Smooth Transition for Puppy
- Thread starter child_n_light
- Start date
LOL!! Do you feel like I am stalking you? Sorry, but I keep stumbling upon your threads! Anyway, get him off Pedigree ASAP! You need to select a much better quality food. My pugs do really well on Canidae, Solid Gold Wee Bits or Innova EVO. Eagle Pack is also a good choice. If you don't want to deal with allergies and skin problems in the future I suggest you switch now. When you decide on the brand of dry kibble then soak it in water for about 10-15 minutes before feeding it. This will make it softer and easier to eat. You may have to mix it with some canned initially. Hope this helps. I don't mean to seem like a know-it-all, but I have raised and cared for a lot of pugs in my day!
showpug! no I don't feel like you are stalking me at all. I appreciate your knowledge very much! Why not Pedigree Puppy? Is it really bad for puppys? I was lead to believe this was a great dog food...though I must admit I was probably lead by commercials and the picture on the bag! lol. Ok so I'm looking for a new moist food. The question is when can I switch him. Is now ok as long as I do the soaking in the water or the mixing with moist food?
pedigree is one of the really low quality brands of dog food. just to illustrate and example (we'll make it easy and leave out the vitamins and mineral supplements):
here is the ingredient list of "pedigree healthy start" puppy food:
Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, rice, corn gluten meal, animal fat, natural poultry flavor, wheat, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, salt, brewers dried yeast, wheat flour, caramel color, wheat gluten, vegetable oil, calcium carbonate, taurine, vitamins, minerals
and here's a quality chicken-based puppy food, "healthwise":
Chicken meal, ground brown rice, oatmeal (rolled oats), chicken fat, flaxseed meal, natural chicken flavor, herring oil, avocado oil, garlic, dried kelp, vitamins, minerals
ingredients are listed by descending weight as they appear before processing. you ssee that the pedigree has a grain source (corn) as a first ingredient, not a meat source - as it should be for an animal with a carnivorous background. we are not trying to feed a cown here.
the second ingredient in pedigree is "chicken byproduct meal". chicken byproducts are basically what is left over of a chicken after all the quality muscle meat has been removed from the carcass. the good meat is used for human food, the stripped leftovers are rendered into pet food.
pedigree contains generic "animal fat" and "poultry flavor" - two items that do not define the exact source they came from and so can include a variety of things, and not all of them are necessrily very desirable. "animal fat" is so generic that inclusion of animals like roadkill, diseased animals declared not fit for human consumption, animals euthanized at shelters and vet clinics, restaurant grease, supermarket refuse and so on.
i don't want to go into too much detail here, you can read more abotu commercial pet food if you click on the blue part of my signature.
you can switch your dog to a better food at any time.
here is the ingredient list of "pedigree healthy start" puppy food:
Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, rice, corn gluten meal, animal fat, natural poultry flavor, wheat, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, salt, brewers dried yeast, wheat flour, caramel color, wheat gluten, vegetable oil, calcium carbonate, taurine, vitamins, minerals
and here's a quality chicken-based puppy food, "healthwise":
Chicken meal, ground brown rice, oatmeal (rolled oats), chicken fat, flaxseed meal, natural chicken flavor, herring oil, avocado oil, garlic, dried kelp, vitamins, minerals
ingredients are listed by descending weight as they appear before processing. you ssee that the pedigree has a grain source (corn) as a first ingredient, not a meat source - as it should be for an animal with a carnivorous background. we are not trying to feed a cown here.
the second ingredient in pedigree is "chicken byproduct meal". chicken byproducts are basically what is left over of a chicken after all the quality muscle meat has been removed from the carcass. the good meat is used for human food, the stripped leftovers are rendered into pet food.
pedigree contains generic "animal fat" and "poultry flavor" - two items that do not define the exact source they came from and so can include a variety of things, and not all of them are necessrily very desirable. "animal fat" is so generic that inclusion of animals like roadkill, diseased animals declared not fit for human consumption, animals euthanized at shelters and vet clinics, restaurant grease, supermarket refuse and so on.
i don't want to go into too much detail here, you can read more abotu commercial pet food if you click on the blue part of my signature.
you can switch your dog to a better food at any time.
science diet is also not a good choice. much of the same complaints as pedigree, but much, much more expensive.
http://www.ourdogsonline.com/index.php?section=27
http://www.ourdogsonline.com/index.php?section=27
Eukanuba is bad too. Basically, all the advertized dog foods are usually of bad quality (Iams, Eukanubam Pedigree, Purina, Science Diet). Where do you buy your dog food? I don't think there is anything of decent quality in supermarkets. You need to go to specialized stores to get better quality food. Petco and Petsmart carry ok food, the best ones being blue buffalo for Petsmart and Natural Balance for petco, otherwise royal cannin is ok, as well as Nutro but they are usually really overpriced. You can buy better quality food for about the same price overall, but only independent stores sell them. The best foods are Canidae, Innova, Solid Gold, Eagle Pack. Kirkland is fine too, but I haven't found it here, as well as California Natural.
One way or another though, it will be seem much more expensive than most commercial foods. But you feed much much less of it, because they contain less fillers, so in the end it's not THAT much more expensive, as you can see here : http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=money
Hope this helps a bit.
One way or another though, it will be seem much more expensive than most commercial foods. But you feed much much less of it, because they contain less fillers, so in the end it's not THAT much more expensive, as you can see here : http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=money
Hope this helps a bit.
I would suggest, as many others as well. Canidae, Innova, or Eagle Pack for your puppy. They are very good foods and your dog will do very well on them. The ingredients are much better than what you fill find in a grocery store food (or Science Diet). Your puppy will probably choose them over the grocery store brands too ( I know mine did). Also, if you have a costco membership, the Kirkland chicken and rice food is good stuff also. I would suggest looking for a food that is made for adults and puppys though. It should say on the bag it is formulated for all life stages. That way you don't have to worry about switching your puppy after he turns a year old to a different food.
I would suggest, as many others as well. Canidae, Innova, or Eagle Pack for your puppy. They are very good foods and your dog will do very well on them. The ingredients are much better than what you fill find in a grocery store food (or Science Diet). Your puppy will probably choose them over the grocery store brands too ( I know mine did). Also, if you have a costco membership, the Kirkland chicken and rice food is good stuff also. I would suggest looking for a food that is made for adults and puppys though. It should say on the bag it is formulated for all life stages. That way you don't have to worry about switching your puppy after he turns a year old to a different food.