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Paws & Claws

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas. She lives in Blacksburg now, and answers local pet owners' questions every week in The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com.

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Q What is the difference between regular dry dog food and puppy chow? We have a new puppy, and the previous owner said we had to feed it special puppy food. In the past we have just given pups regular dry dog food.

A Puppies at weaning have greater needs and a limited capacity compared with adult dogs. Foods formulated specially for puppies contain greater concentrations of protein, fat, essential fatty acids and key amino acids. This concentrated food means that smaller amounts can be fed than is the case for regular food. This special puppy food also optimizes the growth rate of the puppy. However, it has been shown that in the large dog breeds such as Great Danes, especially those predisposed to hip dysplasia, a faster growth rate is not what you want. As far back as 1974, research at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University indicated that over-nutrition in early life could result in adverse changes in bone structure six to eight years later.

The usual recommendation for feeding puppies at weaning is four to five small meals daily. As the puppy grows, the number of meals is gradually reduced to two. I prefer feeding two meals daily rather than one because there is less chance of digestive upsets. Puppy chow is fine for the smaller, lighter dog breeds, but for the larger breeds, limit the amount of puppy chow and consider mixing it with regular dry dog food to limit the speed of growth.

Q My children are trying to persuade me to buy a puppy from our local pet shop. My neighbor said it was not a good idea and that I should go to a breeder. I did contact one who was much more expensive than the pet shop and she seemed reluctant to sell me a puppy. Why not a pet shop puppy?

A Puppies on sale at pet shops have very often come from puppy farms.

Many of these puppies are poorly nourished, full of worms with digestive upsets and may be harboring fatal illnesses such as the parvovirus. They also may have traveled long distances to get to the pet shop. These pups are often highly nervous because of their circumstances before arriving at the pet shop, and few have been socialized. Most puppy farms, as their name suggests, are merely into producing as many puppies as possible, as often as possible. This often results in the production of poor puppies from overbred female dogs that are expected to breed at every heat period. Reputable breeders, on the other hand, offer healthier puppies, full background information, responsible aftercare at weaning and are usually competitively priced. Finding a local breeder is not always easy, but once you have decided on a breed, the breed society will be able to give you a list of breeders in your area. The Internet is a good source of breed descriptions, as are the breed society Web pages.

I am sure the puppies in the pet shop were very appealing, but it is always better to visit the premises where they were raised and watch the puppy's interaction with the rest of the litter and people. Look at the mother to judge her temperament, along with the father if possible.

Breeders should have the medical history, whether the parents have been certified free of hip dysplasia, retinal atrophy, etc., as well as the worming and vaccination dates for the puppy. Most local newspapers will have mixed-breed puppies for sale that you can visit, if pedigree is not important. Always take your new puppy to your veterinarian for a health check as soon as it is purchased, so that any problems can be remedied at once.

You and your children could also visit a local humane society because there are many lovely dogs and puppies in need of a loving home available for adoption.