The Welsh Corgi is a wonderful family pet. He is cheerful, unpretentious, friendly and simply adores all family members. But, like any other dog, his well-being directly depends on a properly formulated diet. Therefore, every breeder, before purchasing such a dog, must find out what to feed the corgi.
A balanced diet is very important
Basic rules for feeding a Corgi
One of the main rules is that food must be balanced. This can be achieved in different ways - more on that later.
You should also follow a feeding schedule - your pet should always have breakfast and dinner at the same time.
For reference! Today there are two varieties of corgi - Pembroke and Cardigan. However, their nutritional needs are identical.
Power types
Now we should briefly talk about different types of nutrition. Some breeders prefer to purchase dry food for their corgi, while other breeders prepare their own. The first option is much simpler and saves time. The second is cheaper, but here the breeder must do everything possible to ensure that the pet receives a truly high-quality and balanced diet.
Which one is best for Corgi?
In general, when choosing food for your corgi, you can choose either dry or natural food. The main thing is that the drying is of high quality - premium class, or better yet, holistic. Yes, not cheap. But really good food is made from meat and cannot be cheap.
When choosing natural food, you need to make sure that everything is balanced in it: fats, proteins, carbohydrates, essential microelements and vitamins. This should be discussed in more detail.
Nutrition for an adult dog
For dogs over 1 year old, the daily menu can be based on dry food. By this time, it is already known which dry food for the corgi turned out to be the most suitable. If the owner adheres to a natural menu, then it is recommended to adhere to the following recommendations:
- Raw lean meat. For example, beef tenderloin. It is highly not recommended to give minced meat or sinews.
- Chicken breast or turkey.
- Cottage cheese, kefir or other fermented milk products without sugar and fruit additives.
- Vegetables: zucchini, carrots, potatoes, etc.
- Fruits: apples, pears and others.
- Porridge made from rice or buckwheat. You can try others: corn, wheat, pearl barley.
- Beef by-products: liver, stomach.
The Pembroke Corgi should be fed primarily raw meat and vegetables. This will allow the dog to maintain proper dental health. It is not recommended to give bones and cartilage, except for those that are specially prepared and sold in pet stores as snacks. But we must not forget that this is not a mandatory supplement, but a delicacy. You can’t overuse “sweets.”
Natural products
Now it’s worth briefly telling you what to feed your Pembroke Corgi or Cardigan. After all, there are quite a lot of nuances that every breeder should know about.
Permitted and prohibited products
For a diet to be balanced, it must be varied. Therefore, it is very important to include lean meat, offal, sea fish, cereals and vegetables. In addition, it is useful to give your pet fermented milk products, preferably low-fat ones, as a source of calcium.
But some foods should not be given under any circumstances. First of all this:
- chocolate,
- salt and pepper,
- grape,
- sweets,
- smoked meats
Dogs love all this very much. But to keep your pet healthy, it is advisable to stay away from these products.
What to cook from natural vegetables
Raw bones clean teeth well.
In general, food for Corgis is prepared quite easily and quickly. First of all, the base is taken - meat. Once a week it can be replaced with sea fish without large bones.
In addition, in half the cases, you can take kidneys, heart or liver instead of meat.
On a note! Using offal not only saves money, but also provides the dog with essential microelements.
The meat is cut so that it is convenient for the dog to eat it, and then boiled. Add cereals (oatmeal, buckwheat, millet) to the almost finished broth and cook until done. All that remains is to add some vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, zucchini) to the finished porridge and cool the dish. Balanced and tasty food is ready!
Prohibited Products
Every corgi breeder must know what should not be fed to the pet under any circumstances, but what should be fed from time to time.
If your pet has special preferences, for example, it enjoys eating cheese, beef liver, pumpkin, cucumbers or fish, then sometimes you can pamper your pet. If you occasionally include these foods in your dog’s diet, then they will not cause much harm to the dog.
However, there is a food group that can cause significant harm to a corgi, if not be completely toxic to it. These products include:
- fried, smoked, fatty meat;
- pasta;
- sausages and sausages;
- sour cream or yogurt;
- grapes, nuts, dried fruits;
- mushrooms, eggplants, tomatoes;
- tubular bones;
- vitamins for humans.
Vegetables are an essential part of a dog’s diet.
Before adopting a puppy, you should read the literature about this wonderful breed and visit specialized sites and forums on keeping these dogs. Experienced dog lovers will be happy to share useful tips and ratings of the best food for corgis.
Ready-made food for corgi
A proper diet does not have to be natural. Many breeders prefer to pamper their pet with dry food. This is also a good option - the main thing is to remember certain feeding rules.
Many large manufacturers produce food specifically for small dogs. It is advisable to buy from premium class and above. Estimated cost per kilogram of feed:
- premium (Ontario Adult mini, 1-ST CHOICE toy) - from 500 to 600 rubles,
- superpremium (Hill's Science Plan Canine Adult Small, Royal Canin Mini) - 700-800 rubles,
- holistic (ORIJEN puppy, Pronature original) - from 1000 and above.
How much and how often to feed
An adult dog needs to be fed twice a day. To determine the serving size, you need to know its weight. The packaging always indicates how many grams of food should be given to a pet of a given weight. By following these rules, you can not be afraid of making a mistake.
But it is worth remembering that you cannot feed your dog only dry food. For example, if you feed a corgi only dry food for 2 months, kidney problems may occur. It is advisable to diversify the diet.
What to feed Pembroke Welsh Corgi dogs: basic rules
The breed has a tendency to obesity, so the foods included in the diet are selected carefully. There are some rules for feeding a corgi:
- Dogs have a good appetite, so they are given food at strictly defined times and in small quantities. Even when a pet wants a supplement, it must be refused, as there will be problems later.
- Water in the bowl should be constantly available. A container with a volume of 0.2-0.25 liters is sufficient, since they do not drink much.
- Every month there should be a fasting day. In hot weather, the pet itself can only eat once; throughout the rest of the year, the owner must monitor the feeding schedule.
- Mixing dry food and natural products during 1 meal is unacceptable, as this may cause the dog to have problems with digestion and bowel movements.
- For a corgi, the best food is the one recommended by the breeder. This helps make it easier for the dog to adapt to its new home and prevent digestive disorders.
- Feed your pet strictly after training, walks or other physical activity. If the dog eats before exercise, problems with the gastrointestinal tract, in particular the stomach, may develop.
- The frequency of meals in the case of a corgi is calculated strictly taking into account age. You cannot change the type of food often.
Attention!
Dogs should not be given food during snacks, the only exception being during command training. But even then, you can reward the corgi for their correct performance only with low-fat dog biscuits or a small piece of cheese.
What is important to consider when feeding a puppy
Breeders often have the question of what to feed their corgi puppy. Indeed, a baby needs a different diet than adult dogs. Therefore, here you need to remember some nuances.
What foods should be in a puppy's diet?
Puppies need a special diet.
Immediately after giving up mother's milk (a Corgi puppy is already quite ready for this at 2 months), the basis of the diet should be minced meat and dairy products. Gradually (by 3 months) the diet should be enriched with cereals. And after a couple of weeks, add vegetables.
At the same time, kefir and low-fat cottage cheese should be included in the diet for at least six months, and better yet, up to a year. After all, this is a source of calcium, which means your pet’s bones will be strong.
Diet: frequency of feedings by month
The older the puppy gets, the larger the portions should be and the smaller the number of meals.
Therefore, you should remember the following mode:
- 2-3 months - 5 meals (about 150 grams per day);
- 3-6 months - 3 meals (about 200-250 grams);
- from 6 months - 2 meals a day (250-300 grams).
With this diet, the puppy will grow quickly and there will be no health problems.
How much dry food to give?
When purchasing a package of food that says “super premium for puppies,” you should carefully study the manufacturer’s instructions. Typically, a single serving is indicated in grams. This recommendation cannot be ignored. Since accuracy is of great importance in this case, it is worth getting a kitchen scale. In this case, you don’t have to worry that the puppy will gain excess weight, because the corgi always eats with pleasure.
Hint : changing food often is bad, as each time the body gets a shake-up. If this or that brand is not initially suitable, there is no need to return to it; fortunately, the choice today is pleasing with variety in any pet store.
Features of feeding during pregnancy and after childbirth
During pregnancy, the bitch needs not only special care, but also proper nutrition. Starting from the 5th week of pregnancy, the amount of food consumed should be increased by 20% per week. At the time of pregnancy, its amount will double!
Remember! During pregnancy, it is advisable to switch from two meals a day to three meals a day.
When feeding in the first month, the diet should be maintained. Then it is also gradually reduced - by the same 20% per week. Then, by the end of the second month, when the puppies are able to feed on their own, their mother will eat the same amount as before pregnancy.
What are the norms for food consumption?
An important issue concerns the rationing of food for feeding corgis. There is no point in acting by eye. Veterinarians and dog handlers have developed precise standards:
- Meat: 20 g per 1 kg of dog’s body weight.
- Cottage cheese 30 g.
- Fermented milk products: 50-100 g per day.
- Vegetables and fruits after each meal in small pieces, as a reward.
- Porridge: start with ¼ cup and increase gradually, bringing the maximum to 3 cups.
- Sunflower oil in vegetable stews, porridges, as an additive to offal should not exceed a total of 1 tablespoon per day.
Advice : from 7 months you can replace meat with cottage cheese, periodically giving your pet “fasting” days. In this case, the fat corgi will remain only the hero of jokes, but will not live nearby.
If you refuse to eat: possible reasons
Proper diet - healthy corgi
A dog can lose its appetite for various reasons. These include:
- heat,
- stress,
- dysbacteriosis,
- dental problems,
- internal injuries.
Therefore, it is advisable to immediately contact a veterinarian if the dog refuses food for more than a day. He will be able to make an accurate diagnosis that will save the pet.
As the reader can see, if you follow simple rules, it is quite easy to provide your corgi with the right and tasty diet.
You can feed your dog:
Beef, horse meat, veal - raw or cooked By-products - tripe, heart, liver (boiled only), after 3 months. Sea fish without bones - boiled Eggs - no more than once a week, boiled. Cereals: rice, buckwheat Fermented milk products: low-fat cottage cheese can be given every day while the puppy is growing, kefir, fermented baked milk. Vegetables are raw, grated and finely chopped, boiled, you can add a little vegetable oil.
Number of feedings: From 1.5 to 4 months - 6 - 5 times a day From 4 to 8 months - 4 - 3 times a day From 8 to 12 months - 3 - 2 times a day After a year, 2 times a day. As a result, you yourself will understand your puppy’s individual feeding schedule; some need to eat less often, others more often. It is better to feed the puppy at the same time; for convenience, you can create a feeding schedule by the hour. Food that is not eaten within 15-20 minutes must be removed. After eating, the dog should rest for 2 - 3 hours. Your dog should always have clean drinking water available.
It is forbidden to give: Pork in all types Sausages, as they contain dyes and other artificial additives that have an extremely negative effect on the dog’s body. Smoked and fried meats provide a greater load on the liver. Raw river and sea fish (can be a source of helminth infection in dogs and contains thiaminase). Sour cream, mayonnaise. Peas, beans, lentils, cabbage - they are very poorly absorbed by the dog’s body. No bones should be given; it is better to buy dried pig ears and sinews at pet stores.
Industrial feed
The main advantages of ready-made food are ease of use. The pet supply market offers a huge number of brands with different product lines, allowing you to choose food for even the most problematic and picky dogs. Cardigan Welsh Corgis are unpretentious eaters, so you should only pay attention to the health status of your pet.
The daily dose depends on the age of the pet and is usually indicated on the package. Puppies are switched to specialized food at 2 months. Further gradation follows based on age. The portion at 3 months and at 10 months will vary significantly. It must be divided into the number of meals in accordance with the age limit. In adult dogs, food portions are determined according to weight.
Each manufacturer specifies its own standards, based on the specific composition of the product. The main criterion for selection is the class of feed. You should purchase only high-quality food labeled as super premium. For babies aged 2 months, it is recommended to soak the granules until they learn to eat them dry.
What to feed a corgi puppy
You need to take extra care when caring for your Corgi puppy. During this period, the baby’s body is formed, the foundations of his health and longevity are laid.
Errors in feeding can lead to serious consequences: developmental delays, diseases of the joints and cardiovascular system.
Diet in the first month
For the first month after birth, the mother feeds the puppies with milk, which contains all the substances necessary for growth and development, so they do not need to be supplemented.
The exception is the situation when the female has problems with lactation. In this case, the puppies are fed with special mixtures - bitch milk substitutes, which are sold in veterinary pharmacies. Formulas for children are not suitable because they do not meet the needs of a dog's body.
