Nutrition For Your Puppy
Large breed dogs grow fast, and that means the right diet and balance of nutrients is critical for proper development and the prevention of health problems in adulthood.
Adopting a puppy is exciting. You want to do the best for your new friend, and that includes feeding him a proper diet. This is important with any pup, but large breed dogs have special considerations. However, “life stage nutrition” has been questioned when based only on a dog’s numerical age. So how important is feeding a puppy food?
Rapid growth = room for mistakes
The average golden retriever grows from 14 ounces to over 65 pounds within one year – a 70-fold increase in size. Human beings take 18 years to accomplish the same thing. At the same time their joints are growing and being exposed to under- or over-nutrition, puppies are susceptible to higher weight stresses, compounding the challenges to normal development.
