How to feed a cocker spaniel?

Any pets need appropriate care, proper daily routine and good nutrition. If you decide to get a dog, it is important to add more training, daily walks and other measures designed to raise a healthy and obedient pet. If a cocker spaniel appears in the house soon, then you need to read as many articles and books about this breed as possible in order to know the peculiarities of grooming and feeding this pet.

The breed of dogs, the cocker spaniel, has its own characteristics associated with growth and development, which allows you to develop a suitable daily and nutritional regimen.

Like many other breeds, Spaniels can eat food prepared by the owner’s hands, dry food and in a mixed way. Each of the options has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, so before you choose something specific, it is worth exploring them.

Diet, composition and amount of food are very important for any dog, and in order not to be mistaken, you need to consider certain factors.

• Dog sizes. Cocker spaniels of different species are very different in size, because the size of the servings will vary.
• Age features. The puppy should consume a sufficiently large amount of food, as its body is in the stage of active growth and development. Slight overeating will not be harmful in this case. However, it is worthwhile to carefully monitor what exactly the pet eats, because small individuals can only eat natural, nutritious and fresh food.Feeding an older cocker spaniel will be different, because physical activity will decrease significantly, which means that there will be no need for a substantial replenishment of calories.
• Features of physical activity. Cocker spaniels, which are hunting dogs or competing, spend a large supply of energy. Therefore, they need timely and complete recovery through nutritious food. Domestic dogs do not have such loads, so the portions for them will be smaller.
• The role of the character of the pet. Almost all cocker spaniels have a playful character and are constantly on the move, but sometimes you can also find calm, apathetic individuals. Active pets need to be given a full serving so that the dog does not go hungry, and calm can reduce the amount of food by a quarter.
• Features of health and physical condition. The diet changes in some cases: the recovery period after surgery, the birth of offspring and its feeding. At this point, it is important to add protein foods to the main food, which will contribute to a more rapid recovery of the animal's body.
• The presence of any allergic reactions. Cocker Spaniels are dogs that are prone to allergic reactions to any food. This is especially true of modern dwarf breeds. In order not to harm the pet, before feeding it with new food, it is worth checking whether it has an allergy to it. To do this, start feeding with small portions. In case of a negative reaction, such as itching, irritation and lacrimation, it is necessary to remove a product dangerous for the dog from the diet.

It is necessary to properly feed the cocker spaniel, otherwise the irreversible processes that will negatively affect the health of the pet will begin very soon. In addition to the composition of the food, you need to pay attention to the size of the servings themselves: a puppy in 1 month can eat 3-4 tablespoons of food, for a 2-month-old pet this norm increases to 4-5 tablespoons per meal.

The diet of dogs of this breed is based on such principles:

• pets up to 2 months of age are fed up to 6 times a day;
• from 2 to 4 months of spaniels, it is recommended to feed no more than 4 times a day;
• from 4 months to 1 year, the diet is brought to 2 times a day;
• A healthy adult is recommended to be well fed only 1 time per day.

The main feature of the food schedule is regimen, the owner must adhere to a specific time and place for feeding the pet. Such a system allows the dog’s body to adapt and work smoothly.

You will learn more about the rules for feeding puppies by watching the following video.

Each owner himself decides what exactly and how he plans to feed his dog.

In order to properly compose a diet, it is important to know which foods can be given to the Cocker Spaniel and which cannot. Among the necessary and useful it is worth highlighting the most valuable.

• Meat - This is the main dish in the diet of any dogs, including cocker spaniels. For puppies, the amount of product is calculated in the proportion of 50 g of meat per 1 kg of pet weight. Adults consume 250-300 g of meat per day. It is important to boil this product well and avoid any bones.
• Offal. 2-3 times a week, instead of meat, you can give the dog offal: liver, heart, lungs. It is important to boil such food well. Due to the lower calorie content, its amount increases by one third.
• Dairy products. Any dairy product is food, so even milk does not replace ordinary water.For adult dogs, milk can give a laxative effect, so its use should be justified. It is very important to give your pet kefir, cottage cheese, cheese and yogurt, without which the digestion process will not work correctly.
• Eggs. It is worth cooking omelettes or soft-boiled eggs no more than 2 times a week, a larger number will provoke negative processes in digestion.
• Bread and cereals. Abuse of these products should not be. Even cereals do not form the basis of the diet, they are included only for a change. It is best to use hercules, buckwheat and rice, which are prepared both on water and on milk. If desired, vegetable oil and vegetables can be added to cereals.
• Vegetables. Cocker Spaniel can be given vegetables such as carrots, pumpkins, cucumbers, turnips, zucchini. They are served both raw and boiled, but the first option is considered more preferable. To better assimilate the product, it is necessary to finely grate or chop vegetables and add vegetable oil or sour cream. You can also use greens in the dog’s food, which is finely chopped and poured into the main course - this way the dog will get more nutrients.
• Fruits dogs can also be given, but not much, due to the high sugar content in them. It is best to use apples, melons, watermelons, currants, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, cherries.

In some cases, the spaniel will be useful crackers and dried fruitsto help activate the digestion process.

To protect your pet from helminths, you need to add garlic to the diet, which rubbed the crust of bread, and on the other hand, butter is smeared. You can finely chop a clove and add to food.

Not all dog owners have the opportunity to cook their pets a variety of foods, given all the necessary components and their combinations. In this case, ready-made feeds will serve as an excellent alternative to self-cooking. These products can be used to feed both puppies and adult dogs. The following varieties of such food are distinguished:

• dry - in the form of granules;
• semi-moist - pieces of prepared food with gravy;
• wet - food in the form of a paste or paste;
• goodies.

To pick up a good cocker spaniel, It is worth paying attention to another important factor - the quality of the goods, which can be:

• economy;
• Premium
• super premium;
• holistic.

Depending on the budget and wishes, you can choose the appropriate product, but you must also consider for what purposes this or that feed is produced. On the shelf in the store you can find a wide variety of food, which is assumed in certain cases:

• for daily nutrition;
• supporting line;
• preventive nutrition;
• medical products;
• enhanced diet for weak and malnourished dogs;
• hygienic food, which is a treat.

Once the right food has been picked up, you can confidently use it for daily feeding of a spaniel of any age, the main thing is to correctly calculate the number of servings.

If there was no previous experience in using the finished product and there are doubts about its necessity and benefit for the pet, then the advantages and disadvantages of this feeding option should be studied. Among the advantages of finished feed are:

• ease and speed of cooking;
• long shelf life;
• ease of serving dosage;
• the presence of all the necessary vitamins, minerals and useful additives necessary for the full development of the dog's body.

As for the minuses, the following can be distinguished:

• the high cost of premium feeds, which are more expensive than cooking on your own;
• holostics are practically not sold in retail;
• you can get on fake expensive food, which will harm the health of the dog;
• puppies need to be given semi-moist and moist food until the moment when they have a complete change of teeth;
• feeding only dry or wet food negatively affects the development of the pet and its digestion.

After analyzing all these factors, we can conclude that feeding a pet with exclusively prepared food is suitable for very busy owners who have no time to be behind the stove and cook something for the spaniel.

In the modern rhythm of life, it is often difficult for people to devote a large amount of time to hobbies and pets, because something has to be sacrificed. In the case of pets, caring for them is often affected, as there is no time for walking, proper feeding, and training. In such a situation, it is better to abandon the maintenance of pets, as this only harms them.

If the owner nevertheless tries to find a free moment, take a walk with the dog, teach him something and cook something tasty and healthy, then the pet will generously thank him for this. The periodic ability to cook spaniel food on its own forces the owner to use prepared food from time to time, which is a mixed diet of the dog. Here we can distinguish:

• mixing different products - dry or semi-moist food along with cooked food;
• separate feeding option involves the supply of a certain type of food within the established time frame: in the morning it can be dry food, in the evening - natural products.

This feeding option has its advantages:

• the ability to cook on their own only when there is time for this;
• in the absence of time to use finished store products;
• quick replenishment of the animal’s energy supply.

There are disadvantages in a mixed diet:

• danger to the health of the dog when feeding poor-quality feed;
• the threat of protein oversaturation in high-grade feed, as well as allergies to this component of the composition;
• getting dysbiosis and indigestion;
• the risk of gaining excess weight in the pet.

You can set a mixed diet spaniel only after the puppy is 5 months old.

If the owner prefers to cook for his cocker spaniel, then you need to know exactly what products you should not deal with. There is food that the dog can eat, but its consumption must be correct. For example, fish - for a variety of menus it is suitable, but you need to choose the right variety so that there are no bones in it.

Despite the fact that it is believed that dogs should be given a nibble, for spaniels it is better to abandon this venture. When used in an animal, constipation, inversion of intestines may begin, there is a risk of damage to tissues of internal organs. In addition, contact with a hard surface leads to deformation and abrasion of tooth enamel.

All bakery products, pasta and sweets should be removed from the diet. It is harmful to give a dog legumes, potatoes, broccoli. Ordinary cabbage can be introduced only in boiled or pickled form.

The list of prohibited cocker spaniel products is as follows:

• bones, fat and skin of birds;
• grapes and raisins;
• mushrooms;
• soybeans;
• corn and semolina porridge;
• sweet foods that contain sugar or a substitute;
• food with caffeine, cocoa and other stimulants;
• food with marinade, salt and spices;
• smoked meats;
• expired food;
• scraps from the host table.

A properly designed diet will help ensure the health and longevity of a four-legged friend.