When a puppy reaches 1 year of age, his diet should be changed to one that is appropriate for maintaining an adult dog. Your veterinarian may recommend making this change earlier, depending on the growth rate of your individual dog. Adult foods generally have less protein and fat than puppy foods.
From a nutritional point of view, there is no harm in leaving an adult dog on a puppy food as long as the amount fed is trimmed back to be appropriate for adult maintenance. Failure to reduce the daily caloric intake is one of the main reasons for excessive weight gain in early adulthood.
Although feeding once a day is fine for many dogs, dividing the daily ration into two equal servings is healthier and more satisfying. If you are feeding dry kibble, you can leave the food out during the day for free-choice consumption, unless your dog tends to be overweight, in which case the dog should be fed carefully measured meals.
When you leave food down all day you won't get an accurate picture of whether your dog is eating every day and how much he is consuming, either. Discard unused food at the end of the day.
Canned and semimoist products should be fed twice daily, at the same time each day, and the unused portion should be picked up after 15 minutes and refrigerated. Feeding regular meals is the best way to manage your dog's diet.
Caloric requirements differ from dog to dog, but in general, dogs need fewer calories as they grow older. They also need less in warm weather and during periods of inactivity. Once again, feeding instructions on dog food packages should be taken as guidelines only.
These instructions are only rough estimates and are not always applicable to a specific breed or individual. The goal is to maintain normal body weight. Feed the dog whatever is necessary to maintain his ideal weight.
Hard-working dogs require a highly digestible diet with increased fat content to maintain stamina and body condition. This is one area where a premium dog food formulated for working dogs may be particularly beneficial. In the off season when the dog is not working, feed less of the high-calorie food or gradually change to a less nutrient-dense dog food.
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