puppy food question

[lute]

are any of these pupy foods good for my husky pup?

purina puppy chow
pedigree
diamonds puppy formula

any other good puppy foods that you know of?

[binka_nugget]

I've read somewhere that people with larger breeds often feed adult food and skip puppy food because the puppy food pushes them to go too fast.

However, if you do choose to feed a puppy formula, these kibbles seem to have great ingredients (and you'll definitely need a higher quality food if you plan on showing):

-Innova Puppy
-California Natural Puppy
-Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul Puppy
-Canidae (all life stages)
-Wellness Super5mix Puppy

[Glacier]

Ask the breeder what she's feeding and stick with that at first.

I never did puppy food for my husky pups. Earle prefered the adult food and Cobber, my ancient GSD (now at the bridge), liked the puppy food. Earle grew just fine, Cobber was getting fat! So everyone ate the same adult formula. Earle got an extra feeding since the adults were only fed once a day.

[LuvGold00]

My puppies always get a large breed formula...
This is what my puppies get:
http://www.eaglepack.com/pages/ep_large_giant_puppy.html

I would email or call your breeder and find out what they plan to start the puppies on, then you can decide wether you wan to switch her over when she comes home.
My new puppy is currently on Innova Adult Food, but I plan to switch him.

[caseysmom]

I give bubba the california's natural puppy formula...its good stuff...casey gets the adult formula.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I wouldn't feed Pedigree or Puppy Chow. I'm not familiar with Dimamonds.

[wolfsoul]

I agree with KBlaix...I wouldn't feed Purina or Pedigree. I'd stay away from Diamond too.


Purina Healthy Start ingredients:

Ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, chicken by-product meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), soybean meal, brewers rice, beef and bone meal, beef, sugar, pearled barley, sorbitol, animal digest, salt, tricalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, phosphoric acid, sorbic acid (a preservative), potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried carrots, dried peas, calcium propionate, zinc proteinate, choline chloride, DL-Methionine, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 2), vitamin supplements (E, A, B 12, D 3), manganese proteinate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, copper proteinate, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, calcium carbonate, brewers dried yeast, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.
D-4037

Pedigree puppy chow:
GROUND YELLOW CORN, CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, RICE, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, ANIMAL FAT (PRESERVED WITH MIXED TOCOPHEROLS, SOURCE OF VITAMIN E), NATURAL POULTRY FLAVOR, WHEAT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT, BREWERS DRIED YEAST, WHEAT FLOUR, CARAMEL COLOR, WHEAT GLUTEN, VEGETABLE OIL, CALCIUM CARBONATE, TAURINE*, VITAMINS (DL-ALPHA TOCOPHEROL ACETATE [SOURCE OF VITAMIN E], CHOLINE CHLORIDE,L-ASCORBYL-2-POLYPHOSPHATE [SOURCE OF VITAMIN C*], VITAMIN A ACETATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], D-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT, RIBOFLAVIN SUPPLEMENT [VITAMIN B2], BIOTIN, VITAMIN B12 SUPPLEMENT), MARIGOLD MEAL (SOURCE OF LUTEIN*), TRACE MINERALS (ZINC SULFATE, COPPER SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE).



Diamond puppy food:
Chicken by-product meal, whole grain ground corn, rice flour, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), wheat flour, beet pulp, fish meal, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, egg product, brewers dried yeast, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganese oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (source of vitamin K activity), riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid

Ashley is right -- puppy food is filled with too many nutrients that cause a dog to grow too fast. I prfer an adult food that lets a puppy grow slowly and carefully. If you insist on a puppy food, use a large breed formula. She also posted some good foods. :) Some more good foods are
Go! Natural
Foundations
Solid Gold
Summit
Pro Pac Holistic
Eagle Pack Holistic
Healthwise

[caseysmom]

Its funny because bubba actually prefers caseys adult dog food and casey is always stealing bubba's puppy food. I give bubba some of the adult food here and there but thought that wasn't good for him..is the whole puppy food thing a scam?

Do you think a small dog while a puppy should have puppy food?

[Glacier]

Originally posted by caseysmom
..is the whole puppy food thing a scam?


My vet thinks the whole "stages of life" formulas are a scam! He says there are occasionally reasons to feed specific formulas--a cat with urinary tract problems, a dog with kidney disease. But other than specific problems, he says a good high quality kibble is good from start to finish.

He also approves of raw diets done properly.

[sammy101]

all my dogs got Pedigree when they were pups,thats what Lucy is eating now.I would give your new pup on whatever they like,and whatever you can afford.
My dogs do great on Pedigree.We tried feeding Kodie Nutro but he hated it.So he's back on Pedigree.which i dont see a big deal about,i feed him what he loves the most,and what he's healthy on.:)

[bckrazy]

my favorites are Solid Gold Wolf Cub, Wellness by Old Mother Hubbard, and Chicken Soup... Puppy Food :D

Pedigree and Purina are definitely no-nos! Corn has no nutritional value, period. Look for foods that are specifically for large breeds (Solid Gold Wolf Cub would be great!! its sold at most natural food stores/pet specialty stores), without any corn, no soy, very little if any wheat, and a WHOLE meat as the first ingredient.. deboned chicken, lamb, etc, needs to be the first ingredient, with no meat by-products.

[sammy101]

just wondering..how come lots of people are against feeding their dogs Pedigree??:confused: I feed mine and they do wonderful on it,and Kodie doesnt like the more expensive brands.
.

[caseysmom]

The corn fills the dogs up without proper nutrition...kind of like us eating potato chips all day instead of veggies...

Another plus on the good quality foods...smaller poops....

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by sammy101
just wondering..how come lots of people are against feeding their dogs Pedigree??:confused: I feed mine and they do wonderful on it,and Kodie doesnt like the more expensive brands.
.
Pedigree is notorious for putting horrible things in their food. :( If a dog does fine on it, than that's good, but generally, unless someone has trouble affording a good quality brand, I say to stay away from it.

Look at the ingredients for Pedigree Complete Nutrition. I'm assuming this is their most popular kibble. Everything in bold is not generally good. Corn can be okay sometimes -- though it has little nutritional value, it adds fibre, however, it should never be one of the first ingredients. Meat and bone meal is just slang for roadkill and euthanized pets. Animal fat is slang for "we don't know what kind of fat this is."

GROUND YELLOW CORN, MEAT AND BONE MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, ANIMAL FAT (PRESERVED WITH BHA/BHT), WHEAT MILL RUN, NATURAL POULTRY FLAVOR, RICE, SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, CARAMEL COLOR, WHEAT FLOUR, WHEAT GLUTEN, VEGETABLE OIL, VITAMINS (CHOLINE CHLORIDE, dl-ALPHA TOCOPHEROL ACETATE [SOURCE OF VITAMIN E], L-ASCORBYL-2-POLYPHOSPHATE [SOURCE OF VITAMIN C*], VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENT, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], BIOTIN, d-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, RIBOFLAVIN SUPPLEMENT [VITAMIN B2], VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT, VITAMIN B12 SUPPLEMENT), TRACE MINERALS (ZINC SULFATE, COPPER SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE).


Do you think a small dog while a puppy should have puppy food?
I've not heard about many problems with small dogs eating puppy food. Probably because small dogs grow faster and don't need to take as much time as large breeds. :)

[binka_nugget]

Originally posted by sammy101
just wondering..how come lots of people are against feeding their dogs Pedigree??:confused: I feed mine and they do wonderful on it,and Kodie doesnt like the more expensive brands.
.

Well, the main thing is that they are getting fed.. and if they do well on Pedigree, great!

However, I am a firm believer in "you are what you eat" (and apply it to my dogs too). As an example.. Most of us know that Kibbles and Bits is complete junk. Just as how I would love McDonalds for every meal, my dogs would love Kibbles and Bits for every meal... but it definately wouldn't be good for me (or them!). With that said, Kai did well on Eukanuba/Kibbles and bits while he was growing up. It wasn't until I switched to higher quality food that I REALLY saw the difference. He went from a dog with no illnesses to a dog with no illnesses, higher energy and a shinier coat. And when we switched to raw, he had high energy, perfect teeth, a shiny coat, gleeming eyes and was in perfect health. I'm not sure if this makes sense but what I'm trying to say is, some dogs can do "fine" on some foods but those dogs could be better than "fine" on higher quality foods.

Also, in the long run, the results are apparent. Dogs on lower quality food often suffer from more health problems than dogs on higher quality foods/raw.

[MariaM]

We've recently starting feeding Major Purina ONE Adult Formula but before that he was eating Purina ONE Large Breed Puppy Formula. He was great on it. Never got fat at all. I believe ONE is better than just normal Purina puppy chow...so you could try that if you wanted. I wouldn't recommend it if you can afford more though.

[lute]

thanks for all your advice!:D

i think i'll feed what the breeder is feeding till i can get her to switch over to what i wanna feed her. i am going ingrediant(sp) shopping at work on Sat t see what we have there since i get it so cheap cause i work there.

[Giselle]

Key points in looking for dog food:

Preferably holistic
Meat ALWAYS has to be the number 1 ingredient. No exceptions for me.
Absolutely NO food coloring
No BHT/BHA/propylene glycol
Corn, Wheat, and Soy are allowed, but discouraged.
By-Products are not allowed.
Dried beet pulp is discouraged, but allowed in minimal amounts.
No generic labels for protein or fat sources. This means, the label must be specific to origin. For example, chicken, beef, and venison are good. Poultry meal, animal fat, and meat meal are not good.
I know I'm forgetting a lot of stuff...but the above is a general guideline. It should head you in the right direction.

Honestly, just follow the Golden Food Rule. As long as your dog is doing well on the food and is as healthy as possible, then stick with it. If he's doing okay, but not greyt, then change it by all means. Lucky was doing okay on Wysong, Wellness, and Professional Adult, but he's doing better on Innova EVO. I plan to switch him to Pitcairn's diet, but not so much emphasis on the supplements. Giselle has been on Nutro (from foster's house), transitioned over to Wysong, which gave her a brittle coat, and now CSFTDLS, which she's doing greyt on. However, I feel like she could do better, so I'm studying about BARF and will switch her over to Innova EVO/BARF. Good Luck and happy hunting!