Puppy kibble provides your puppy with essential nutrients necessary for healthy development and growth, including high-quality proteins and fats from meat sources like chicken, beef or lamb.
A puppy should also get plenty of carbohydrates for energy, along with fiber to keep their stomachs feeling full and help ensure proper digestive functioning.
Contents
Protein
Protein is an integral component of any dog’s diet and plays several key roles within their bodies: growth and development support, fat breakdown assistance and muscle repair support.
Selecting an adequate protein source for your dog’s food kibble is key to making sure they receive sufficient levels of this important nutrient. Look for sources like lamb meal, chicken meal and whitefish meal, which are known for being of good quality sources of proteins.
Meat isn’t the only good source of protein for dogs; legumes like beans and peas also offer high-quality, wholesome proteins and amino acids, providing your pet with essential nutrition while adding variety and unique flavors to their diet. These foods make an excellent way to ensure they get all the essential vitamins they need while giving you peace of mind that their nutrition comes first!
Fat
Fat is one of the essential nutrients your dog requires. It promotes growth and development, improves skin and coat health, facilitates vitamin absorption and hormone regulation and can even play an integral part in helping regulate body temperatures.
Fatty acids help your puppy’s skin and coat remain soft, shiny and free from itching or flaking, as well as supporting immune system health, cognitive function in puppies and senior dogs, joint lubrication and joint protection.
Fats are frequently added to pet food in order to enhance its flavor, aroma and texture. Look for foods containing healthy sources of unsaturated and saturated fats such as fish oil or avocados; these contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids which promote skin health, eye wellness and cognitive development in pets.
Fiber
Fiber content of puppy kibble is essential to encouraging regular bowel movements and maintaining a healthy colon. Furthermore, fiber helps support digestive health in your pup and can even prevent diarrhea attacks!
Soluble fibers are quickly fermented by the microflora of the colon, producing gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen that promote good intestinal health and enhance production of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) by bacteria living there.
Insoluble fibers, on the other hand, ferment slowly and soften stools while also aiding with diarrhea or constipation management.
Vitamins
Vitamins and minerals are vital nutrients, performing multiple roles within the body. From aiding energy metabolism to helping fight disease and supporting red blood cell production.
Vitamin A and D both play key roles in supporting eye, skin, and muscle health, with deficiencies of either often leading to issues in eyesight, muscles or reproductive organs.
Pets don’t receive all of the vitamins they require from food alone; that is why most kibble and wet food come with a vitamin premix for optimal absorption of every nutrient, to ensure a complete, balanced meal every time your pup eats.
Minerals
Your dog requires specific minerals for bone and joint health, nerve impulse transmission, fluid balance regulation and oxygen transport in their bloodstream. They should be present in sufficient amounts in their diet to achieve optimal health and functionality.
Macrominerals such as calcium, phosphorus, sodium and potassium are required in greater amounts than trace minerals such as zinc, iron, manganese copper iodine selenium which must also be present.
Commercially available pet foods rely heavily on inorganic minerals to reach levels acceptable by regulatory agencies such as AAFCO. These minerals are bound with various bonding agents such as carbonates, citrates, sulfates and phosphates to enhance stability while maintaining absorption capabilities.
