Prospects for the production of domestic feed for service puppies

Scientific research and the development of domestic technology for the production of extruded dry feeds for non-productive animals (service puppies) have been conducted. These feeds are designed for complete nutrition from the age of two months. This advancement is expected to reduce the import of equivalent products, enhance the production capabilities of the domestic feed industry, improve environmental conditions, and generate additional revenue. Based on the review of scientific and technical documentation, GOST standards, literature sources and existing physical and chemical specifications for imported foods, the nutritional value of food for puppies of service dogs was determined. The scientific literature review on the subject revealed that the extrusion process of multicomponent food mixtures is not yet adequately investigated. Considering the need of dog puppies in nutrients, metabolic energy, two formulations of complete foods have been designed. The formulations were mainly based on domestically produced ingredients. A comparison of the feeding value of the developed complete feeds with imported foods currently available in the market has been presented. An experiment has been done with puppies fed with the developed foods. Throughout the experiment, each group of puppies was weighed regularly, examined medically, and monitored for physical development, activity, and general health. Thus, the experiment involving puppies in a service dog breeding facility is a landmark study with the potential to make a major contribution to the understanding of optimal nutritional and care strategies for young dogs.