large breeds. And let’s not forget the most important thing. Try to avoid ingredients like corn, soy, wheat, and fructose or glucose syrups. Studies have shown that more expensive kibble is often more easily digestible. It’s worth spending a bit more for an all-natural brand with premium ingredients. It’s easy to store, can be used as treats or fed on the go, and it comes in all sorts of different flavors. They might react to certain ingredients, so searching for the food your Pitbull puppy thrives on can require a bit of experimentation. Pitbull puppies might sometimes have a sensitive stomach and have a high incidence of food-related allergies that manifest as skin problems. If you go with the latter, it will be your own responsibility to put together a complete and well-balanced meal plan. You can choose a commercial dog food (kibble, wet food, or both) or you can prepare your puppy’s meals yourself (either cooked or raw).
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