# Puppy Food



## Furbaby's Mommie (Jul 10, 2004)

I'm getting ready for puppy to come home in 2 wks. I've been reading ingredients in various kibbles until I'm dizzy. Unfortunately many of the "premium" brands, all natural, or holistic ones don't seem to have puppy versions. Seems like the ones labeled for puppies have higher protein, fat, and calcium---I'm not sure what else there is that makes a puppy version, except of course the size of the kibble. I want new puppy to have every advantage to be healthy and develop to best possible. He is on Bil Jac puppy now, but in their food I find BHA and other preservatives, dried beet pulp, chicken-by-products and molasses---all which I don't like to see.
I've looked at the new Orijen from Canada which my pet store carries but it has so many berries and herbs it makes my head swim to read. I don't know if that is bad or good! It is 75% meat.
How about Wellness for Puppies? It has tomato "Pomace" and tomatoes. Is that O.K.?
Or Solid Gold Hundchen Flocken Puppy? Some of the things I don't know about using in dog food is Blueberries, Cranberries, Chicory root, Spearmint and Amaranth.
How about Flint River puppy? It sounds good, but I'd have to order.
Some of you have made a real science study of dog food and end up mostly cooking. I'm not going to want to do that with a puppy. I'd be afraid of not getting all the essential mineral/vitamins and the correct protein/fat/carb ratio. Has anyone here done this kind of study of 'puppy food'?


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## lillady (Jan 25, 2007)

Hey there! I am sooooooooo excited to see your new little one. :chili: :chili: :chili: I suppose you'll get a ton of diff. answers but we love Canidae and it's for all life stages, including puppy. The pieces are small and Kosmo still LOVES it (we switched him to that months ago!). Firm poo and less smelly!! You can go to their website and do a store locator to see if they have a store near you that sells it. :biggrin:


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## Scoobydoo (May 26, 2005)

Oh gosh Dee I Just know you are so very excited :chili: :chili: only two weeks, that time is going to go so fast  
I feed Koko the Canidae all life stages too and he loves it, I use both the canned and the kibble and it seems to agree with him very well with his sensitive tummy.
I use the canned for Scooby too, and he is also doing great on it. I do use Castor & Pollux canned as well for Scooby, I am not sure if they do a puppy one, but their food is really good.

I bet you are counting the days Dee, have you decided on a name yet?


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## KandiMaltese (Mar 27, 2007)

Hey Dee ..First of all I'm so excited for you :chili: :chili: 

Personally, I like Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Puppy..it's for sensitive stomach and is guaranteed to improve skin and coat and makes poop 
less smelly. :thumbsup:

I feed my puppies Eukanuba Small bites puppy dry food, but after trying the Nutro, I may switch over. It's really good stuff!! Good luck and please
be sure to post some pics when you get your little puppy! 

Andrea


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## Julie718 (Feb 17, 2006)

I gave Tango and Tillie Innova Evo for puppies. Now they get the Adult Innova Evo food. Can't wait to see pics of your new furbaby!


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## Linus McDuff (Jul 12, 2006)

We fed Wellness for Puppies and Duff loved it!


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## art (Oct 31, 2006)

I had the same concerns when we first brought Mia home. We went from Castor and Pollux to Nutro and finally settlled with Wellness. She loves it. We started off with the puppymix and she is currently on the Adult supermix. There are beef and lamb flavors, she liked both. I am also a label reader and am happy with the the quality of foods Wellness produces. Even their treats are great. Another thing to note- With all the food recalls lately in the news, Wellness was never on any of the recall lists!! and many other "holistic" brands were.


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## coco (Sep 20, 2006)

Coco ate Eukanuba puppy food, and now she eats Canidae and Flint River Ranch. She seems to want to switch. She did great on the Eukanuba puppy food and never had staining.


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## Missy&Maggie (Jun 17, 2007)

I know...there are so many high quality puppy foods on the market. It is so hard to make a decision. I have Maggie on Orijen and Wellness Puppy formulas. I mix the two. What you could do to prepare for your new lil one is to get samples of the foods that you are interested in for and see which he likes best. You could also use the samples that you don't pick as treats. Just some ideas. I know exactly how you feel though.


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## bruinkoala (Aug 18, 2005)

I've gone through many different puppy foods for Bruno... 

1st - chicken lovers for the puppy soul
* switch because i read somewhere that a lot of doggies are allergic to chicken and he was scratching a lot - Bruno did like it
2nd - Merrick 
* switched because one day, he just wouldn't eat it anymore
3rd - Solid Gold Hundchen Flocken Puppy - He LOVED it!!!

For Mocha, I first started her on Artemis. Her poop stinked really bad and was a bit soft. She liked it, but I read that the smell of your dog's poop tells you something about the food they are eating. I switched her to Canidae and she LOVES it and no more smelly, soft poop!


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## LitGal (May 15, 2007)

Congratulations on your new little one!

Haiku is on Orijen, and I have read only wonderful things about this food - it is carefully formulated according to the needs of dogs and it contains ingredients that are preventative of many common problems that dogs can have. Also, it is made from only local ingredients. No ingredients are imported from abroad and it is all table-quality. Haiku loves the food and she is doing very well on it. Check out their website for more information.


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## Furbaby's Mommie (Jul 10, 2004)

:biggrin: Thanks for your help guys. I did go get samples and the ones I'm going to try are Canidae,Orijen,Wellness, and Hundchen Flocken Puppy. Wellness has a Puppy canned too. Wellness is changing their packaging and the name of the puppy food to "Just for Puppy". I think I'll try mixing canned and dry food at least until he is older. He'll be 11 wks. when I pick him up on Aug. 18. The breeder is going to the National Specialty on what would be 12 wks. Depending on his weight, he'll probably get other things too. Yogurt for sure. His litter has been well ahead for their ages, so I hope 11 wks. isn't a problem.


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## Desiree (May 29, 2007)

Looks like you've done some homework!  I feed Eros Blue Buffalo. He's eating the chicken & brown rice recipe for puppies because I haven't been able to find the lamb recipe for puppies in my area, but it is very good food. If you go to the Blue Buffalo website there is a section where you can compare dog food & they will send you a sample of their food if you'd like to try it. Can't wait to see pictures of your baby  

<div align="center">Desiree & Eros


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

I'm no help, we have totally different brands here - but I just wanted to say how excited I am about your new bundle of love! I know my excitement could never equal yours ... but I reckon it's pretty close!!!!! 

14 days and counting!!!!! :chili: :aktion033:


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## sassy's mommy (Aug 29, 2005)

One that your baby will eat. :chili: 

Actually, sometimes you can just switch to a different flavor of the same brand you were feeding to begin with. ie, Sassy will not eat the Lamb flavors, but she loves anything chicken. Sooooooooooooooo, chicken it is. There are many great brands out there and not all fluffs like the same thing so you may have to do some trial and error to find a perfect match that your baby likes and will eat. That is the key....will eat. If your baby won't eat it then it doesn't matter how good the quality is. Some pet stores offer sample size bags, try those or else buy the smallest bag possible to begin with. Also, many stores allow you to return unused bags if your baby won't eat it. You could also donate the unused portion to the local animal shelter. Our squirrels like dog food. :HistericalSmiley:


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## giselle79 (Aug 8, 2007)

I live in Canada and feed my baby Go Natural grain free formula, it's great. True, it has some potatoes, pumpkin and cramberry, but it's good for the baby too. It has no filler and that's the best part because after he does business it's so easy to clean up :biggrin: because it makes his digestive system works perfectly.
It has no puppy version but is perfectly adaptable because has a lot of protein and tastes delicious (I tried before giving it to Maxi) and he loves it.
We are really happy :wub:


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## Gemma (Jan 19, 2006)

haha, I was going to say Frosty's Doggie Patties  but you are right, you should find something because you'll never know what is missing in homemade food. I've used your recipes and now cooking for spareky every other week and freeze them. hard work though :smheat:


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## Furbaby's Mommie (Jul 10, 2004)

> haha, I was going to say Frosty's Doggie Patties  but you are right, you should find something because you'll never know what is missing in homemade food. I've used your recipes and now cooking for spareky every other week and freeze them. hard work though :smheat:[/B]


Hey that's great! Frosty ate them for a long time. There are lots of variation you can do. I always used unsalted veggies of different kinds. Sometimes cottage cheese, sometimes yogurt, different meats and more or less eggs. Sometimes baked them with bread crumbs and sometimes just 1/4 cup smashed to a patty in a bag and frozen. I love it because everything was pre cooked. Just thaw and feed or warm in micro. I always tried to get him to eat some kibble with them and his supplements. But no I don't want to take any chances with a growing puppy.


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## Furbaby's Mommie (Jul 10, 2004)

> I live in Canada and feed my baby Go Natural grain free formula, it's great. True, it has some potatoes, pumpkin and cramberry, but it's good for the baby too. It has no filler and that's the best part because after he does business it's so easy to clean up :biggrin: because it makes his digestive system works perfectly.
> It has no puppy version but is perfectly adaptable because has a lot of protein and tastes delicious (I tried before giving it to Maxi) and he loves it.
> We are really happy :wub:[/B]


I found that Go Natural at a local store the other day. Hadn't seen it before. However, even tho' they say puppies can eat it I was told not to do it. I liked Evo too but it is grain free meat, I don't remember if it has the carbs like Go does. How do you feed the Go? Do you add water? It feels like a granular stuff instead of kibble in the bag.


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## giselle79 (Aug 8, 2007)

I feed the Go Natural as it's, I don't use water because A Maximus is 4 months and is used to eating dry food. Since the smaller scale in weight is 10 pounds I just feed half of what is supposed for a 10 pounds puppy because mine is only 4 pounds, so 1/3 cup a day divided in two rations is perfect. It's like a kibble but smaller and is not that hard either, I give Maxi training at eating time and he loves this food. My puppy is active and looks really healthy, so I don't think about changing his food.  even if it's more expensive than other brands.


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