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Puppy Health Checklist

Puppies like human babies need additional love, care, and support in their growing age. The first month of a new puppy is critical as it needs the best healthcare, nutrition, and love to grow into a healthy and cheerful dog. Puppy health becomes the primary responsibility of pet parents during this stage. They must ensure preventive care and medical support alongside providing proper nourishment. To know more about the puppy health checklist, read the following.

Puppy health essentials

Maintaining puppy health is the foremost important duty of every pet parent. Consulting a vet, vaccinating, neutering, and availing regular healthcare check-ups are a few duties of puppy caregivers. Similarly, other puppy preventive care includes:

Veterinarian visits: Taking an appointment to see a vet is the first thing puppy caregivers should do. Consulting the vet helps the pet parent understand their fur baby’s healthcare and behavioral requirements. The vet also conducts a thorough health check-up to diagnose the puppy’s allergies or health concerns. Besides, vets also give helpful insights on puppy preventive care and grooming tips to pet parents.Prepare for your puppy's first vet visit by making sure you're ready and well-informed about the experience.
Deworming: Worm and parasite treatment is necessary for puppies. Veterinarians often recommend a stool examination on the puppy’s first visit to diagnose worms and parasites. Worms are very common among puppies; hence, vets recommend a deworming session on the puppy’s first visit.
Vaccination: Like humans, puppies too need immunity to fight harmful viruses, bacteria, and diseases. To keep your puppy’s health in check, it is important to get them vaccinated against harmful diseases like hepatitis, distemper, rabies, parainfluenza virus, parvovirus, and Bordetella. Make sure that you go through the puppy vaccination guide before consulting your vet. This will help you jot down any questions regarding the vaccination process and schedule. However, as a pet parent, you must know that vaccination is not limited to puppies, adult and senior dogs also need booster shots to fight back fatal diseases.
Flea treatment: Ticks and fleas are extremely common in puppies. Getting your puppy treated for fleas and ticks is important for their hygiene and well-being. These parasites treat your fur baby as a host to feed on its blood and suck away all essential nutrients away from its body. Besides, fleas and ticks also cause a lot of irritation to puppies. So, frequent ticks and flea treatment is recommended for the puppy’s health.
Health and exercise: Puppies are playful and energetic. Pet parents can build a healthy routine for their fur babies by dedicating a fixed time for walks and playtime. Doing so will keep the puppy entertained and healthy. Spending playtime with the puppy will also help you to establish a strong bond with it. Besides, this also aids in observing the puppy to gauge its development, health, and mood.
Balanced diet: Puppies need more energy as they are constantly growing. However, their anatomy is way smaller than the amount of energy they require. Therefore, pet parents need to ensure puppies are fed a well-balanced, nutrient-dense diet. Protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates are some essential nutrients required for a puppy’s physical well-being. Moreover, puppies should be fed at least 3 to 4 meals a day to support their nutritional requirements for healthy growth With IAMS™ puppy food, you can provide your pooch with a nutritionally balanced meal for healthy growth and development. Thanks to our best-quality ingredients, you do not have to worry about digestibility.

Puppy medical care

Medical and preventive care is extremely necessary for puppies. Younger puppies are too small to understand what is good or bad for them. Besides, they are also very curious, playful, and energetic during their initial years. This playful and curious nature can sometimes lead to harmful situations.

Puppies often play and munch on random objects, which can sometimes result in toxication. In fact, accidents are also common in puppies as they lack cognitive skills to measure the consequences of their action. Hence, pet parents should pay more attention to their puppy’s growth and development. Some essential puppy health recommendations are as mentioned:

Finding a vet: Taking your pup for regular health check-ups is essential for a its adequate growth and development. Consulting a veterinarian will provide useful insights and health tips for the puppy’s well-being. However, before visiting a vet, you should check important details like the doctor’s experience, speciality, and location. You need an experienced vet in or around your vicinity.
Health check-up: On visiting the vet, request a few tests to diagnose and treat any abnormalities or diseases. Stool test for internal parasites and head-to-tail examinations for inspecting the puppy’s fur, eyes, ear, mouth, and body are conducted by the vet during your initial visits to diagnose and treat health issues.
Feeding medicines: Veterinary doctors prescribe medication or supplements for treating any underlying illness and replenishing vitamin deficiency in puppies. However, feeding medicines to puppies or dogs is not an easy task. Follow the steps given below to learn how to successfully feed medicines to puppies.

Step 1: Start with a play session to relax the puppy. Praise it for good behavior and sit nearby once it calms down.
Step 2: Keep the pill ready in one hand and gently open the puppy’s mouth using your free hand.
Step 3: Place the pill at the far end of your puppy’s tongue and remove your hand. Now, quickly hold your puppy’s mouth shut and blow gently on its nose. Blowing air on the puppy’s nose will force it to swallow the pill.
Step 4: Offer the fur baby a treat for good behavior and resume playtime

Apart following puppy health checklist, pet parents also need to ensure their fur baby is provided with other basic facilities for their overall growth and development. Training and socializing are as important as providing the best healthcare.

Besides, potty training and command training establishes hygiene and good behavior in them from a young age. To conclude, puppy health, fitness, and training are some of the most essential aspects for the overall growth and development of puppies.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know my puppies are healthy?

Observe the puppy daily to look for signs of discomfort, illness, and abnormalities. If you notice a major shift in the puppy’s mood or changes in physical attributions, stool, fur, and other attributes, then consult a vet at the earliest. However, if everything looks and feels normal then you have a healthy puppy.

What are the 5 signs of a healthy puppy?

Soft and shiny fur, clean ear, bright eyes, a clear nose, and a playful mood are some essential signs of a healthy puppy.

What are the signs of a sick puppy?

Diarrhea, vomiting, itching, whimpering, and loss of energy are some signs of a sick puppy.

What are the most common illnesses in puppies?

Parasites, kennel cough, parvovirus, vomiting, and diarrhea are some common illnesses in puppies.

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Puppy Basics: Nutrition for Small and Toy Breeds

Common Questions & Tips About Feeding Dogs

Giving your dog the right nutrients and a complete, balanced diet does not have to be a head-scratcher. All you need to know is what can dogs eat, how much to feed your dog or puppy, how to feed dogs, how many times to feed a dog, how to handle treats and supplements, etc. And this article tries to answer commonly asked questions on dog feeding.

How do I decide what to feed my dog?

When deciding which dog food is right for your pet, consider these three factors:

Your dog’s life stage (Whether your dog is a puppy, an adult, or a senior)
Lifestyle (How active your dog is)
Condition (Overall health and body weight of your dog)

How many times should I feed a dog?

Puppies should be fed three times a day from weaning (3 to 6 weeks) to 4 months of age. After 4 months, they should be fed twice a day. Most dogs should continue to be fed twice a day throughout their life, although some pets do well with one feeding.

How much should I feed my dog?

The answer to this question depends on your dog’s age, size, and activity level. Feeding guidelines, which list the daily-recommended portion, are included on all IAMS™ packages. Start feeding your dog with this amount and adjust according to its needs. Remember to divide the portion accordingly if you feed more than once a day.

How much should I feed a puppy?

The amount of food you need to feed your puppy depends on 3 main factors — breed, weight, and age. However, you can look at this puppy feeding table that we recommend for puppies:

Puppy	Adult Target Weight (KG)	Recommended Daily Feeding (g/day)
<3 months 3-6 months 6-9 months 9-12 months 12-18 months
Toy breed	1-3	15-72	32-83	37-83
	3-5	33-106	72-121	83-121

Small breed (25-50)	5-8	48-151	106-172	111-172	111-170	Transition to IAMS™ Proactive Health™ Adult Dog Food
	8-10	69-178	151-204	170-204	170-201

Medium breed	10-20	82-299	178-343	201-343	201-339
	20-25	137-346	339-404	339-404	339-404

Large breed	25-40	136-492	346-575	404-575	396-575	396-563
	40-50	191-509	493-675	575-681	563-681	553-676

This diet contains 390 kilocalories of metabolizable energy (ME) per 100 gms. Remember to have clean, fresh water available for your dog always.

When should I switch puppy to adult dog food diet?

You should not change your puppy’s food to adult abruptly. Giving your pet time to acclimatize to the new taste of adult food is very important. Also, if you suddenly switch your pup’s food, it can cause digestive problems. Go through this schedule that will help you understand how much to feed your dog and transition your dog’s diet from puppy food to adult food:

Day 1 – Add 75% puppy food and mix 25% adult food in your dog’s plate.
Day 2 – Add both foods in equal quantities i.e. 50% puppy food and 50% adult food.
Day 3 – Increase the quantity of adult food to 75% and bring down the quantity of puppy food to 25%.
Day 4 – Fully transition to adult dog food.

If you are wondering how much to feed your puppy by weight and age, check out the weight and age-wise breakdown on when to transition your puppy’s diet to adult food:

Weight Range	Age to Begin Transition
Small breeds that weigh < 9.07 kgs	9 and 12 months of age
Medium breeds that weigh between 9.07 and 22.6 kgs	12 to 14months of age
Large breeds that weigh more than 22.6 kgs	12 to 24 months of age

When should I switch my dog to senior food?

While transitioning from adult dog food to senior dog food, it is important to factor in your dog’s weight. Look at this weight table to know when to transition your dog’s food from adult to senior:

Weight Range	Age to Begin Transition
More than 40.8 kgs	5 years
23.1 to 40.8 kgs	6 years
9.5 to 23.150 kgs	7 years
Up to 9.07 kgs	7 years

What is the best way to introduce a new diet to my dog?

When changing your dog’s food diet, it’s important to slowly introduce new food. Start by offering your dog’s daily portion in a ratio of 25% new food to 75% current food. During the next three days, gradually increase the amount of new food and decrease the amount of the old food.

What to feed my dog if they are overweight?

If your dog has gained unhealthy weight, make sure to cut down on fats along with increasing regular exercise. We recommend you browse through IAMS™ products and choose dog foods that are low on fat. How much food to feed your dog if they are overweight is another major concern. You can consult your vet to understand the right amount of food your furry friend needs for each meal.

What should I feed my pregnant or nursing dog?

It’s important to understand that your dog’s nutritional needs change during pregnancy and ensure you feed her nutrition-rich food. For pregnant dogs, we recommend IAMS™ Puppy food as it’s full of proteins that can help your pregnant dog during the gestation period and improve the quality of milk to nourish her puppies post-delivery.

Is it necessary to feed both wet and dry food?

Wet food is an excellent treat that can be fed alone or mixed with dry food. Although IAMS wet dog foods are nutritionally complete and balanced, it is not necessary to offer wet food at every feeding. Our dry foods are formulated with high-quality protein sources such as chicken and contain all the essential nutrients pets need. The crunchy texture of dry food also promotes healthy teeth and gums, and aids in overall good oral hygiene. In addition, some of our dry dog foods contain a dental enhancement to help block tartar buildup on teeth during and after meals.

Will my dog be bored eating the same food all the time?

No. Unlike humans, dogs have fewer taste receptors. Hence, they won’t feel the urge to eat something different every day. In fact, if you find something that suits your dog’s overall health and preferences, stick to that food.

Is it all right to moisten dry food?

Soaking dry food will ease up the initial job of the digestive enzymes. While water will not change its nutritional value, the food should be eaten relatively soon. Moreover, ensure that the leftover portion is discarded to avoid spoilage. We recommend providing your dog with IAMS™ dry food because it is beneficial to your dog’s dental health as well.

Will it hurt my dog if they eat my cat’s food?

No. Cats and dogs have different nutritional requirements. Moreover, cat foods are made with higher fat levels, which can be harmful to a dog. While it is okay for dogs and cats to sniff and lick some food from each other’s bowl, you shouldn’t let dogs eat cat food.

How many biscuits can I feed my dog each day?

We recommend feeding your dog approximately two to four small biscuits per cup of food. Keep in mind that when you add biscuits to your dog’s daily diet, this increases its daily calorie intake, so you should reduce the amount of food you feed. Check the calorie content of the biscuit since biscuits vary in size and formulation.

Can I supplement my dog foods with vitamins, minerals, oils, etc.?

Since IAMS™ dog foods are nutritionally complete and balanced, adding more vitamins, minerals or oils can disrupt the balanceour dog food provides. The reason why you provide your dog with a high-quality product is that it has been developed to offer nourishment in proper ratios and ensure optimal nutrition. Hence, nothing needs to be added.

Why does my dog need to eat protein?

Protein is one of the essential elements that should be a part of your dog’s diet. Including protein in your dog’s diet will strengthen its muscles, ligaments, and cartilages. A protein-rich food also brings about a healthy shine to your dog’s coat!

Why should one maintain a feeding schedule for dogs?

It is important to maintain a feeding schedule for dogs so that they are conditioned to expect food at that time and avoid irregular snacking in between.

What are the things a dog dannot eat?

You should never feed your dog home-baked goods, candy, gum, chocolate, limes, onion, and grapes. They can harm your dog’s digestive tract and cause infections as well.

Why should you feed IAMS™ dog food over homecooked food?

IAMS™ dog food is full of key nutrients that your dog needs for its healthy growth. The basic ingredients in our food include chicken, fish oil, beet pulp, wholesome grains, and natural prebiotic.

How can I learn more about pet nutrition?

Follow our blogs to know more about pet nutrition & and dog food diet. Feel free to contact us here in case of any queries.

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Puppy Health Checklist

Puppy health essentials

Puppy medical care