How to Choose the Best Dog Food for Portuguese Water Dog Puppies
The Portuguese Water Dog puppy is a true charmer from its friendly, sociable personality to its delightful, springy curls. This delightful, happy pooch traces its origins to the European coast of the Atlantic Ocean where the dog was put to work assisting fishermen with various tasks related to their industry. A dog that is a natural in the water, the Portuguese Water Dog puppy is an excellent swimmer, perhaps due to one phenomenon that is unique to the breed: its webbed feet.
The Portuguese Water Dog’s low shedding coat makes this breed very popular amongst families that have previously expressed allergies to dog hair and dander. In addition to this, the Portuguese Water Dog puppy, sometimes referred to simply as a Portie, has a sweet and happy disposition, making it a joy to be around.
The breed is exceptionally intelligent and loves learning new skills. A dog of great athleticism and with energy to spare, the Portuguese Water Dog puppy needs regular, vigorous daily exercise to prevent nuisance behaviors from developing. A versatile pup, this dog type has a natural affinity for many different activities including swimming, hiking, jogging, obedience, agility, tracking, scent detection, therapy work, conformation, agility, and more.
Because of the Portuguese Water Dog’s active lifestyle, the breed is not predisposed to becoming overweight. However, there are several different health conditions which can befall this dog type. These can include GM1 storage disease, hip dysplasia, distichiasis, Addison’s disease, juvenile cardiomyopathy, and progressive retinal atrophy. The best approach to ensuring optimal health and wellness in the Portuguese Water Dog puppy is to select a diet that includes supplements to support eye, heart, and joint functionality such as glucosamine, chondroitin, taurine, DHA and ARA.
A medium to large sized dog when fully grown, the best dog foods for Portuguese Water Dog puppies are puppy formulations for active large breed pups. These food formulations most often contain a minimum of 22 percent protein and 8 percent fat. They should also contain the correct proportions of calcium to phosphorus: 1.2 parts of calcium for each part of phosphorus.
Choosing the Correct Calorie Count for Portuguese Water Dog Puppies
The highly active Portuguese Water Dog puppy needs a high performance puppy food that is well balanced and comprised of exceptional quality ingredients to attain optimal health and wellness. Once this type of diet has been found, it is then time to determine how much of the food to feed the pup. The best dog foods for Portuguese Water Dog puppies provide suggested serving sizes based on age, weight, and sometimes even breed. These are excellent starting points that can be adjusted incrementally until the proper meal size for the pup is found.
Keeping the Portuguese Water Dog puppy’s energy reserves primed can be a challenge. For this reason, it is best to feed this active pup three to four mini meals throughout the day as opposed to a large meal in the morning and one at night. To keep this dog breed in excellent body condition, free feeding is strongly discouraged.
Dietary Requirements for Portuguese Water Dog Puppy Foods
Since Portuguese Water Dog puppies are naturally both athletic and energetic, they need a puppy formulation based on a high quality lean meat to thrive. The best dog foods for the Portuguese Water Dog puppy select a whole meat or meat meal as their basis. By-products are often utilized by commercial dog food companies as a protein source; however, they are very difficult for dogs to process and are of lesser nutritional quality.
Likewise, plant-based proteins such as soy, corn, and wheat are common allergens for many dogs. These ingredients along with common items used to improve a food’s appearance, taste, or shelf life unnaturally are best avoided. Among the ingredients to avoid in a food for the Portuguese Water Dog puppy are chemicals, additives, fillers, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.
Carbohydrates help the Portuguese Water Dog puppy to enjoy strong digestion and a healthy immune system. These carbohydrates can come from antioxidant and fiber-dense fruits, vegetables, whole grains, or any combination of the three. Dogs that have previously shown sensitivities to grains may do best on a grain-free diet.
Healthy fats are the building blocks from which the Portuguese Water Dog puppy obtains fuel for its energy, support for coat and skin health, and a boost for brain and eye development. The ideal source for these foods is animal-based and includes such ingredients as chicken fat and oily fish. The plant-based oils safflower, canola, and coconut also offer powerful amounts of the essential fatty acids this sweet natured breed needs for good health.
All foods can benefit from the addition of supplements to help enrich the overall nutritional content. The ideal supplements to look for in a food for the Portuguese Water Dog puppy are taurine, glucosamine, chondroitin, prebiotics, and probiotics.
Things to Look for in the Best Dog Food for Portuguese Water Dog Puppies
Here is a basic list of the most important things to look for in the best dog food for a Portuguese Water Dog puppy:
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Lean meat-based proteins heading up the ingredients list
Since Portuguese Water Dog puppies, like all dogs, are carnivores, they do best on a diet that takes a lean meat as its foundation. Whole meats and meat meals make the ideal basis for a high quality diet.
By-products and plant-based proteins are best avoided entirely.
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Prepared without the addition of chemicals, flavorings, fillers, or mystery ingredients
Chemicals, fillers, artificial flavorings and colorings, and mystery ingredients provide no nutritional benefit to a growing Portuguese Water Dog puppy. Diets which include any of these items should be left on the shelf.
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Enriched with probiotics and helpful supplements
The most beneficial supplements for the Portuguese Water Dog puppy are taurine, glucosamine, chondroitin, prebiotics, and probiotics.
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Meets AAFCO nutritional requirements for a complete and balanced food
All foods appropriate for the Portuguese Water Dog puppy should bear the AAFCO seal of approval, indicating it meets the standards for a complete and balanced food.