[Reggie]

Can anyone give me puppy food advice for my new girl

 

[brianinptown]

I've heard lots of people say lots of things about bad fillers and to stay away from ALL grocery store dog food.  I've asked every VET that I've gone to, and everyone of them has said Science Diet is a great choice.  It's not SUPER expensive compared to many others, and both my dogs (a pug and boxer) have grown well and kept good healthy bodies.  Some people will say that it has too much junk in it, but not one VET has told me it's not good....so hope that helps!

 

[HannaBanana]

There are many great foods out there but not all are going to agree with your boxer.  I find that starting out on an "all life stages" is the best bet.  Canidae, Chix Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, are IMO the best cost friendly kibbles out there.  Both come in the all life stages.  They do not have any by products of corn.   They use brown rice which is a better grain for a dog to digest.   With a puppy just have to select a food that is under 28% protein.   Too high of a protein in a puppy food can cause accelerated bone growth.   The supporting tissues to these bones cannot keep up at the same growth rate thus causing injury.

Also with puppy's adding in a fish oil, sardines to kibble is a good idea too.  Like newborns puppies have weak immune systems.   So anything to support and build it up is always a great idea.  Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new addition.

 

[Bubbaboy]

http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp

Innova Puppy Food has been designed to supply highly digestible ingredients and important micronutrients needed to satisfy the urgent nutritional demands of growing puppies. In addition to the revolutionary use of fresh ingredients from the five basic food groups, Innova Puppy Food contains a unique blend of fat sources.

Utilizing cold pressed sunflower oil, chicken fat and ground flaxseed, Innova Puppy Food supplies the perfect balance of essential fatty acids which are so important in the maintenance of cell membranes and the development of healthy skin and coat. Innova Puppy Food provides the optimal levels of nutrients puppies need so that they can grow into healthy adults.

 

[msdiamonddawg]

Both Innova and Canidae are supposed to be excellent.  Mine is on Canidae, although I was looking at Innova.  In terms of cost, the Canidae was a great bang for the buck.  I'll see how my guy tolerates it over the next couple of months.  So far so good and he loves it.

 

[Newcastle]

There are a number of high-quality kibbles on the market; a good site to start is www.dogfoodanalysis.com which offers information on ingredients etc. and opinions on the value (or not) of those ingredients.  The Whole Dog Journal (www.whole-dog-journal.com) puts out a list of their approved dry foods each year as well, you can order a back copy of the magazine to get all the information (again based on ingredients, and this year after the massive recalls also based on the company's willingness to disclose manufacturer information).  Many of the top kibbles are all-life-stages, so no "puppy food" vs. "adult food" - after all, wild puppies eat the same thing their parents do.    

Certainly talk to your vet about foods, but be aware that most vets have little to no formal education on pet nutrition unless they've taken advanced studies; most vet school curricula include at most a semester on animal nutrition, which covers all species.  Many vets and vet students, however, get a lot of information from pet food manufacturers, in the form of seminars/lunches, books, free food for their personal pets, kickbacks on food they sell in their office, etc.  Vets cannot be expert on everything, just like general practice doctors, and that's not a bad thing.

 

[tankermomma]

proplan is also good...

 

[samsonsmom]

The best thing to do is check out what's available at your pet store( is it a big chain like Petsmart, or small independently run shop)...Write them down, then look at the lists we have posted in the Sticky topics...Or make copies of the posts and take them with you...A lot of it is trial and error..I have only run into 1 food that didn't agree with mine..You can e-mail the different companies and ask for samples to try as well..When trying a new food, but the smallest amount at first, saves you money in the long run if it doesn't work..

At the end of the day, there is no "perfect or best" food...The best food is the one that agrees with your Boxer

 

[My_Harleigh]

I thought I could find Canidae at Petsmart and it wasn't there. Where do you all get your Canidae food?

 

[JettaAndOscar]

I would say science diet puppy food is NOT a good choice.  Thats what I bought Oscar and then when I was reading the ingredients I wasn't pleased.  And then later in obedience school for Oscar the trainer strongly cautioned about purchasing food that has corn in it because it tends to be hard to digest.

I buy my Canidae at the local pet store.  Its not a chain though, I know I can't find it at Petco.

 

[My_Harleigh]

[quote="JettaAndOscar\";p=\"98453":3q098t4b]

I buy my Canidae at the local pet store.

 

[PhoenixsMom]

I've noticed Canidae at smaller food stores or even feed supply places.

I've switched Phoenix over to Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul Large breed (they do have a puppy verison as well) and I've noticed a great difference in her coat and digestion and she's even putting on a little weight.

 

[sizzam]

I just started my guy on Canidae All Stages today.  It is one of the foods recommended often in this forum, and is rated at 5 out of 6 stars here:  

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food ... 28&cat=all

He's four months old and only been with me for a little over a week now.   He has been on Beneful since he was born.  Beneful is rated very low (1 star at dogfoodanalysis.com and 'F' on all other scales I've seen).  His stool has been soft and he gets constant clear eye boogers (not sure if its the food or something else causing that).  He also tends to 'graze' at his bowl instead of eating it all at one shot.  

This morning I mixed Canidae and Beneful about half/half to make sure I don't upset his stomach.   I'm going to do this for the next few days if needed to make sure he transitions ok.  I was a little unsure about the Canidae when I opened it up, it looks kind of like really dark Cocoa Puffs.  But, my goodness, this was very ironic because Murphy went cuckoo over this food!  He scarfed it down and chased down every piece that went astray and then proceeded to lick his bowl.

As long as it agrees with his stomach, I think I've found his new food, at least for a while.   I'm very comfortable with the meat content and ingredients, and he likes it a lot.  After tax I paid about $45 for a 40 lb bag, but I didn't shop around so I may be able to get the next bag cheaper.

 

[sizzam]

I thought I could find Canidae at Petsmart and it wasn't there. Where do you all get your Canidae food?

I used the store locator at canidae.com to figure out where to find it:

http://www.canidae.com/company/storelocator.html

All of the locations near me are small privately owned pet supply stores.

 

[Piper08]

We feed Piper "Merrick Puppy Plate" and she loves it! She actually starting eating all of her food once we starting mixing in the Merrick with the beneful that the Breeder was feeding her.  It rated a 5 out of 6 stars on Dogfoodanalysis.com.  I actually looked at that site before I decided what food to get...and I found it really helpful.

The first three and the sixth ingredients are named meat products and the major grains in the food are oatmeal, barley and rice.  It also has some fruits and veggies in it.  After the puppy plate..she can try the adult food, which is made for rotational feeding - they have different flavors for different tastes (if you would like to swithc it up)

I have heard that Merrick can be rich for dogs that might have a sensative stomach, but Piper hasnt had any issues.

They also make treats, like bones and tendons and stuff...and Piper goes crazy over them!

Like Chix Soup and Canidae, you have to buy Merrick in a non-chain pet food store.  What I did, was make a list of all the potential foods that I had heard good things about, then went to the store to talk to the people at the store since they deal with the foods everday and know alot about them.  The guy must have spent an hour with me, going over each food and teh pros and cons.  It was time well spent.

Here is the website if you are interested..  http://www.merrickpetcare.com

If you live in the MD, Baltimore area...I can point you in the direction of some specialty stores.

 

[My_Harleigh]

[quote="sizzam\";p=\"98494":1bnjlw6a]I just started my guy on Canidae All Stages today.

 

[sumyasmom]

i like sumyas food. i wish i would have found it sooner because it is an all stages food.i feed her flint river ranch's fish and chips.it is pretty pricey though, i pay about 57.00 for 40 pounds of food.each boxer is different though, does not always matter if it gets alot of stars it might be too rich for a pups tummy and give them the poops.

 

[sizzam]

Harleigh's stools are loose and has ALOT of eye boogers too. More so with the eyes in the past couple days. I have heard many different reasons behind it but coincidently, I switched her food (same brand Royal Canin) from babydog to puppydog and her eye boogers are worse. So I may be switching to Canidae very soon. I have heard very good things

If the eye boogers are being caused by the food, it might be tricky figuring out the ingredient that is the culprit.   Over in this thread, Beka said that it looks like it was the chicken in her dog's food that was causing the eye boogers for her dogs.  Switching to a lamb food got rid of the eye boogers for her.   I noticed that DogFoodAnalysis.com gives Canidae's Lamb and Rice Formula 4 out of 6 stars due to "limited confidence in meat content".

 

[sizzam]

I just started my guy on Canidae All Stages today.  It is one of the foods recommended often in this forum, and is rated at 5 out of 6 stars here:  

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food ... 28&cat=all

He's four months old and only been with me for a little over a week now.   He has been on Beneful since he was born.  Beneful is rated very low (1 star at dogfoodanalysis.com and 'F' on all other scales I've seen).  His stool has been soft and he gets constant clear eye boogers (not sure if its the food or something else causing that).  He also tends to 'graze' at his bowl instead of eating it all at one shot.  

This morning I mixed Canidae and Beneful about half/half to make sure I don't upset his stomach.   I'm going to do this for the next few days if needed to make sure he transitions ok.  I was a little unsure about the Canidae when I opened it up, it looks kind of like really dark Cocoa Puffs.  But, my goodness, this was very ironic because Murphy went cuckoo over this food!  He scarfed it down and chased down every piece that went astray and then proceeded to lick his bowl.

As long as it agrees with his stomach, I think I've found his new food, at least for a while.   I'm very comfortable with the meat content and ingredients, and he likes it a lot.  After tax I paid about $45 for a 40 lb bag, but I didn't shop around so I may be able to get the next bag cheaper.

Well, its been almost a week on the Canidae, and I don't think its going to work out.   His poop has been firm, but unfortunately he's going about six times a day.   I think its back to the drawing board for us.

 

[luvmyboxers]

I feed mine Purina Pro Plan Puppy lamb and rice.  I feed my older 2 Purina Pro Plan sensitve stomach.  They all love it and do very well!