How to properly feed a German Shepherd, what should be included in the diet of puppies and adult dogs?

Today, a very popular dog breed is the German Shepherd. This is a great pet that can play the role of an assistant, watchman or friend. This dog is well trained and adapts well to different conditions. The German Shepherd is a rather large dog, so the question arises of how to properly feed a German Shepherd.

The diet of an adult dog and a puppy is different. But still, their food should take into account the physiological characteristics of the breed of this dog. These shepherds often have diarrhea, diseases that are associated with the pancreas. Often they have allergies, especially in puppies.

How to feed a puppy with natural food?

Feeding a puppy with natural food has both advantages and disadvantages. At first, until you get used to it, it will be difficult to cook food, calculate calories and keep a balance.

A German Shepherd puppy should eat the following foods:

• a month old puppy can be fed with fresh meat. It is better to feed your baby beef, lean lamb or horse meat. Cut the meat into small pieces;
• from two months, add udder, heart, liver, lung, stomach to the puppy’s diet;
• use large sugar bones. They help strengthen the jaw muscles;
• feed your puppy with fish, preferably sea. It can be consumed raw or boiled. Fish can be replaced with meat several times a week. If you give a German Shepherd puppy river fish, then it must be boiled first;
• you can use boiled eggs, several times a week. It is also worth diversifying the diet with kefir, fermented baked milk, cottage cheese or yogurt. Please note that whole milk is not recommended for dogs over 6 months of age;
• the puppy is also fed with cereals, especially buckwheat, rice, oatmeal;
• give the puppy bread as a treat;
• veterinarians recommend feeding a puppy or an adult shepherd dog and vegetables, such as beets, zucchini, carrots, pumpkins, raw greens.

How to correctly calculate the dose of feeding a puppy?

Up to 2 months, German Shepherd puppies need to be given 1 glass of food per day, all this needs to be divided into 6 meals.

By 3 months, increase the dose to one and a half glasses and feed the puppy 5 times a day.

By 6 months, the feeding dose should be 1 liter of food. Feed the puppy at the same time 4 times.

Until the age of one, increase the dose to one and a half liters and feed the puppy 3 times a day.

Features of feeding adults

So, with a puppy more or less clear. But what to feed an adult German Shepherd?

A very popular method of feeding the German Shepherd is dry food. It has its characteristic advantages:

• dry food nutrition kept for quite a long time and does not deteriorate;
• it is convenient to store it;
• it is possible to carry with you easily;
• The daily rate of this feed will not be very large.

German Shepherds eat the following types of dry food:

• economy class. This food contains by-products. It also includes a large amount of fiber, but it is of poor quality. Economy class food is not completely balanced. In its composition it doesn’t have certain vitamins and micronutrients. There is also a low level of energy value, as a result of which there is a huge consumption.
• premium class. This already includes used products of higher quality. Includes premium food has meat and some herbal supplementswhich are essential for good digestion. This food has a normal energy value. Compared to economy class food, the daily allowance is much less.
• super premium class. To prepare this food, they always take very high quality products – meat of the highest class. Super premium dry food contains cereals and cereals. The most high energy value prevails in this dry food. Therefore, it is preferable for them to feed the German Shepherd. But it is worth considering that this is an expensive pleasure. As a rule, feed of this class can only be purchased at a specialized store.

If the owners of the German Shepherd decide to feed the pet with dry food, then it is required that the dog always has water poured. Feeding should be carried out exclusively according to the norms. The owner individually decides on the class of dry food that he will feed his German Shepherd.

Sometimes, manufacturers indicate a different class of dry food. Based on this, when choosing food need to be as careful as possible, you need to carefully study the packaging, be able to distinguish a fake from a quality product, be aware of which companies are currently producing dry food and of what class. Most often, owners take premium dry food for their pets.

An adult German Shepherd can also be fed with natural food. This, by the way, is very beneficial for the dog’s body, because in this way its diet will consist of useful substances, high-quality and healthy food. Only in such a situation it will take a lot of time to prepare this kind of food.

The German Shepherd does not need a varied diet, it is not necessary to change dishes every day. However, this must be done regularly, because the dog must receive the necessary elements for the body, and all of them are part of different foods.

An adult German Shepherd should eat meat, approximately 30% of the total diet. There is a lot of protein that is needed for life. Better feed your dog raw chopped meatbut it can also be boiled. It is not recommended to give minced meat, because it is difficult to digest. You can also feed the dog boiled offal.

Give the dog bones. Just do not use tubular ones, because when their parts enter the stomach, they can damage it with sharp edges. Do not include boiled bones in the diet, they contribute to the formation of constipation.

As for fish, it should be present in the diet. It has an energy value lower than that of meat, so its serving should be one and a half times the serving of meat.

The third part of the diet should consist of dairy products. Only don’t give your dog whole milk, it is poorly digested.

Also, every day you need to feed the dog with bread and cereals.