The good news about feeding any Dachshund puppy is that you have a ton of appealing and healthy options available. For some, that might be the issue, leading to asking something like “What should I feed by Dachshund puppy?”
For a Dachshund puppy, your main choices will come down to wet food products, dry food products, and freeze-dried raw food options.
Which option is best for your Dachshund? What is the best food for Dachshund puppies? How often should you be feeding them, and at what age? What about the best treats for Dachshund puppies?
Let’s break down all the essentials of all of these questions!
How Often Should I Feed My Dachshund Puppy?
Before we get into what you should feed Dachshund, let’s talk about portions and the number of meals.
What Are Ideal Portions For Dachshund Puppies?
For puppies in general, a good rule of thumb is to opt for 20 grams of food for each kilogram of body weight on your puppy, but make sure you check the recommended amounts on the food packaging.
How Much Should I Feed My Dachshund Puppy Per Meal?
Many veterinarians suggest the following, which includes your Dachshund puppy:
- Upwards of three months old: Four meals each day
- Between the ages of three and six months: Three meals each day
- After six months: Two meals each day
- After twelve months: One meal per day should be just fine. Some prefer to split the portion into a pair of meals, but that is entirely up to you.
You can also certainly discuss the best way to feed your Dachshund puppy with your vet.
Which Dog Food Is Best For My Dachshund Puppy?
As mentioned earlier, dog food for your Dachshund can be divided into dry food, wet food, and raw food. You are probably wondering which one is the best choice for your puppy.
However, there is no universal answer to the question of “What should I feed my Dachshund puppy.”
Is commercial food best, or should you opt for a homemade combination of cooked and raw foods? In order to best answer this question, and help you figure out exactly what you want for your Dachshund puppy, we need to go over the different options.
Dry Food For Dachshund Puppies
When we talk about dry food, we’re referring to stuff like kibble. This would be far and away the most popular option of everything we’re going to cover here.
Available in a wide variety of sizes, flavors, and even shapes, dry food for Dachshund puppy choices abound. Just make sure you’re choosing something that has been made specifically with puppies in mind. Puppy kibble is often smaller and a bit softer, making it easier to chew.
Right out of the gate, avoid any dry food puppy products that do not list meat as the first ingredient. You should also keep in mind that you get what you pay for here. The highest quality dry puppy foods will conversely have the best ingredients and taste. You can find some good contenders for the best food for Dachshund puppies there.
Dry food also doesn’t attract flies and is generally easy to store. Remember that because of the inherent dryness of kibble, you may want to soften it with some water for your puppy. You can also simply keep a good, steady water supply nearby.
Wet Food For Dachshund Puppies
One of the most appealing things about wet food is the water it contains. Your puppy will get a significant amount of hydration from this wet food, although you should still keep some water around!
Also, because of the water, wet food is also generally much easier for your Dachshund puppy to digest.
Your puppy will like the smell of wet food more than dry, as you can imagine. At the same time, by its very name, you should keep in mind that wet food can get quite messy. It also needs to be refrigerated immediately after opening, which makes it slightly less easy to store.
Finally, wet food has a shorter shelf life, once opened, than dry food. Because of this, and because wet food is more expensive than dry food as a general rule, you’re going to be buying your wet food in noticeably smaller quantities.
Raw Food For Dachshund Puppies
In recent years, the benefits of raw food for dogs have become more widely known and appreciated. Raw food will give your puppy the best possible array of nutrients and other essentials of their diet. This can be translated into several health benefits, particularly concerning the digestion system, coat, and teeth of your dog.
Raw food can also prove to be the most expensive option of anything we’ve covered. This is also combined with the time demand it can bring. With a raw diet, you’re going to be spending a lot more time planning your dog’s meals, while also ensuring they are getting the right combination of nutrients.
The health benefits are formidable and well worth taking seriously, but ultimately this option isn’t feasible for some Dachshund owners. Remember that you can get a lot of good stuff for growing puppies with dry and/or wet food.
Storage isn’t too difficult with raw food, as it’s generally frozen.
A Few Tips On Shopping For Dachshund Puppy Food
Let’s wrap up the question of what should I feed my Dachshund puppy with a few final tips:
- What about the best treats for Dachshund puppies? Treats are just fine! Just make sure to reading instructions/suggestions for anything you purchase. Raw food treats can also be a good way to get raw food benefits to your Dachshund puppy on a small scale.
- Do your homework! Regardless of your specific choice, make sure it has been carefully researched and vetted.
- Mix it up! Without straying too far from what you puppy needs, giving them a varied diet can keep them happy and nutrient-fed.
Here are a few different dog food options for your Dachshund puppy.
Your Dachshund puppy deserves the best you can possibly do! Don’t forget they need plenty of water and exercise, as well!
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