Do You Really Need A Special Diet For Your Lab Puppy?
You may be wondering why you even need to get a specially formulated puppy food for your Labrador puppy. Dog food is dog food, so why go into such details?
The thing is that the dietary needs of a puppy and adult Labradors vary drastically.
Puppies are growing rapidly, so their nutritional demands are higher than in adult dogs. They need resources to build their bones and muscles and whatnot, right?
At the same time, adult dogs are more or less in their equilibrium. They are already all grown up, and adult dog diets pursue maintaining form and weight rather than development.
We've also mentioned that Labradors are extremely prone to obesity. This is thought to be caused by the full or partial absence of an appetite-regulating gene called POMC.
Due to this, Labradors are notorious for their gluttonous character. They will eat anything from dog food to socks and rocks, and you will need to control your Labrador puppy's diet to make sure he is growing healthy.
3 Different Food Options For Labrador Puppies
Labrador puppy food generally comes in three forms – kibble (dry), biologically approved raw food (BARF), and wet. Let's now see what the benefits and disadvantages of each type are.
Dry Food (Kibble)
Dry food is widely considered to be the best for not only Labradors but any breed of dog in terms of nutritional value. Because of this, it is very popular among breeders, which is a good testimony to the high quality and nutritional efficiency of dry food.
Dry food comes in the form of kibbles – small pellets that are designed to make consumption easier. All the ingredients of dry dog foods are concentrated in the kibbles.
Because kibbles are designed specifically for dogs and puppies, they can provide your Labrador with the right balance of nutrients. Thanks to this, it is rather easy to adjust a Labrador puppy's diet with dry dog food, which may make battling obesity much easier for you.
With that being said, the high quality of kibbles will affect how quickly your Labrador puppy gets full.
Cheaper dog food brands tend to contain plenty of fillers in them like wheat or corn. They add to the weight of the food, at the same time adding too little nutritional value to it to satisfy the hunger. Besides, they may pass through the digestive system without being absorbed too well.
Because of this, you may need to give more of the cheaper kibbles to your dog so he gets full. In a sense, low-quality dry dog foods are less cost-effective in the long-term, though their initial price is lower.
And besides, giving more low-quality kibbles to your Labrador puppy may increase the risk of him getting obese.
Thereby, you should only get high-quality dry dog foods. Your puppy will get full sooner, and you won't have to give him as much food. Besides, food without fillers may be easier on his digestive system.
Kibble – be it high- or low-quality – has one notable downside. It can be more boring for Labradors to eat than regular meat, so you may find that it is difficult for him to switch from regular food to dry dog food.
Biologically Approved Raw Food (BARF)
The majority of vets prefer kibble for its balanced nutritional profile. However, many veterinaries still suggest that the BARF diet may be the best option for dogs and puppies, including Labradors.
BARF can be either homemade or commercial.
Home BARF diets include raw meat, bones, as well as additions like fruit, vegetables, and raw eggs. Because of this, BARF may feel more natural and less boring to Labradors than kibble food.
Commercial BARF comes in the form of a meat-based putty and is sold either fresh or frozen.
While BARF is a possible alternative to dry food, it has some drawbacks that you should be aware of.
First of all, the raw meat in BARF diets has been found to contain infectious pathogens that may cause bacterial infections in both humans and pets.
Secondly, tweaking the nutritional value of BARF diets may be very difficult, especially with home-made diets.
As a result, making sure that your Labrador puppy is getting just the right amount of nutrients to be healthy and not to become obese becomes much more difficult.
Dry foods are much better in this sense because they have a balanced profile out of the box.
Besides, containing bones, BARF can pose a choking hazard for your Labrador puppy.
In the end, while BARF diets may be able to deliver great results if used properly, the risks and inconvenience associated with them make dry foods a much better choice for Labrador puppies.
Wet Foods
Wet foods can be very appetizing for Labrador puppies, but the bad thing about them is that they are often low in nutritional value. Most of their weight is made up of water and by-products, which also decreases cost efficiency.
And besides, wet foods can't be stored for too long once opened.
If your Labrador puppy doesn't have any conditions that make wet food the only option for him, go for other dog foods instead, preferably dry food.
Key Ingredients To Look Out For
Lab puppy foods in general can contain plenty of ingredients, but there are certain ingredients that absolutely must be in the food for your Labrador. Those key ingredients are chondroitin, glucosamine, taurine, and L-carnitine.
Chondroitin and Glucosamine
Chondroitin and glucosamine are key to ensuring proper bone and joint growth and the prevention of joint deficiencies. In fact, they've been even found to prevent arthritis in older dogs! This is because chondroitin and glucosamine are natural parts of cartilage's structure.
Needless to say, the presence of these ingredients is crucial in Labrador puppy foods. Make sure that the puppy food you are going to buy has them.
You should also know that chondroitin and glucosamine come as separate supplements. Don't buy them as supplements since Labrador foods have enough in them for you not to worry about it. Go for it only if your dog's vet recommends it.
Taurine
Taurine is an amino acid and a key component of proteins. Any amino acid is crucial for dogs – including Labradors – but taurine plays a major role in the synthesis of proteins. Without taurine, dogs will be prone to developmental deficiencies, as well as to heart disease.
Taurine occurs naturally in meat, so any food containing meat ingredients will also contain taurine. Thereby, you need to choose puppy food with adequate amounts of meat, as you probably know.
L-carnitine
L-carnitine plays a major role in the prevention of heart diseases, so it definitely is an ingredient that you should be carefully looking for. Like taurine, it is contained in meat, so again, make sure that the dog food you are getting has adequate amounts of meat.
Additional Considerations To Think About
Aside from the ingredients we mentioned above, Labrador foods may contain many other ingredients as well. Those can be various vitamins, digestive enzymes, probiotics, and many other things. And because the health condition and dietary needs of each Labrador puppy are unique, you have to pay attention to what the dog food contains.
If your puppy has any health conditions, then you should consult a vet to determine whether he will need to follow a special diet. And as a general, it is a good idea to consult a vet before getting dog food.
Remember about the various fillers that can be included in dog food. As we already mentioned, they add little value to the food. And besides, you may need to avoid them if your puppy has dietary conditions.
And most importantly, remember about the obesity proneness of Labradors. No matter what kind of food you choose, it needs to allow you to conveniently track your puppy's diet.
