5 Common Feeding Issues Dog Owners Face And How To Deal With Them

Being a dog owner comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility. After adopting a pup, you take on the role of guardian and parent, which means you are responsible for ensuring that they stay healthy and happy throughout their lives.

As a pet parent, there’s one particular aspect you need to study up more on than others even before you bring home your new furry baby: dog food.

Aside from getting advice from the best pet shop in Dubai, you still need to learn as much as you can about dog feeding to make sure you get it right.

Lucky for you, this article lists down five typical dog feeding issues – both general and case specific – and how to deal with them.

General Guidelines for Dog Feeding

When it comes to feeding your canine pet, there are three very important things you’ll need to know about:

1.     Knowing when to start feeding puppies solid food

Like human babies, puppies thrive on their mother’s milk during the first few weeks of their lives. In fact, they can’t have anything else until they get weaned six weeks from birth.

From there, experts recommend puppies below eight weeks of age to start feeding on soft food. That means you need to moisten whatever you plan to feed them until the food becomes spongy enough for your little furball.

On top of that, you need to understand that puppies have different nutritional needs compared to adult dogs. Since pups are still growing rapidly, with bone, muscles, and organs still developing, they need extra nutrients to support their growth. On the other hand, adult dogs just need enough to maintain a healthy body.

2.     Choosing the right dog food

Picking the best dry dog food doesn’t have to be a one-size-fits-all formula. In fact, your canine pets have fast-changing needs during the first six months of their lives.

To avoid making any grave mistakes, always start by asking for your veterinarian’s recommendations.

Aside from age and breed, other factors to be considered in dog food selection include:

• Your dog’s body size
• Different dog food brands
• Nutritional content of each dog food being considered

3.     Feeding frequency

Again, there’s no universal formula for how frequently your dog should eat. However, most vets recommend feeding your dog twice daily.

There are exceptions, of course. Have your vet check if your pet has special dietary needs or underlying medical issues. In these cases, always follow expert advice on feeding schedules.

What to Do for Specific Feeding Issues

Besides learning about information that’s considered general knowledge about dog feeding, you may also encounter a couple of situational issues that may hinder your pup from getting all the nourishment they need.

Below are a few common dog feeding concerns and how to deal with them:

4.     Loss of appetite

If your puppy refuses their food, one possible reason is a digestive issue. However, the underlying course varies for dogs of different ages:

Puppies

Since they generally love to chew and bite to explore the world, puppies are more susceptible to swallowing or eating rubbish and other things that can wreak havoc on their digestive system. This is one of many reasons why you need to follow your pup’s vet appointments strictly to detect any potentially life-threatening scenarios.

Regular vet check-ups also come with vaccine shots and deworming, which could help get rid of roundworm infestations that your pup may have gotten from breastfeeding. A pup that hasn’t yet been dewormed is also likely to refuse food because of a parasitic infection.

Besides worms, a young dog may also stop eating because of stress. This could be caused by a wide variety of things – from getting adopted into a new family to adjusting to a new environment.

If this is the case, you need to help your pup adjust and give them extra love than what you’re already doling out.

Middle-aged dogs

The issues could be more on dietary indiscretion for middle-aged dogs, especially if you let your pup scavenge outside, like in the backyard or dog park. Feeding them food scraps doesn’t help either, as doing so can lead to health issues like pancreatitis.

Senior dogs

If you have an older dog, it pays to have them checked for health conditions, such as kidney disease and diabetes. If a senior dog develops feeding problems, make sure you bring them to the vet as soon as possible.

5.     Too-fast eating

While many dogs lack appetite, some may have the opposite problem: eating too quickly.

When your dog tends to swallow food in a blink of an eye without even bothering to consider what they’re putting in their mouth, you may be facing a significant problem.

Eating too fast could lead to an array of scenarios, including choking which could be fatal to your pet. It can also lead to bloat, also known as gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV).

When dogs have GDV, their gut expands and could twist inside the abdomen. This may cause your furry pal to go into shock, which can go very wrong very fast.

GDV occurs when your pet swallows too much air along with their food, leading to the expansion of the stomach and a higher risk of bloat. Contact your vet immediately should your pet appear bloated.

Of course, it would still be best to avoid quick eating by employing a few of many tricks, such as:

• Slow-feeder bowl – These bowls are bigger than your dog’s usual feeder, providing gaps for every bite and forcing your pup to slow down when eating.
• Food puzzles – These feeding tools come with different nooks that make it impossible for your pet to consume their food in big gulps.
• Muffin pan or cooking sheet – This lets you spread your dog’s food across a large surface, making it quite challenging for your canine pal to gulp down a lot of food (works best if you feed your dog kibble) quickly.
• Hand-feeding – When all else fails, you can always manually control how fast your dog eats – quite literally, in fact – through hand feeding.

Prepare to Feed Your Pet Right

Feeding your pet dog is not as simple as it seems.

If you want to do it right for the sake of your furry pal, make sure you prepare for potential feeding issues even before you bring home your new adoptee.