Dog Food Brands

[AliceGrimm]

I am just curious if you guys have a list of good dog food brands (as I know some foods will help your dog be at his/her best, while more inexpensive brands tend to not be so good for the puppies). I also want to know which brands have the most recalls or something wrong? What is safe?

When you are a new puppy owner, I know you use what the breeder used to make a slow transition, but do you stay with that? And I know there are certain veggies and fruits that dogs can have and certain ones they can't have at all.

The breed I am looking into getting, is a Miniature Schnauzer and they tend to be prone to diabetes. So I was wondering for training I could do some fruits and veggies, and use meat or high value treats for more important things as well.

The breeder I am getting my puppy from said: " Purina Pro and Royal Canin for puppies.We also use natural home cooked meals for dogs . Sometimes recommendations about food changes during raising a litter - because of recall on food or we did not like something how it works for particular animal. You will have all information and sample of food." Which I appreciate, but I just want to know what you guys have to say about certain brands and stuff. I have been hearing a lot of good things about Life’s Abundance brand as well.

I also can't remember when it is best to switch from a puppy food to a dog food. And how much do you feed a puppy and when do you change the amount for an adult dog? And how much do they get?

Thank you so much! I am so sorry for all the questions.

[Nettle]

Never be sorry for asking questions You are thinking this through before you get your dog and how I wish more people would.

Dog nutrition is a huge subject much like people nutrition, and there is so much information, some good, some not, that it can make your mind spin.

There are several sites that tell you the ingredients in dog food. One is dogfoodanalysis.com and if you do a Search you will find others. They are independent. Commercial dog food manufacturers obviously want to sell their own food so their information is, shall we say, biased Similarly. vet practices make a lot of profit from selling dog food, but vets and vet nurses don't get a lot of training in nutrition unless they take a specific qualification in it, and most of the information they do get comes from - the commercial dog food manufacturers. So they are not a great source of information either.

Many of us here feed raw, or a mixture of raw and cooked food. This is a lot easier than it sounds, but it IS more effort than feeding a bowl of kibble or opening a tin. Again, you will find lots of information, and some diametrically opposing views!

Re: puppy food - there are no animals where the young eat any differently from the adults once they are weaned. Puppy food is a gimmick. I have bred litters and always weaned straight onto raw food because that's how I feed anyway, and so do my friends that breed dogs. Nor do puppies need cow milk, goat milk or any other milk - the best milk is in their mother, and by the time you get your puppy, it will be weaned.

However it does make sense to change the puppy's diet over a week or so, just by mixing the old with the new. Puppies in any case often have runny bowels for a few days from the stress of changing homes.

[AliceGrimm]

Oh that makes sense. I am a little bit afraid of the raw food. But I would have no problem feeding a puppy/dog cooked meas and raw veggies or sometimes cooked veggies. I am not big on the bones (because I am worried about splinters and hurting the puppy) the raw meat and eggs make me worry about salmonella or other such things). I am also worried if I feed the dog foods.. I might miss key nutrition.

Like how do you know if your dog is getting too much protein, and not enough of something else?

I just thought puppy food was designed to have more calorie and nutrition dense foods to help a puppy with growing, where dog food took some of those high calories out. But that was something that was told to me by a manufacturer or something when I worked at PetSmart.

Also.. I am confused with some things like.. use garlic for a bit of taste, but yet garlic isn't good for puppies. I am so confused. lol

[Erica]

The manufacturer rep told you their food is good? I think one of the main concerns is for large breed puppies, the ratio of nutrients in some adult foods can encourage too-fast growth that damages their bones in the long run. "Adult" dog food is not ideal for puppies, but food "For All Life Stages" should be appropriate, especially as you're getting a smaller dog. (At least, American companies hold to this labelling. Other countries probably differ!) If it eases your mind to get a good brand's puppy food that won't hurt, certainly! I think people typically feed puppy food until their dog is around a year old.

[AliceGrimm]

Thank you both so much!

If I were to do a the cooked/raw diet, how do you know how much say meat to give versus carbs? And how many veggies and stuff?
And or what sort of other nutritional things dogs may need?

Like, do they need high calcium foods, or fiber? Or certain vitamins?

I will definitely check out those sites and try to figure out what may be best.


lol Yeah, I think we had Blue Buffalo rep come in. They wanted to sell to the customers who walked in. But yeah. So I can't remember if it was them or PetSmart knowledge that told me there was a difference in the dog foods or not.

How many times a day should a puppy be fed, and how much? Is there a place to look this up?
And if you plan on doing training, do you then cut back on some of the meal food?

[JudyN]

If I were to do a the cooked/raw diet, how do you know how much say meat to give versus carbs? And how many veggies and stuff?
And or what sort of other nutritional things dogs may need?

If you raw feed, you don't need to give carbs at all. The amount of veg isn't critical - some people don't feed any at all. You might want to look at ready-made raw food, as discussed here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22466 It's the best of both worlds, in a way - the benefits of raw, with the reassurance that it's balanced.

How many times a day should a puppy be fed, and how much? Is there a place to look this up?

A good breeder will give you this information, but as a rough guide you should feed four times a day till they are 4 months, then three times till 6 months, then twice a day. If you feed a commercial food then there will be guidelines on the packaging. With raw feeding, you should aim for 2-3% of the ideal weight of an adult of that breed. This looks like a good intro for raw feeding pups, which should allay some of your fears: http://thehappypuppysite.com/how-to-fee ... -raw-food/

And if you plan on doing training, do you then cut back on some of the meal food?

Yes - you should plan on doing a lot of training even if it's not in actual classes, and the training treats should come out of their daily amount. If you feed kibble, you can actually use the kibble, though you might want something a little more tempting. This depends on the dog - mine is highly motivated by any food, and if it's too exciting he can't think straight ). It also helps if he's a little hungry when training but again, not if it makes him anxious. And like people, some dogs will put on weight very easily if they just get a few extra calories a day, and some have hollow legs

[Shalista]

and some have hollow legs

True story, i once cut up a bunch of hot dogs to use as treats for Bax. Went to class and worked with him. Went through THREE HOT DOGS for my 11-pound dog. He kept working right through looking for more. Poor bax, he'd work for road kill if i let him eat it

[AliceGrimm]

If you raw feed, you don't need to give carbs at all. The amount of veg isn't critical - some people don't feed any at all. You might want to look at ready-made raw food, as discussed here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22466 It's the best of both worlds, in a way - the benefits of raw, with the reassurance that it's balanced.

I will definitely check it out. Does all the foods have to be raw? Can you cook some of it and not do shells and bones?
I would be so afraid of making a puppy sick.

[Shalista]

I confess i panicked a bit when i first started feeding bax chicken legs to. it's okay, there's a lot of research out there on this.

[AliceGrimm]

Yikes! I was always taught that things like chicken bones would hurt the puppy or rip and tear things.
Did it work out? The chicken legs? Do you feed them to him raw and none cooked?
Does it lose its nutrition if you cook the meat? I did read that article. But it seems like I have so so very much more to learn.

[Erica]

Cooking is what makes bones splintery and dangerous. Raw bones, in a dog with a healthy gut, should be digested fine. When they come out the other end they are squishy, if your dog swallows any large chunks of them. They should chew and crunch them up, though. If your pup is having trouble with bones, you can also get pre-prepared raw that's all ground up, so there are no big chunks that are hard to digest. That does take away the teeth-cleaning bonus of raw bones though.

Cooking also destroys some nutrients and proteins, so home-cooked diets do need supplements to be healthy. I haven't done much research on them and I don't know of anyone on here who has either...

Delta's breeder has been feeding all her dogs raw for I think about 30 years and knock on wood, hasn't had any problems that have made her reconsider!

[JudyN]

Just think of all the carnivores in the wild that eat raw bones the whole time - if the bones caused a problem in some animals they'd have been removed from the evolutioinary gene pool

Some people say you can't combine cooked & raw - cooked takes much longer to digest so it slows down the transit of raw, giving more time for bugs to develop... in theory. In practice, I know (online) loads of people who feed a mixture fp raw and cooked/kibble, sometimes even in the same meal, and have never heard of any of them having a problem. My dog gets kibble, cooked meat, old pizza crusts, salami and whatever other suitable leftovers we have as treats, and often gets other leftovers (I avoid anything with onions, avocado, salt, etc.), and he does fine

[Nettle]

Two useful books by vet. Dr. Ian Billinghurst - Give Your Dog a Bone and Grow Your Pups With Bones.

He's a vet not a writer so the books, while easy to read, get a bit repetitive, but are well worth investigation.

[AliceGrimm]

Hmm.. I think I will have to do more research. lol

I would so love to feed the puppy, but I have to be careful. lol No pizza crusts for my puppy. Obesity is an awful trait for my breed.

Have you guys ever worried about a dog eating raw things.. and then licking you or other things and spreading those germs about the house or onto yourselves and make you sick?

[Fundog]

Okay, to answer the question about cooking: cooking meat does change the chemistry/mineral balance, particularly phosporous to calcium ratio. Apparently, cooking makes the phosphorous ratio a bit high in relation to the calcium, and that can cause some kidney problems. So if you're going to cook, you need to do more research. In the end, I personally have realized that if I'm going to cook anyway, I may as well just feed raw-- it's simpler, less complicated, more convenient, and my dogs like raw every bit as much as they like cooked. *shrug*

When I feed raw (I quit and went back to kibble because the cost of red meat became prohibitive), I feed it frozen. That's right, I just pull a frozen hunk of meat out of the freezer, hand it to my dogs, and they wolf it down, no problem. (no pun intended, btw) One of my dogs prefers her meat thawed, but the other doesn't really like the texture. For her, it's either cooked or frozen. So... frozen it is.

Kibble: Besides the 50 lbs of frozen raw elk (we have nice friends) in the freezer, we currently feed Nature's Domain [insert meat] and Sweet Potato, from Costco. My dogs seem to have issues with grain, and ND is grain free, and not terribly expensive. (It's not "cheap," but it's not the most expensive either)

As far as bacteria: practice the same level of hygiene and sanitation that you would when preparing meals for yourself and your family. It really doesn't have to get complicated.