Everyone knows the importance of nutrition for your pets but not many people are aware that their own food timings do not necessarily match with that of their canine friends. If you have a dog at your place, you must find the right schedule to feed them and stick to it instead of feeding them whenever you eat or they ask for it.
2-3 months
After the initial couple of months, the puppy will start to supplement its diet over and above its mother’s milk. In this early phase of development, they will need food more frequently than a grown-up dog. However, being small puppies, they won’t have any idea on how much to eat. That responsibility is firmly on your shoulder. During the first two-three months, let your puppy graze at food or give them four meals per day
Since it is its formative period, you can use part of its daily food portion to socialize and potty train your puppy. When your puppy encounters anything new, use food to create a positive association. You can use portion of their daily food as treats to train them like rewarding them for going potty in the right place.
4-6 months
As your puppy grows up, it is time to get into a more disciplined meal schedule. Between a couple of months old to about half a year, your puppy must be given three major meals a day much like humans. You can still use part of its daily food to work with the dog even though the socialization periods start closing from three to four months of age. You can teach your dog basic manners like to sit politely to greet people or to eat and other obedience commands.
More than 6 months
A dog ages differently than a human and by six months the puppy is already a young adult. From this point onwards, your dogs can now have two meals per day – one during the day and one in night. Some dogs tend to eat very fast. In such cases, ditch the common dog food bowls and get a slow feeding bowls and other interactive pet toys to enrich your dog’s life and help him burn more physical and mental energy.
Socialization Exercises with food
When your dog meets new people, it is important that they see them as friends. It is a good idea to make the new person hand feed your puppy. Every time there is some situation where your puppy could be in duress, give it a few morsels. Reward it for greeting other dogs and animals in a calm way. You can also use food to teach your puppy to be handled like during fingernail trimming, brushing, baths and regular body checks.
