Cocker Spaniels – the cutest creatures and fun people in love active games and a tasty meal. And in the latter they are absolutely picky. This gives an extra reason to take more seriously choice of diet, because overfed cocker is lazy, listless a dog with distressed health. Let’s figure out how to feed cocker spaniel and understand how to avoid overeating the pet.
Content
- 1. Types of Cocker Spaniel Feeding
- 2. What to focus on when choosing a diet
- 3. How many times a day do you need to feed cocker spaniel
- 4. Dry food for cocker spaniels
- 5. Natural products for cockers
- 6. Prohibited Products
Types of Cocker Spaniel Feeding
Contents
Before you understand how to feed a cocker spaniel, you need to understand the types of feeding. All are suitable for feeding cockers three types of feeding – dry food, natural food, or you can combine the first two species and use mixed feeding. IN our country has supporters of all the options, and the choice lies solely on the dog owner. But most often given preference for a more convenient way – industrial feeding feed.
With a mixed type, ready-made foods are added to the dry food ration. moist, canned food and (or) natural food. Is worth remember that not everything that is useful to a person is vital for dogs.
What to look for when choosing a diet
To feed positive results, the pet does not starving, but not overeating, it is necessary to consider several important factors:
- Pet size. This parameter is enough very different in cockers, for example, the Russian spaniel is significantly superior in size than the Japanese, or toy spaniel. That’s why the volume of food should match.
- The age of the dog. Puppies, especially during active growth, it takes a lot of nutritious food, in which case plentiful feeding will only benefit (provided that all products are “right”). In older dogs, motor activity reduced, which means calorie intake too.
- Physical activity. From the load that gets a pet, a lot also depends. If the spaniel is performing hunting duties, or participating in sports then its activity requires a more high-calorie and nutritious diet, than for apartment, less active brothers.
- Character features. Though most cockers are tireless runners and gamers who can entertain yourself on your own, and even in a small apartment arrange a playground, rarely, but still there are individuals with lazy, for whom nap all day – the best leisure time. For this category, the portion of food can be safely reduced by a quarter, energy-saving dogs it does not hurt.
- Physical state. Enrich the diet protein foods, as well as foods containing large quantities trace elements and vitamins, necessary in the postoperative period, as well as during recovery from illness, gestation and feeding offspring.
- Tendency to allergies. Cockers especially their decorative species are prone to this condition. Therefore, all new products must be tested, giving absolutely small amount, and then observe the reaction. If the body reacted negatively – skin irritation, itching, dogs cry profusely, or shortness of breath – annoying The product must be strictly prohibited.
How many times a day is it necessary to feed a cocker spaniel
Owing to the gluttony of cockers, owners have to strictly monitor for serving size and strictly adhere to the feeding regimen. Puppy 4-5 tablespoons of food are given on average for one meal, an adult dog consumes an average of 1.5-2.5 glasses.
According to age indices, spaniels are fed as follows way:
- Five to six times a day is suitable for babies up to two months of age daily feeding.
- For puppies from 2 to 4 months old, food is given at least 4 times per day.
- From 4 months to six months – from 3 to 4.
- Up to a year, you can switch to two meals a day, but still it is permissible to feed three times.
- Older than a year – 1-2 feedings daily, some experts recommend just one-time feeding, as the most optimal for cockers.
The owner chooses the time of feeding based on convenience, since the main thing in this matter is that the dog should receive food regularly in same time.
Dry food for cocker spaniels
Today, dry-fed pet food is enough common, but what should cocker owners know about it? Industrial feeds have a balanced composition, enriched useful additives, but only if it is quality product. For cockers, it is recommended to use premium and super-premium classes, as well as special pet foods with food allergies.
Spaniel food must be of high quality, contain everything necessary for the health of the pet, do not cause frustration digestion and allergies. That for a long time and without success independently select food by experimenting on an animal, you can consult professional breeders in this matter breed.
Having found a suitable one, stands on it and stop, changing feed may adversely affect a dog’s health. Definitely needed adhere to the age criterion.
Natural products for cockers
Choosing a diet for a spaniel, you can include the following products:
- Meat. The basis of the menu of any dog, including cockers. Puppies are given at the rate of 50 g per kilogram of mass body, for an adult pet 250-350 grams per day is enough. Meat given without bones, exclusively boiled.
- Offal. No more than two to three times a week you can replace one meat dish with carefully cooked offal – liver, heart, lungs. Serving Size In This case must be increased by a third.
- Milk products. Any milk dish, even one milk is food, you can’t replace it with water or give between meals. Keep in mind that whole milk can have laxative effect on an adult pet. In the cocker diet must be present cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir, various cheeses. These are necessary components for normal digestion of a dog.
- The eggs. Must be in the diet, but in a limited quantity. It is quite enough 1-2 per week. Recommended pet in the form of an omelet or soft-boiled egg.
- Bakery products and cereals. Worth remembering that these foods should not be the basis of nutrition spaniels. They are given for variety of menus only. You can boil porridge as on water and milk, it is preferable to use hercules cereal, buckwheat, rice. In cereal, you can add a little vegetable oils and vegetables.
- Vegetables and fruits. Suitable for feeding cocker The following vegetables are carrots, pumpkins, cucumbers, turnips, zucchini. It’s better, if they are raw, but boiled can be given. For better assimilation of them must be chopped and seasoned with vegetable butter, sour cream. It’s good to add chopped greens as an additional source of nutrients. Fruit can be given in quality treats in small quantities, as they contain a lot of sugar. You can pamper your pet with a slice of apple, melon, watermelon, several berries of currant, strawberry, raspberry, cherry or sweet cherries.
- Sometimes it will not be amiss to include rye in the diet crackers, dried fruits.
- As a prophylactic anthelmintic, you can give the chopped garlic to the pet, spreading it with butter on bread, or adding to food. But not more than once a week and not more than one clove.
Prohibited Products
Fish is not a must for spaniels, but not It is forbidden to diversify the menu with boiled sea fish. No way in case you can’t give the pet any fish with bones in the raw form, and river is completely banned.
Cocker bones are harmful, they can cause constipation, inversion of the intestines, and even cause damage to internal tissues organs. And besides, the use of bones leads to grinding tooth enamel.
It is not recommended to include bread (especially white) in the spaniel’s menu, pasta, sausages, pastries, legumes, potatoes, sweets. Cabbage is allowed to be introduced into the diet, but after thermal processed or pickled, but broccoli is better at all refuse.
It’s important to understand that no matter what type of food the owner chooses pet, the main thing is that it is correct, balanced and healthy.
