What to feed a new puppy in the first 30 days

The first month with a puppy is the month their gut and their palette both calibrate to your household. Get it right and you'll have a dog that eats well for life. Get it wrong and you'll be troubleshooting soft stool and selective appetite for months.

Keep feeding what the breeder or shelter fed

For at least the first week, feed the exact same food in the exact same quantities as the puppy's previous home. Moving houses is a gut-upsetting event on its own; changing the food on top of that is asking for diarrhoea and a long clean-up.

If you plan to switch brands eventually, start the transition on day seven or later, and do it over 7–10 days: 75/25 old-to-new for three days, 50/50 for three days, 25/75 for three days, then fully switched.

How often and how much

Eight to twelve weeks: four meals a day. Three to six months: three meals a day. Six months and up: two meals a day. Portions follow the bag's guide, adjusted for weight — a vet will calibrate at the first visit.

Fresh water down at all times. Pick up the food bowl between meals — free-feeding makes house-training slower and makes it impossible to notice a skipped meal early.

Treats and the human-food question

Training treats should be tiny — a pea-sized piece of cooked chicken or a commercial training treat broken into quarters. Treats should make up less than ten percent of daily calories during puppyhood, or you'll unbalance the nutrition in the base food.

Safe human foods in moderation: plain cooked chicken, plain pumpkin, blueberries, small pieces of carrot. Never safe: chocolate, grapes and raisins, onion, garlic, xylitol (in a lot of peanut butter — check the label), cooked bones of any kind.