How Did You Decide On the Food to Start Your Puppy On?

[DogLuvvr]

I have a pup that will be arriving shortly, and I'm trying to decide what food I should purchase for him.

He will be 8 weeks when he gets here.

Should I continue feeding him the food that the breeder fed him? If so, at what point should I switch?

There are so many different types of food out there, and I know folks probably have different opinions on what food is "best" but all I'm wondering is what factors should one consider in deciding what food to start a young pup on.

That said, how did you decide on the food to start your puppy on?

 

[Renee750il]

The first thing I looked at was the grade of the ingredients - I chose a brand that started out with human grade ingredients.

Then I looked at the ingredients themselves and chose Innova by NaturaPet

Now that my dogs are old enough, they're on Natura's EVO Red Meat formula.

Check out this site www.dogfoodproject.com to help you learn HOW to understand the ingredient list on dog food. Natura's site www.naturapet.com is also helpful since they have an interactive comparison chart available that allows you to compare different foods from different companies side by side and explains WHAT the ingredients are.

 

[DogLuvvr]

Wow, interesting website. Thanks for the link!

The first thing I looked at was the grade of the ingredients - I chose a brand that started out with human grade ingredients.

Then I looked at the ingredients themselves and chose Innova by NaturaPet

Now that my dogs are old enough, they're on Natura's EVO Red Meat formula.

Check out this site www.dogfoodproject.com to help you learn HOW to understand the ingredient list on dog food. Natura's site www.naturapet.com is also helpful since they have an interactive comparison chart available that allows you to compare different foods from different companies side by side and explains WHAT the ingredients are.

 

[sheplovr]

My puppies I raise to wean do fine on Bil Jac frozen or Pro Plan puppy chicken and rice make it slushy at first by soaking it and they gobble it down. Grow fast, no digestion problems. It was never on the recall list either. I use it on the females while pregnant also.

http://www.proplan.com/products/puppyProducts.html?D=6842117&T=4520566

 

[IcyHound]

I always fed the pup what the adults got. That rolled over with raw as well.

 

[Cheza]

My first puppy came on Diamond, I switched her to Eagle Pack because "Everyone said so". She didn't do well on that so it was off to Timberwolf, which she didn't do well on either, and then Canidae, which worked for a while until we figured out that she was allergic to one of the main ingredients in many dog foods. After that it was on to Fromm Duck & Sweet Potato, and she's doing great on that.

The new puppy will stay on that as well. I dont like what they did to Canidae and I don't see a reason to feed them both different foods.

 

[DogLuvvr]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

So did you all slowly transition your pups from the food that the breeder fed him/her, or did you immediately start feeding them your food of choice?

 

[planet molosser]

I send my buyers home with a bag of what I am feeding the pups.

You never want to go from natural to corn based on pups it will give them the poops./
So if she is on all natural and u want to switch match up the protein and fat levels with a natural food. If u switch from no corn to corn u need to do it very slow. Or if u increase the protein levels to quick also very slow.

You can do it faster if you match up the type of food and ingredients.

Many great foods out there... Also what size will she be u want to measure the protein levels againest the expected activity of the puppy,

 

[Renee750il]

I just switched straight out. I've never done the slow transition thing with dog foods. IF there's any problem with loose stools, give them a little canned pumpkin (PLAIN, not pie filling) and things should firm up.

 

[planet molosser]

Truth is ive due to lack of availability and nutro recalls switched over nite.

But I never do that on puppies, cause simply 2 days of mudpiles can turn worse and require a vet visit in hot months.

 

[DogLuvvr]

Many great foods out there... Also what size will she be u want to measure the protein levels againest the expected activity of the puppy,

I'm not sure exactly what size he will be when he gets here, but he will be 8 weeks and his max weight should be under 25 pounds, I believe. His activity level is expected to be high.

So you're saying the more active the pup, the more protein is needed in his diet. Makes sense.

 

[lakotasong]

In addition to looking very carefully at ingredients and formulation, you also want to make sure that the product you are purchasing is certified cruelty-free. You can learn more about this by visiting Caring Consumer Companion Animal Food Guide.

 

[~Jessie~]

In addition to looking very carefully at ingredients and formulation, you also want to make sure that the product you are purchasing is certified cruelty-free. You can learn more about this by visiting Caring Consumer Companion Animal Food Guide.

I recommend staying away from that list. Peta (a company that is extremely hypocritical for pressuring people to buy only "cruelty free") constructed the garbage in that link. I would never listen to anything a terrorist organization produced. imho, as always

 

[Mollie's Nana]

Mollie is on Wellness Healthy 5. You can now buy it at PetCo, I think a 23lb bag was about $50.

 

[lakotasong]

Whether or not they were certified cruelty-free by PETA does not change the formulation. There are plenty of wonderful, quality products on that list that I'm sure many of you recommend in general. Some of us just choose to live as cruelty-free as possible.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

The only thing I see wrong with that list and article is the "healthy vegetarian dog food" bit. I personally don't believe that a vegetarian diet is sufficient for our canines.

However, there are a couple reputable foods on that list and there are others I have never even heard of. But again, I do share Jessie's sentiments, what PETA says has no bearing on what I feed my dogs because I truly don't think they give a ****.

As far as what good foods there are, Mordy's site is great, dogfoodproject.com and you can do your own research and reading and decide for yourself. What works for some will not work for all. I myself feed raw and EVO.

 

[DogLuvvr]

Thanks for the information, everyone.

 

[gale]

We used Chicken Soup for Puppies because it was the only good food I could buy locally (albeit special ordered but still local).

 

[minpinluvrs]

I switched all of my puppies over to good food as soon as I got them. One was on Pedigree, one was on Pro-Plan, one was on Eukanuba, one was on Science diet. I didn't take the time of transitioning them, I wanted them on good food, so I just started giving them Canidae, Solid Gold, and California Naturals or Innova immediately. I figured there was no time to waste since they were still young. Now that they're a little older, (youngest is 1 1/2 years, oldest is 4 years,) I can feed them any of the good foods at any time without a transition period.

If the dog is on a good food, (one which is actually meat based,) it's not such a concern, but if the dog is eating what I feed my horses, (pro-plan, dog chow, alpo..etc.) I'd be concerned about switching them quickly to dog food. It costs a bit more to buy, but it does have it's benefits in a healthier dog, and far less piles in the backyard since they can actually use the things they're eating.

Some people like to feed their dogs corn based diets like Science Diet, Iams, or Pro-Plan, but I like my dogs to get good food that has meat in it, and when I really want to feed corn, I give my horses, (not my dogs,) sweet feed, and it's actually quite a bit cheaper than the corn based dog foods, but probably a lot more healthy, since it doesn't have the artificial colors or flavors in it. (by the way, my dogs are happy to eat the sweet feed that the horses knock out of their buckets.)

Look at the ingredients, if there is corn in the ingredients, pass it up, if there aren't at least two "meat meals" in the first four or five ingredients, pass it up.

 

[Dekka]

PETA is far from cruelty free. Any organization that wants my dog dead is not cruelty free.

As to food, the whippets came on proplan and I switched them cold turkey as soon as I got them home. Purina foods have tested positive for some pretty scary chemicals (the same stuff that dogs and cats are euthed with) by reputable independent labs. They didn't have any issues with the switch.