Connect with a verified veterinarian in minutes. Licensed vets are available 24/7 to answer your questions. No need to worry about your furry family member.
Healthy food results in healthy beings, whether it is humans or animals. Of course, what’s healthy for a human is not always good for your dogs, especially puppies. As pet parents, it’s our responsibility to ensure that our little pups have the right kind of food to grow into healthy and happy dogs.
In short, a healthy, balanced, and nutritious diet for your puppy should contain wholesome foods that offer fats, protein, fatty acids, fiber, water, minerals, vitamins, and carbohydrates. Each of these is essential in ensuring your puppy gets the 360-degree nutrition necessary for its physical and brain development.
Let’s look at some of the healthiest foods for your little pups. These food items are suitable for dogs of all age groups (unless your dog has specific health conditions).
5 Healthy Food for Your Puppies
Let’s talk about five healthy foods you can feed your puppies.
-
Meat Meal
Undoubtedly, meat is among the top most important food for your dog. It is a high source of protein necessary for your puppy’s active growth. Beef, chicken, fish, rabbit, venison, etc., are some meats you can feed your pup. However, try to avoid raw meat as it contains harmful microorganisms. You can cook the meat at home or with processed dog food with high meat content.
Meat meal has as much as 65% protein with just 10% moisture and 12% fat. Though many pet parents think a meat meal is inferior to whole meat, it is the opposite. Your puppy will get the necessary nutrients directly from processed meat meals.
Organ meat is another crucial part of a dog’s diet. Do you know that wild dogs that hunt eat the stomach of their prey before proceeding to other parts? Liver meat provides iron, folate, zinc, amino acids, ribonucleic acid, and vitamins A & B. Adrenal glands provide vitamin C necessary for the puppy’s growth. Make sure to source organic meat.
-
Bone Broth
Bone broth is slow-cooked bones with apple cider vinegar. This is left to simmer for a few days to draw all the nutrients from bones. Bone broth improves your puppy’s digestive system, liver, joints, immune system, brain, and skin health.
It detoxes the liver and strengthens muscles, bones, and joints to prevent musculoskeletal issues. Bone broth also contains calcium and phosphorus that increase the body’s ability to absorb minerals and nutrients from the food consumed.
-
Eggs
Eggs are a wholesome meal in themselves, be it for humans or animals. Your puppy will get vitamins A, D, E, and B complex from eggs, amino acids, protein, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, calcium, and selenium. Eggs can also improve your pup’s skin health and make its fur glossy.
The cholesterol in eggs even regulates the cholesterol in your dog’s body. Free-range eggs are the best choice as they have double the nutrients. Check out Pet Food Brands to know more about how to feed eggs to your fur baby.
-
Kelp
Kelp is seaweed good for humans and dogs alike. It has various minerals absorbed from the ocean waters. Kelp contains around 10 to 20 times more vitamins and phytonutrients than plants growing on the land.
Minerals like magnesium, zinc, selenium, and iodine are found in kelp. It is a versatile food item that improves immune function, thyroid health, nervous system, digestive system, and metabolism.
You can feed kelp treats to puppies in limited quantities. These are available as soft capsules, soft chews, or powder. You can also feed human kelp to dogs, but be mindful of the quantity.
-
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are actually good for dogs but not all of them. Some mushrooms are toxic for dogs and humans. Never let your dog eat a wild mushroom (not even when you are sure of what it is). It’s better to be safe than sorry.
While store-bought mushrooms don’t offer many nutrients, they still provide small quantities of antioxidants, fiber, protein, magnesium, iron, and vitamins A, B, C, and E.
Wash the mushrooms thoroughly and cut them into small pieces your pup can chew easily. Don’t cook or sauté them in butter, salt, etc. These will affect your pup’s digestive system.
The following mushrooms are safe for dogs:
- White button
- Lion’s Mane
- Cremini
- Reishi
- Portabella
- Turkey Tail
- Baby Bella
- Chaga
- Shiitake
- Porcini
- Maitake
- Cordyceps
Other healthy foods for your puppy include broccoli, green beans, blueberries, grains, yogurt, kombucha, fish and cod liver oil, chicken fat, canola oil, olive oil, etc.
Final Words
Note that there is no common diet for puppies. The exact combination of nutrients for your pup depends on its breed, size, age, weight, and health condition. Personalize your puppy’s diet by consulting a vet. Give equal importance to hygiene and clean the pup’s food & water bowls after each feeding session.
Connect with a verified veterinarian in minutes. Licensed vets are available 24/7 to answer your questions. No need to worry about your furry family member.
Tom
Tom has always loved to write since he was little - he wanted to be either a writer or a veterinary doctor, but he ended up being a professional writer while most of his works are based on animals. He was born in San Francisco but later moved to Texas to continue his job as a writer. He graduated from the University of San Francisco where he studied biotechnology. He is happily married and a soon to be father!
Review symptoms, medications & behavior to keep your pets healthy with a Vet Online in just minutes.
Ask a Vet Live Now