food
 ) Purina Puppy for Large breeds. After reading this article, I read the lable, and the stuff in it isn't the best! I read the contents of Science Diet and Iams, all kinda the same. Is this really something that isn't good for our little girl? The breeder fed this brand to her and all of her puppies. I am wondering if its time to switch her to something more wholesome. Also wonder, if the quality of food effects their behavior. Agression, energy level, etc. Is anyone feeding their pups Purina, and how are they doing on it? Any one recommend another brand that they are happy with that has people quality food in it? I saw the names of some of the brands in this article, but non of them sounded familiar. I guess they are not pet food store sellers. Maybe the vets sell these brands? I am sure this is a redundant question. Thans for your help! |
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| Higher protein foods can often be linked to aggression. Try and find a food that is about 18% protein. Alot of the Large Breed Puppy foods are much higher (@ 26%). It is also recommended by many Vets and experts to switch over to adult food at around 6 months of age. |
| You can find a lot of the higer quality foods at smaller pet food stores. You probably won't be able to find them at the Petco's or chains like that. Either check the phone book or go online to the manufacture's web site and see if they have a list of retailer's that carry their food. |
| I've heard people saying good things about Solid Gold Dog food! You could look into that one. |
| Marley, I came across the Flint River website last night. We're going to give it a try.
http://www.flint-river-ranch.info/home.htm Don't forget to look at the special promotions page. They had a code for twenty percent off for first time buyers and any order over $9 I believe is always free shipping. Also had easy checkout. I even found a couple of ebay store that sell it. lol I think i'm going to try the cat food too. The kittens my son is fostering are almost ready for real food and as they had a ruff start maybe it would be better. |
Thanks all for your replies. My vet said that she needs a high protein diet because she is growing. I am going to check out that flint river website. Thanks!  My husband and I have been killing ourselves for three days puting up a fence that is safe for our puppy and kittens. So that they can go outside and play together. Finished it today!  |
| Hmmm, I didn't see puppy food on their website. I emailed them to ask. The food description sounds good. No animal byproducts, etc. [/b] |
| my oes' former owners fed him cosco generic brand: which like most cheap brands stain the mouth, eyes/tears,syliva and urine becuse of the brown dyes used.
now i feed him this: blue buffalo- lamb and rice 
http://www.bluebuff.com/ it is awesome:) organic and fortified with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and enzymes. he has been a happier dog; less on edge... and his hair is growing fast (and over his hotspots in remarkable time). i feed him twice a day: 2.5-3c in the morning with 1 tbs. olive oil/ 2.5-3c around 6:30pm with 3 tbs of turkey or chicken gravy. we bought it from petsmart.  |
| Think I'm going to give the Blue Bluff a try, we need to go food shopping tonight and there is a pet smart by us, thanks for the tip!
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| blue is an awesome food
i worked as an asst manager at a small private petstore for a year, so i'll offer my opinions on higher quality dog foods for your pups... all of the following foods are vastly superior to Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, and Science Diet. The problem with those is you're paying for the name, for the advertisement, and vets are paid to recommend them. I'll try to arrange them from lower to higher (the higher ones are human grade): Premium Edge (but not the puppy) Nutro Max Nutro Natural Choice Nutro Ultra Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (all my dogs eat this) Royal Canin Natural Blend Solid Gold Natural Balance Wellness Innova that's all I can think of at the moment. if you have any food questions don't hesitate to ask, I am pet nutrition certified, hehehe! |
| Thanks so much for the info. I have decided that I am going to switch Mopsey to Wellness. I have been calling around many pet food stores and found one that sells the 30lb for $35! I think its a good price. So I am wondering, should I buy a smaller size first to see if she likes it? Or just go for the big bag. Hmmmm She is almost done with the Iams, so i am just going to mix in the new food. Oh by the way, I love that food dispencer I got from Drs Foster and Smith. Its great! |
| Roofus-
Thanks so much for the info! I like Marley was feeding Iams and still heard it was okay. But my sis in law gave me a bag of Wellness. I'm starting to mix now, so I can transition Lola over to that. But all the other brand info is helpful as well, I really want to keep her away from all the commercial byproduct stuff. Now if I can just find it for $35/30 lb bag that seems like a good deal. Sue |
| Wellness is an EXCELLENT food.... and the dogs really seem to love the taste of it. I worry that it may be too rich though, so I still mix it with Iams. |
Well we bought the blue last night and the guys went wild added some olive oil and not a drop left in the dishes, they loved it, thanks for letting us know about this brand, expensive, but i think it just might be worth it!
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| innova is extremely rich, wellness is too but not that bad... i'd mix with premium edge or nutro (but not the large breed adult, it has corn) or something before iams, just because i don't want my dog to have by-products (which means beaks, feet, hair, toenails, skin, etc) or corn, which is just a cheap filler that goes right through them. i figure if they're started on the high end foods as puppies they do ok. Wellness and innova both have the probiotics too, in addition to smelling like people food (human grade, after all) which of course most dogs go nuts for.
The PIES foods were good about ten years ago... problem is, their formula hasn't changed, and everybody else's has. for the money you pay for PIES, you could actually get a *good* dog food.
btw if any of you have dogs with allergies, most noticeably when the dog licks its paws constantly, i can recommend quite a few good foods. my pup was on SD when i got him, and I immediately switched to Chicken Soup using the 50/50 conversion, and am now, three weeks later, seeing the results... no more dandruff, much softer, prettier fur, no licking his feet (i believe he's allergic to corn, it's pretty common, corn, wheat, and soy are the three most common dog food allergens). |
| Hmmm, well I think I will mix the Wellness with Iams until it runs out, there isn't much left of it anyway. Then, I guess Nutro it is. Should it be half half or more of the good stuff? |
| I used Solid Gold for my last sheepie Oliver he had allergies and chewed on his feet. We used the lamb and rice bought the supplement which is the vitamins SG believ that the potency of vitamins is lose when the food is processed. We gave him bee pollen also by SG. There are no additives or preservaties in this food. Within a month Oliver was back to normal no more chewing on the feet. I use the same food with the supplement for Oreo and he is nice and health. With this food there are less poops made. |
well, thanks all for your advice. I went out and bought a 15lb bag of wellness (didn't have a 30lb bag  ) for $20. Also bought wellness for the kittens. I think I am going to mix it with Iams. But I haven't decided for sure yet. I read the ingredients and wow! I am impressed. But the protein content is at whooping 28%! Higher then Iams. Probably not very good for her crocodile child tendencies. She is nipping like crazy today, I think ists because we have her a bath and brushing. She has been cooped up in the house because of the heat and humidity. Trying to play with her at home, but ... |
| Roofus (Susan)-
There was some chat on another post about Costco's Kirkland brand. Do you know anything about the quality of it? I shop there a lot and there prices are good, but they don't carry many brands. Thanks in advance. Sue |
| i wouldn't feed my dog the chicken, but the lamb does not appear to be too bad. No by-products or corn anyway... Single source protein, no sign of veggies other than beet pulp which is used as a stool hardener. |
| Another Lamb product that has made wonder for our babies is Purina ProPlan for adults.
Stools are harder and smaller, the really like, eat less it and is not prohibitely expensive. In our case, it worked better that Nutro or Science Diet. |
| susan, What brand do you recommend for Sheep Dogs with allergies? Licking constantly. Any suggestions would be appreciated. |
| if you don't know what the allergy is, you can do an elimination diet. You can either eliminate things one by one, or you can just go to an allergy diet and add things back in.
To go to an allergy diet, I recommend either Natural Balance Potato & Duck, or the Venison and Rice. You can also look at California Natural Lamb if your dog might have severe allergies. There's only like three ingredients in it, pretty hard to be allergic too!  Wellness also makes a Fish and Potato, but I really really cannot stand the smell of fish, but if you're ok with it, that's another one. I don't usually recommend the Nature's Recipe venison because Natural Balance is so awesome. Don't go vegetarian unless your dog is allergic to literally everything, it has a lower protein level, and besides, doggies are carnivores.
To eliminate one by one, usually I ask what the dog is eating now. If it's a food with by-products and corn wheat or soy, then I put the dog on a higher food, maybe Nutro or higher, to see if it is simply an intolerance to one of those. I generally recommend going to a lamb diet too, chicken is probably the most common dog meat allergen. Nutro Lamb and Rice (conveniently has an oes on the bag) might be where you want to start if you're on a lower quality food. My old manager's dog had allergies, and she had her on the Wellness Lamb. Just remember it'll take a few bags of dog food to notice a difference, and to mix new and old foods together slowly for about a week. The more gradual the change, the better. |
| My last sheepie boy had allergies. We used Solid Gold lamb and rice it has no additives or preservatives or known dog allergens like soy, wheat and corn. You need to buy their supplement as they feel that vitamins loose their potency while the food is processed therefore you give your dog his vitamins, it is in a powder form and measured by weight. We also used the Bee Pollen by Solid Gold it is for dogs with allergies. After a month of this food he stopped chewing on his feet and would not hide them when I wanted to groom them. Solid Gold has a site and if you have any questions they will call you on the phone and discuss your concerns. I used their treats as well and stuck to the diet and Oliver was well. Good Luck |
| I keep seeing comments that the more premium foods are too rich. I'm not sure what that means or what the issues are arround that. Can someone please shed some light for me?
We are getting our new baby on Friday (10 wk old male) and I'm struggling now to find him the best puppy food. Thanks so much for the advice!!! |
| Your best bet is to stick with what the breeder has been feeding your pup up till now, if he does well on it and it is a good quality food then no need to change. If you do change, do it gradually, mixing what he eats now with whatever you plan on feeding over a period of several days. A food change can cause upset tummy and diarreah, which can be not only messy but very dangerous for a puppy.
Welcome to the forum! |
| First off most reputable breeders recieve free food from certain brand names to ensure future food sales for that brand. Science Diet is sold at vets offices because it is a marketing ploy, SD was smart enough to capitalize on a niche market, however there is ingredients such as BHA which is a "carcinogen" ?? cancer causing..which can also contribute to seizures and other health issues. When buying dog food never buy at a super market, read the ingredients thery are listed in largest amount to smallest you want to see things like chicken not chicken meal as the first ingredient for instance. It is not really neccessary, unless you can afford it to buiy top of the line like Wellness. I fed my dog wellenss for years he had allergies which went away on that food and he loved it never got sick of just plain dry food.....Nutro caused my dogs hair to fall out in clumps once off the food it immediately stopped. I currently feed my dog natures recipe a mid grade food that i can afford....he is according to my vet the perfect shape, very healthy teeth, and a shiny coat. I give my dog nothing but water and dry food with occasional milk bones, my two year old will supplement human food once in a while. He only goes to the vet for his regualar shots and has no other health issues in over 5 years,The best way to tell if you are feeding your dog the right food is, does he like it, if he has a shiny coat with good skin, and has normal stool. if you can afford it wellness and other hard to find food can be found at specialty shop and grain stores like farm supply stores....remember dogs eat garbage just make sure what you are feeding them they like and its keeping them healthy.... |
| of all the posts i have read, and its getting into the thousands.... the food one is the most bewildering. it seems to trial and error, and so individual i dont know how to begin.
i collect my rescue dog at the weekend, will learn before that what he has been eating and then decide what to do next. we dont have half the brands mentioned on this site in the uk. i was talking to local farmers today who all swear by dr john for their dogs, it has 18% protein and alot of "fillers". i think i might just buy small bags until i find one that he will like and thrive on. this has to be more stressful than having a baby!! |
| I am so glad I found this. I was listening to Sonya Fitzpatrick on SirusXM the other day and she was saying she loved Blue Buffalo and was recommending people not use Iams or Science Diet (we use Science Diet for the dogs and cats).
Dr. Oz did a radio show several months ago on pet nutrition too, which is why I switched from dog chow to Science Diet. I am not off to investigate Blue Buffalo and all the other great suggestions. My Sophie has allergies and is always scratching and licking. She gets allergy shots occasionally and I give her a Benedryl if she is having a bad day, but I would love to try a change in diet to see if that will aleviate some of her problems. Am loving this message board. I have learned so much today... Thanks!! |
| cappi came with a bag of food, he had running poos and was under weight according to the vet. so i have changed him over to hills science plan,,,,,,,,, wow, i dont know what the ingredients are but he is a different dog, i thought it was because he was getting better and enjoying the food, but now i think its the food thats making him hyper. my friend noticed it last night and joked about having some herself. but after lunch he was on yet another mad hour.
i dont want to keep swapping his food, but there is such a marked change i cant ignore it. i know i have said tihs before but the food issue is massive. i have read dogfoodanalysis until i dream about it. any uk owners have a dry puppy food to recommend please |
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