It is best to feed puppies softened dog food when weaning

Golden Retriever (detailed introduction)

For puppies that have just been weaned, you must not feed dry dog food directly! Instead, you must first soak the dog food until softened, then feed it. Why is this?

1. The main reason is that the puppy’s teeth have not fully developed. Eating dry dog food may affect the growth of their teeth and also cause digestive problems.

2. Another reason is that weaning is a process: a puppy’s stomach is adapting from digesting mother’s milk to digesting solid food. So it’s not just about the teeth. Soaking dog food softens it, making it easier to digest and preventing overloading the puppy’s stomach all at once.

3. One more point to note for new dog owners: when you prepare to soak the dog food, you will find it actually takes quite some time to fully soften a bowl of dog food. During weaning, puppies typically eat four meals a day, so soaking on the spot isn’t practical. What should you do? You should start soaking the next meal’s food while feeding the current meal. By the time you feed the next meal, the dog food will definitely be softened.

Finally, a reminder to everyone: softened dog food is only for the weaning period. Generally, feeding this until three to four months old is sufficient. Afterwards, the dog must eat dry dog food, as this is better for their teeth and digestion.