Best Puppy Food?

[HarleyMama]

we mix rice in Harley's food now, but that about all... his system seems sensitive to anything "premium" and our vet said he's very healthy and doing fine on Ol'Roy... but thanks for that info, something to keep in mind.


Melissa & harley

 

[peanutsmom]

Originally posted by josefb
I would suggest you stop giving a 13 week boxer large breed adult food as it is not a correct nutrition for him. He needs a very specific diet which you can find in most of the best Large breed puppy food. I use Eukanuba and it is the best you can find here(europe) but I don't think you get it over there because I never heard someone mention it on this site.

I know that in my part of Europe you can find better food then Eukanuba. Though I have idea about your part.

 

[quintessa]

I didn't see anyone mention Iams Puppy Food. Is there something I don't know about this food? Have I been submitted to the commercial market of deceit!!

My little girl is 7 months now and we feed her Iams, but she will not eat without some wet food mixed in. I tried skipping her morning feed once just to see how long she would go before eating just the dry food. But there it sat; she wanted nothing to do with it!

Any advice?

 

[Ronin1]

We fed our pup the Wellness Super5 Puppy mix. He absolutely loved it. I have now switched him to the Wellness Fish and Sweet Potatoe (he might have allergies and this seems to do the trick for him).

He is ten months old now, and his coat is soft and shiny. I do wet the food down a bit wih warm water. He seems to like it better that way (Maybe is smells better to him)

 

[BooBoo & Riley]

I didn't see anyone mention Iams Puppy Food. Is there something I don't know about this food? Have I been submitted to the commercial market of deceit!!

Iams has high grain content compared to Wellness, Innova, and Candiae which have high protein content.

Dogs do not need grains, grains are in dog food becuase it's the cheapest filler. Iams isn't terriable, but you could do much better and you also need to know that when you feed a higher grade food, you feed less and they'll be full because of the better protein. Anyway, an easy way to look at ingrediants is to make sure that grains isn't one of the top 3 on the ingreidiants list, and you'll do pretty good.

My dogs have done well on Innova, Wellness, Drs. Fosters & Smith and Chicken for the Dog Lover's soul, although now they are complete on BARF which they love.

 

[abby's mum]

My 6 mo. old Abby has just made the switch to Natural Balance Ultra Premium. She seems to love it and it has only been 2 weeks and i see a difference already. Not to mention she got spayed 1 week ago. I was told they ussually lose weight for a bit after spaying but she has not.

 

[lion1993]

What ever make you happy and what ever makes your dog happy

I’m no expert, but I believe what ever makes your dog obviously happy and you can afford it, get it. I’m saying this because each dog is different and has different needs. Just because one owner’s Boxer thrives on Chicken Soup doesn’t necessarily mean your dog will love it the same. At one point I believed the more expensive the better, boy was I wrong. I went out and bought a 20 lb bag of food (no brand bashing) for $35.00 and my dog would sniff it, but wouldn’t eat it. I did my homework on different dog foods, and different dog food ingredients and exchanged the food a week later for another brand of 20lb (no brand promoting) bag of that cost $15.00, and my dog could not wait for me to put the food down. My dog lost about 10lbs that week. Believe it or not dog will let you know if the food is good for them or not. First check for allergies symptoms and digestion problems such as gas, or loose stool, then energy level, and last but not least the enthusiasm of the dog to eat the food at supper time. Hey, do your home work on these dog food companies, read ingredients, and get to know what the ingredients actually mean. What ever you think is good for your dog, and he shows positive feed back in every way is the right food for your dog. Just by reading some of these replies I don’t believe there is one brand of dog food that’s made for every dog.

 

[HarleyMama]

lion1993

I TOTALY agree with lion1993, if your dog is doing well on the food it likes, be it "high quality" or "cheap" or whatever, why not stick with it. If the pup is healthy and active and likes the food... well, dont fix what ain't broke, right?


As far as looking back to egyptian times and how dogs were eating "natural diets" before humans had them as "pets"... well Humans ate natural diets then too... now look at all the chemicals and processing the food we eat every day goes through...

I support BARFing if you have the time and money to do it, but as far as "top quality" dog food being the only other option... i dunno. What WDJ, you and I see as "top quality" may not seem so "top quality" to some pups. Its all a matter of taste really.


Just my two cents, not trying to ruffle any feathers.

Melissa & Harley

 

[meb0585]

Our older boxer lives with FIL and he feeds them Ol' Roy. He has very bad gas.......that's just the experience we have had with it. He was on another kind before, and he didn't have nearly as bad gas as he does now.
Mallory, Koojeaux & Layla

 

[Disciple]

I apologize for this being a bit long, but I wanted to comment on several things I have read in this thread. Which, by the way, answered a question I had and was going to post about in new thread.

We are in the last week of switching Levi (7 mo.) and Zoe (4 mo.) from Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy to Canidae. The switch was mainly prompted by Levis' getting an infection that the vet could not find a reason/source for. During that time he started showing signs of Demodex, and I again turned to BW and our vet for information. Although Levi's outbreak could have been triggered by the stress of Zoe's coming into our family, she walked in an proceeded to take over all of Levi's possessions, toys, food bowl, and his bed. Anyway having read the messages about what is and is not a sound and healthy food for them coupled with the possible immune system trigger for the Demodex, was what prompted our decision to change their food. They just started the 3/4 Canidae to 1/4 Pro Plan mix today, and so far they have taken to the Canidae very well. So much so that they will pick out the Canidae and scattered the Pro Plan in the floor.

Having seen some mention feeding Large Breed Puppy Food, I do want to share what I was told the other night at obedience class. This person breeds Bulldogs and has seen several of the puppies grow up to be companion dogs for the handicapped. His comment was that given the possibility/tendency for hip displacia (sp?) that Large Breed Puppy/Dog Food was not good for them, since it accelerate growth and could cause problems. I had never heard of this and would have ran it by the more knowledgeable people here if we were not in the process of switching. I guess the question now is, should we start a new thread about any pro's/con's of Large Breed Puppy/Dog Food?

Sorry for this being somewhat rambling and a little long, but I just could not clearly say what I wanted without the explanations.