Puppy Food

[danielle79]

My dog ate Taste of the Wild for a while and then we tried 4Health sold at Tractor Supply and he loves it, no poop problems.

 

[huskies90]

We recently got a puppy and had him happily on Purina Pro Plan dog food (which the vet approved). My husband decided he'd like to get him "something better" and tried Blue Buffalo Wilderness, which did nothing more than give him the runs. Now he's looking to switch to Innova, but I've heard bad things about that brand since it got bought out by P&G last year. Is there any natural puppy food out there that doesn't contain by-products, doesn't cost a complete fortune, that might work instead? Iams, Science Diet and the like are already out of the picture for us. I'd like to just keep him on "what works", but my husband wants to give it one more try on something else before relinquishing this quest to Purina. Thanks!

Interesting, I was thinking about the same thing this AM as I was pouring my 15 month old puppy's (he is still a puppy to us!) his Purina Dog Chow. He was a rescue dog and spent the first 7 months of his life eating puppy chow. We tried upgrading him over the summer trying different high protein high expensive brands slowly transition from the puppy chow to the higher quality more expensive food the result was exactly the same = Runs. So we went back to puppy chow and then after turning 1 we switched to dog chow. When we discussed it with the Vet she said not to worry about giving him Purina it is perfectly OK, and tons of dogs live perfectly healthly lives eating it their whole lives. While I like the fact that Purina is cheaper, I tend to think there has to be something better for him after reading the ingrients. Is there anything better but not necessarily top of the line, ie the next step up.

 

[Happiest mommy]

my pup was on TOTW in the begining then we switched her Wellness she is doing great.

 

[SSRJen]

Our trainer gave us this site to rate dog food: http://www.pawstoadmire.com/index_files/rateyourdogfood.htm

I didn't go through and rate different brands, but used the ratings others have done already (near bottom). There are quite a few options. Our trainer recommended going for foods that rated at least 100. Kirkland Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+ .

 

[dclfun]

I have a black labrador who is my service dog and she's been on Innova since I got her at age 2. People comment ALL the time about her gorgeous shiny coat which is incredibly soft. She has very little gray at the age of 9 and her vet commented last year at her check up that she looks like a dog 1/2 her age. Of course this can be partially attributed to genetics, but she LOVES Innova and I've noticed no change in the food either over the past few years. I switched her to the "senior" version when she was 5 since she's a large breed, so she's now on large breed senior. One time at work right after I got her but after I'd switched her food I forgot that we'd run out of Innova which I keep in my file cabinet in a sealed bucket. I had some of her leftover food that she came with as a 2 year old- (which was Eukanuba Lamb and Rice) in a sealed container so I offered it to her and she turned around to look at me, huffed, and slowly ate her lunch which she normally inhales. I learned my lesson- Innova must taste really good, lol.

 

[Groomer Gal]

Loose stools can continue with a food change for a while. A very slow gradual change is best. When one of my show dogs retired we changed his food and it took him about two months to make the change and have normal stools.
Every dog is different.

Do check out dogfoodanalysis.com . However....while I feel (and know technically is true) that certain dog foods are 'junk food'....no better than eating McDonalds every day.....you would be shocked how well some dogs do on that type of food.
Genetics play a big part.

I have a friend that shows some of the top Siberian's in the country. She also races them in sled dog races. They all eat Purina Pro Plan and are thriving. she doesn't have a huge kennel full of dogs and can afford to feed them anything...this is what works best for them.

No matter what , listen to your dog. If they are healthy, in good weight , nice coat and skin....then you're doing alright.

 

[JillandFamily]

We feed our dogs Wellness. Haven't had an issue. We used to feed them purina dog chow, and our youngest dog couldn't handle it, we made the switch to wellness and have been very pleased.

 

[Nintfamily]

I have tried many types and for our dogs (dachshunds) we use Taste of the Wild, Wetlands. I have 2 allergic to grains and 1 allergic to lamb (both very common allergies in dogs). We had poop problems for a bit, but they cleared up. I run a rescue for dachshunds and switch all my dogs over to it. It is tough at first (even with slowly switching) but in the end, it is better. My dogs have soft and shinny coats, no bald spots. A high quality food can reduce your vet bills and how much waste you have to clean up.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

I've got a almost 15 year old lab on Purina One Senior who is in great health besides some arthritis issues according to his vet. I'd say if your pup is thriving, then he's fine, I just wouldn't feed him table scraps (I don't think you do, just adding that in), if you're going to feed him regular food, then put him on the "Raw" diet and do it right, otherwise, the Purina works, and there are millions of dogs who do great on it.

 

[RachaelA]

We feed Wellness.

I definitely ditto checking out dogfoodanalysis.com

 

[goofyredraider]

Our English Bulldog eats the Nature's Balance (or Domain?) Sweet Potato and salmon (blue bag) from Costco. It doesn't have all the fillers that a lot of typical dog food has.

 

[sue_gowin]

Our goldendoodle has pretty serious food allergies, so we've spent YEARS looking for the best all-natural, grain-free (no by-product) food for her. Finally, just this year, we've found it! First, a few things we've discovered along the way...very high-protein, or high fat (they sometimes go hand-in-hand) could cause the runs...so it's not that the food is bad, it could just be that your pup may not be metabolizing it efficiently. Also, it takes up to 3 months for a food to run its course through a dog's body. For example, our doodle's allergies didn't subside until 3 months into her new food....so it's recommended that you give at least that much time to see how a new food will play out (unless it's the runs...no one enjoys that...esp your little pup!) Orijen (a Canadian brand) came highly recommended to us...but it gave her the runs (high fat content)..a few other brands had the same effect. A few I would recommend are: Taste of the Wild, Darford, Acana. We have finally settled on "Fromm" (Whitefish and Potato). They have a great line of food for dogs (and cats!) and it's MUCH less expensive than the crappy "vet formula" our vet urged us to buy for years. I could go on, but I'll leave it at that for now Looks like you've received some great advice here!! Let me know if you need any more info!!!! Hope your pup finally settles on some great food!!!!

 

[momtwoboys]

we used Solid Gold dry dog food "puppy formula" for our Toy Fox Terrier, and once she was considered not a puppy anymore we switched to Solid Gold SMall breed and no problems here, very healthy and she loves it! We get it at Petco and sometimes its on sale so we stock up. Good luck!

 

[rcraw45425]

Doing the slow transition from Nutro small bites to Solid Gold Bison for small breeds. Female Shih Tzu thought it was wonderful from the first bite but male (aka Mr. Picky) turned his head and backed away. He stayed on the Nutro for about five more days and then began bullying the female away from her feeder of mixed until I mixed his feeder as well. I have noticed the poo smells more than the Nutro though.

 

[Bibbidi]

Thought I'd give a quick update. We decided to give the Kirkland brand from Costco a try. My husband said, at best, it will be a good switch and we'll have upgraded the quality of his food quite a bit, for a much better value as well ($13.49 for 20 lbs, versus $35 for 15 lbs of Innova). If Kirkland doesn't work, DH wants to try the Innova, and if that is problematic, we'll go back to Purina Pro, since we know that agrees with him. We are going to really slowly add the Kirkland in over the next couple weeks to minimize any issues. Thanks to everyone who responded with some great advice - I really appreciate it!

 

[momto2inKC]

We recently switched our dog and cats from Purina foods to Kirkland. The dog is doing really well! She loves the Kirkland. All but 1 of our cats took well to the switch. So she is now getting a mix of the Purina and Wellness. They all want each others food though. The dog wants the cats food, the cat that gets sick from the Kirkland wants the Kirkland and the other cats want her Wellness

 

[Sgt Mickey]

Anytime we switch brands it effects my dogs stomachs I never thought to do a 50 50 thing.

We now use science diet. Expensive for two labs. BUT we use it because the younger dog is on a low protein diet and the mature science diet works perfect for him.