What to feed my puppy?

[traymoney]

another for Taste of the Wild! we have a beagle--and they are notoriously smelly. our breeder started her on Taste of the Wild. when she was about 6 months old, we tried to switch her to puppy chow... it made her so stinky that she would fart in her sleep, wake up, and walk away. Yuck.
It also made her "deposits" in the yard at least three times as big as they were before.
Taste of the Wild costs more--but it is worth every penny.

 

[mrodgers]

Can't have "cheap" and "no gas" in the same sentence.

I fretted about dog food when we got our Lab a few years ago. We did several recommended "good" dog food and our Lab was always acting hungry at feeding times, itched, poor coat, had gas, diarrhea and soft stools.

We tried a supermarket available brand (Iams I think it was) which is said on all the pet forums and sites to be just as much garbage as all the other cheap food and she improved tremendously. No more wolfing down 2 cups of food within 3 seconds 3 times per day, no more diarrhea and problems with bowels, no more gas, fur looked much better, and she quit itching constantly.

 

[maxiesmom]

I fretted about dog food when we got our Lab a few years ago. We did several recommended "good" dog food and our Lab was always acting hungry at feeding times, itched, poor coat, had gas, diarrhea and soft stools.

We tried a supermarket available brand (Iams I think it was) which is said on all the pet forums and sites to be just as much garbage as all the other cheap food and she improved tremendously. No more wolfing down 2 cups of food within 3 seconds 3 times per day, no more diarrhea and problems with bowels, no more gas, fur looked much better, and she quit itching constantly.

She is not wolfing down 2 cups of food because of how much filler is in supermarket dog food. When we adopted our lab, we were told to stay away from anything at the supermarket, it is full of filler and corn. And if you read the labels, you will see they are right.

Our dogs get a mix of nutro brand large breed and weight control. The weight control helps to fill them up. We also put a scoop of canned on top, because we were told that wet food helps to keep them more hydrated than just eating dry food all of the time.

 

[The Princess]

Even though its not cheap we buy Blue for our dog....its "real" food for dogs....no by product what so ever!!!!

 

[karenbaco]

Even though its not cheap we buy Blue for our dog....its "real" food for dogs....no by product what so ever!!!!

Which Blue? Blue Buffalo??

 

[puffkin]

I swear my animals are the biggest problem children when it comes to food. It is an ongoing saga at my house, especially with my one cat.

My beagle has tried a bunch of premium brands (Avoderm, Blue Buffalo, Wellness, etc) but the one that seems to work the best for him is the Natural Balance Lamb and Rice. It is pretty good quality and not quite as expensive as some of the others and his allergies (skin, ears) are much better on this brand.

My cats are on Wellness and Merrick B.G. (before grains) wet food and Halo dry food. Not the cheapest, but the one cat has done much better on this combination. We have literally tried every catfood out there, LOL. Oh, they love friskees but I won't feed that to them (except for a very rare treat) because it is like McDonald's for cats.

 

[mom2mikel]

I wanted to love Kirkland, but it gave two of my dogs very bad gas. (3 yo black lab and 3 yo Yorky ****zu).

Still trying to find the right food for them...

 

[janey99]

For those of you feeding a grain free commercial diet, do you prefer Blue Wilderness, Wellness CORE or Taste of the Wild?

Thanks,

J

 

[marie1203]

For those of you feeding a grain free commercial diet, do you prefer Blue Wilderness, Wellness CORE or Taste of the Wild?

Thanks,

J

We love taste of the wild. All 3 brands are comparable in quality but not in price. Blue being the most expensive. I am all for pet nutrition but it just doesn't make sense to get something more expensive when you can get it for cheaper and that is why we went with taste of the wild.

 

[karenbaco]

Ugh...still trying to decide. Looking at Chicken soup for the puppy lovers food, Solid Gold, By Nature, or Wellness. Decisions....I just want a healthy no gas puppy

 

[marie1203]

Ugh...still trying to decide. Looking at Chicken soup for the puppy lovers food, Solid Gold, By Nature, or Wellness. Decisions....I just want a healthy no gas puppy

Gas is not only about the food but how fast they eat. We have dogs that have bowls to slow them down because they eat too fast.

 

[My sister's princess]

We are currently feeding Lucky, our 85lb yellow lab chicken soup. He loves it, and is having less tummy trouble than the other food we tried. We have only had Lucky for 2 weeks, but finding a good food was important to us

 

[CathrynRose]

We really, really liked Taste of the Wild, too, for Charley. HOWEVER, it was too rich in protein for Hazel - being so young, and we weren't going to start buying 2 giant bags of food.

We switched to FROMM. Love it. Works well, for both of them.

Now, since Hazel's older, we probably could switch back to Taste, but I don't think we're going to bother. They both seem to like FROMM.

I absolutely agree that Taste is a great food, but I think for many pups, it might be a little too rich. A lot of the better companies, including Taste and Fromm, will send you samples, if you write to them. I'd do that first, before I'd invest in the $60 bag.

 

[disneystacy]

We feed Taste of the Wild. Our dogs do really well on it. Very little if any gas.

 

[OHVolunteer]

I feed my almost 4-year old Yorkie Wellness Super 5 Chicken mix and we feed her 1 cup a day (2, 1/2 cup servings (morning/night). Also, if you sign up for their newsletter on the website, you get a $3 off coupon each month. I typically purchase 1 of the small bags (I think it's 5 lbs) and it's usually about $12.99 after the coupon and lasts about a month.

 

[janey99]

We love taste of the wild. All 3 brands are comparable in quality but not in price. Blue being the most expensive. I am all for pet nutrition but it just doesn't make sense to get something more expensive when you can

get it for cheaper and that is why we went with taste of the wild.

Cool -thanks!

 

[karenbaco]

The associate at the store turned me on to Canidea. Anyone have any input on it???

 

[KDIPIAZZ]

I fed Canidae for several years and was very pleased with it. About 3 years ago, they changed their formula without notifying buyers. didn't handle the abrupt change well and people got upset. At the same time, the price went up approx $8. I switched to Kirkland Super Premium

 

[dclfun]

Ive been feeding my service dog Innova and she is now 8 years old. When I received her from the SD organization she had been eating Eukanuba lamb and rice. Once I switched her, the volume of her stools decreased which was a nice side effect. Labs love food and will pretty much eat anything but I had only a small amt. of the Innova left one day at work and mixed it in with the Eukanuba ( this was shortly after I'd switched her) and she glared at me for a bit before she'd eat it. It's not worth it to "go cheap" on dog food. The first three ingredients should be meat. There should be NO corn and some dogs have allergies to wheat also. There's lots of research online about quality dog foods and there are quite a few quality dog foods. I will say that Skye had a vet visit last month prior to her recertification and the vet told me she looked like a dog half her age. I'm not sure if it's her food, the quality of treats ( she gets only organic) or the fact that she is with me all the time so more active than a stay-at-home dog but I was happy to get that news!---Kathy

 

[LightBurnsBlue]

Another vote for Blue Buffalo.