Should I feed my 8-week-old puppy raw food or commercial kibble?

Question

I just got an 8 week old puppy. She is an English bulldog and Boston terrier. I want to know the best food to feed her. I was thinking of a raw food diet. Can puppies eat raw meat and digest it normally? What else do they need in their diet besides meat? What exactly can I feed her and how much? What will be the best options for optimal health, functioning, and growth? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 3 months and 10 days old | 3 lbs

Lauren Jones VMD · Accepted Answer

Congratulations your new addition! Truthfully, I never recommend raw diets to any dog of any age. Just like humans, dogs can become ill from bacteria (such as Listeria or Salmonella) present in raw meats, and can infect people that they lick after eating raw meats. Puppies in particular have more specific nutritional requirements to maintain optimal growth. For this reason, I encourage feeding a commercial dog food formulated either for puppies or all life stages. Royal Canin, Science Diet and Purina ProPlan are all good quality brands of food with a significant amount of research and clinical testing behind them. The bag of dog food generally has a chart that depicts how much Maggie should eat given her current age and body weight. Each food has a different caloric density, so continue to follow the recommendations on the food as she grows. After 1 year of age, you can switch to an adult diet, but anytime you change Maggie's food, be sure to do so by gradually mixing old and new foods together over 5-7 days. If for some reason you are uncomfortable with commercial diets and prefer cooking for Maggie, balanceit.com has a great website with recipes and vitamin/mineral supplements to assure that her diet is balanced.

Should I feed my 8-week-old puppy raw food or commercial kibble?

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