Cat, dog and horse nutritionist Fiona Picton says each puppy needs a specific diet depending on its breed and size for healthy growth. She gives a number of tips on what and how to feed it.

Puppies need more energy than adult dogs to support their growth and development. However, energy intake must not be too high as this can cause excessive accumulation of fat stores, leading to obesity in adulthood.

In larger dogs, too much energy during growth can actually increase the rate of growth, causing the body to reach adult size too quickly.

Ideally, the puppy should be fed a nutritionally-balanced diet dedicated for the breed and size for around a year

This places a strain on the immature skeleton and increases the risk of developmental joint problems. Thus puppies need nutritionally-balanced food that contains the nutrients it specifically needs for growth.

When looking for the right diet for your puppy:

• choose a diet tailored to your puppy’s size or even breed;

• feed it a tailored health nutrition product to not only provide for basic growth nutritional requirements but help support optimum health and condition from the beginning;

• look for the signs that your puppy is on the right diet – a healthy rate of growth, good energy levels, a glossy coat and good stool quality.

Ideally, the puppy should be fed a nutritionally-balanced diet dedicated for the breed and size for around a year; however, small breeds stop growing at 10 months; medium dogs at one year; large breed dogs at 18 months; and giant dogs at 24 months. Therefore these are the respective ages when their diets can be changed to adult diets.

The puppy should initially start off being fed between three to four times a day for the first few weeks. At around seven to eight months of age, one may switch to feeding the pup twice a day and this can be continued for the rest of the dog’s life. Routine is very important for the pup, so try to keep to the same feeding times, when there is not too much going on.