We recommend keeping your puppy on puppy food for 1 year. We feed Nutri Source puppy food. This is a great, quality food. We highly recommend it, but if you choose to switch your puppy's food, it would be best to slowly mix some Nutri Source puppy food, with your choice of food. This makes the transition easier on the puppy's belly. It is also important to have some canned puppy food on hand to offer during the transition to their new home. The brand of canned food doesn't really matter, as they all are really stinky, which is what entices them to eat. Canned puppy food will typically entice even the pickiest eaters.

We never let a puppy leave our home, unless they are ready. All puppies that leave our home are eating dry puppy food. However, almost all puppies will have a decreased appetite during the transition to their new homes.

During a puppy's transition to his/her new home, the first few days (week really) is crucial......especially regarding feeding. This is because almost all puppies will have an appetite decrease during this transition. There is just so much going on. Everything is new......new home, new family, new children (sometimes), sometimes a new food, new routine.....and no litter mates. As a puppy takes all of this in, oftentimes they forget to eat. For a puppy that already is just a "nibbler" eating a little here and there, an appetite decrease can lead to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which can be dangerous. While it seems logical that if you leave a bowl of food in the crate with a puppy, the puppy would eat plenty, that isn't always the case. Sometimes puppies need to be enticed, especially during this adjustment, and until you feel comfortable with the amount of food your puppy eats at one sitting. So it is very important that during the first couple of days, at least, someone is home with the puppy, and is able to monitor him/her. This way you KNOW he/she is eating, and is eating plenty. If you see your puppy is eating, but don't feel that he/she is eating enough, you can supplement, in order to keep his/her blood sugar up.

You can give peanut butter (even a little on you finger for him to lick off), cottage cheese, or baby cereal....if you need to entice him. The peanut butter and cottage cheese are great to guard against hypoglycemia.

The most important thing during the adjustment to a puppy's new home, whether the puppy is shipped or picked up, is heavy supervision. They just need closely monitored, making sure that they are eating plenty, drinking plenty, and going potty normally (no diarrhea).

All puppies leave here with very firm stool. However, if a puppy stresses, the first thing that will happen, is that they will have the diarrhea. We also recommend giving a mixture of canned pumpkin and PLAIN yogurt. You can mix a couple of spoons each and give it to your puppy, morning and evening. If your puppy were to develop loose stools this mixture firms it up within a couple of hours. We recommend giving this mixture for the first week, as it sweeps out any irritants in their belly and helps guard against diarrhea. You don't have to mix it with his food, as your puppy should just lap it up.

Typically getting your puppy on a schedule is ideal, as this helps with the potty training process. If you know when they eat and drink, you know when they need to go potty. However, during a puppy's transition to their new home, it is more important to ensure they are eating plenty. In the beginning, we recommend keeping food out for your puppy at all times, so they have ample opportunity to eat.

Ultimately, we recommend feeding 1 cup of food a day, 1/2 cup morning and 1/2 cup evening. HOWEVER, this is not recommended until your puppy will finish their bowl of food with each feeding. If your puppy is a nibbler, eating just a little here and there, you will want to leave food out at all times. You will just have to adjust accordingly, regarding potty training.