Feeding Your Puppy 

High quality food

We suggest feeding high quality commercial frozen raw or lightly cooked food, OR a good quality mix like Dr. Harvey’s. This is a meal balancer that is mixed with your own fresh, locally purchased meat, either raw or lightly cooked. For commercial raw or lightly cooked, you need to make sure that the ones you choose are formulated for puppies or for “all life stages”. Dr. Harveys’s has specific instructions on how to modify it for puppies.

If you feel you must feed kibble choose one with USA/Canada sourced human grade ingredients, no legumes, (pea protein, soy, etc.) and either a puppy formula or “for all ages” for the first year. Fromm’s, Nature’s Variety Instinct, Acana are all good as are a number of others. Do your homework, or ask if you have questions.  There are many good options, and no one food is best for all dogs in all situations.  Stella and Chewy’s,  and some other freeze dried raw foods are excellent options as long as they are appropriate for puppies.  Canned food is fine too, by itself on top of, or mixed with, kibble.  But all of these are lower quality than the foods in the top paragraph.

Legumes Please avoid foods that are high in legumes, (peas, soy, etc.) especially during your puppy’s first year. Those folks looking at grain free options for their dogs, especially immature dogs, should be careful to read the labels. You want to avoid those that replace grains with pea protein (or other legumes).

While a few fresh peas or beans in a recipe are not a problem, the recipes that lean heavily on these ingredients as a REPLACEMENT for other protein sources are a problem because they introduce a flood of phytoestrogens into the developing dog’s body. While these foods may not be a huge problem in fully adult, non-reproductive dogs, we KNOW these phytoestrogens cause problems in reproductive animals. They have raised havoc in breeding programs in some zoos, for instance.

There are differing opinions on the addition of carbs to a dog’s diet. (And I’m not going to get pulled into that one!) It IS clear that a dog’s intestinal tract is designed (unlike a cat, which is an obligate carnivore) so that they absolutely can digest and benefit from carbs. Everyone has to make their own decision whether they want to choose a prey-model raw type diet for their dog, or go for a diet with more vegetable and/or grain material in it. But whichever way you go, it must be properly balanced, and it should not contain more than minimal amounts of legumes, at least until the puppy is fully mature. (Assuming that it is not an animal used for breeding, in which case, they should not be fed at all)

Homemade Raw or Cooked Diets  Commercial raw or lightly cooked diets are a great alternative if that is the way you choose to go. I do not support homemade cooked or raw diets for puppies unless the diet has been specifically formulated by a board certified nutritionist.  This is easier to do well for an adult dog with stable needs than it is for the changing needs of a growing puppy.  If there is some specific reason that you feel that this is necessary for your puppy, I would need to talk to your veterinarian to find their view on the medical necessity of this diet before I could support it before two years of age.

Feed three times a day until about 6 months, then down to two meals a day.  THAT SAID, do not worry if your puppy decides for you that they are done with three meals a day.  With my first puppy, I worried TERRIBLY that he was going to be malnourished when he just wouldn’t eat a third meal.  My very wise breeder suggested that maybe he had just outgrown it!  And he had!  He did fine without it!  Likewise, a very small puppy may need a third meal for longer, especially if he or she is on the thin side.

Do not be concerned if your puppy gets a bit thin as an adolescent, and he or she won’t eat more, even if it’s offered. It is really common for Havanese puppies to go through a lanky adolescent phase! They will fill out between a year and 18 months. Their appetite usually improves then too.

Treats – I am not big on handing out treats “just because they are adorable”. (even though they are!)  Treats should be for training, and most training for baby puppies should be using their meals.  That said, for classes, you will probably need to up the ante some. 

Any lean, cooked “human” meat cut in tiny pieces, chicken breast and pork roast cut tiny are my favorites.

Deli roast beef or turkey - (have them slice it thick, then at home, dice it, and cook it in the microwave for a minute or so, to make it less “wet”)

TINY pieces of cheese

Happy Howie’s Rolled Food - cut in tiny cubes

Tricky Trainers (cut in 2-4 pieces)

Mini Zukes (cut in 2-4 pieces)

Finley’s Dog Treats (these are thin pieces, and soft, so easy to break into several tiny pieces!)

Pure Bites Freeze Dried Chicken works around the house; a trainer will HATE you bringing it to class because it crumbles all over the place!

Lamb lung (limited usefulness for school, because it is hard for puppies to chew and swallow, but puppies go crazy for it!)

Charlee Bears or Cheeri-O’s when they are a bit older and you want a low-value option

 For around the house distractions:

 Bully sticks, odorless, made in USA

No rawhide, no dental chews (INCLUDING Greenies) unless you are prepared to invoke your insurance plan!!!