healthy puppy food

tankman10024 · 06-02-2008, 08:50 PM

I am a new puppy owner and new to all this healthy dog food stuf, so i need some advice...
the breeder was giving him Ekanuba puppy dry food, but for some reason he doesnt like that food anymore, so im giving him Science Diet Nature Best puppy dry food which he seems to like alot more and sometimes i even mix in half a can of Nutro Max now my questions are these...

1. are the Science Diet Nature best (dry) and Nutro Max (can) a good healty choice of foods?
2. and just how much and how many times should i be feeding him?

thx
tankman

stinkythegrump · 06-02-2008, 10:21 PM

Hi there and welcome to the forum.
Science diet it generally always made with ingredients that most people here would regard as not something that they would feed to their dogs. For example, the top ingredients usually include corn meal, animal byproducts and animal fat. There is a lot of discussion in the forum regarding people's feelings about science diet and there is a ton of information on the interwebs regarding dog/puppy nutrition in general. This site - http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ has reviews of dog foods based on ingredients and is decent for comparison purposes. Also to understand the ingredients and what they mean is very important and there is a ton of info on the web about that as well - http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main

I feed my puppy a mix of chicken soup for the puppy lover's soul and honest kitchen "thrive" and she is doing great. My brother in law, however, feeds his dogs science diet and they don't seem to be doing too terrible so it comes down to how important you think what you feed your puppy is.

briteday · 06-02-2008, 10:55 PM

Puppies under 6 months are generally fed their daily ration split into three meals. After that you can skip the midday meal, usually they lose interest in it anyway as they don't require as many calories for growth.

You can buy better for your money than Nutro or Euk. Look at the sites mentioned above as they are both unbiased sites, no advertising from sponsors. And check out some of the sticky posts in the food forum here.

tankman10024 · 06-05-2008, 01:48 PM

thanks alot i will start doing my research now then

thx again

Laura_Leigh · 06-05-2008, 02:14 PM

I feed Blue Buffalo Chicken and Brown Rice Puppy food. My dog seems to like it, and I am rather impressed with the ingredients as far as something that is readily available at Petsmart

SMoore · 06-05-2008, 03:28 PM

For something healthy and easy to get hold of Blue Buffalo and Solid Gold make excellent puppy food choices and sold at petsmart/petco.

I would feed Nutro Ultra over Science diet or Nutro Max. I even like the Bil jac foods better then the other stuff he's been eating.

Chicster · 06-05-2008, 04:51 PM

I'm currently feeding Orijen Puppy formula. It got a 6 star on dogfoodanalysis and so far I'm really happy with it though... I don't think I'll ever get through the 15lb bag at the rate that my little guy eats!

stinkythegrump · 06-05-2008, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicster

I'm currently feeding Orijen Puppy formula. It got a 6 star on dogfoodanalysis and so far I'm really happy with it though... I don't think I'll ever get through the 15lb bag at the rate that my little guy eats!

On the dogfoodanalysis site they do mention that this food may only be appropriate for adult dogs only due to the high protein content. That is the only thing keeping me from trying this one out yet. When Kona grows up a bit I certainly do want to try Orijen though.

Chicster · 06-05-2008, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stinkythegrump

On the dogfoodanalysis site they do mention that this food may only be appropriate for adult dogs only due to the high protein content. That is the only thing keeping me from trying this one out yet. When Kona grows up a bit I certainly do want to try Orijen though.

I've heard conflicting stories about the whole protien content thing, but since Cody is a small breed & doesn't have a ton of growing to do I just didn't worry about it. If I remember correctly I couldn't find ANY puppy specific forumla listed above a 4 star that didn't have that protien warning.

They have a large breed puppy formula too, but the protien isn't any lower. I'd probably look for another option of just feed an all life stages formula like EVO if I had a large breed dog.

stinkythegrump · 06-05-2008, 07:09 PM

Ya, I wouldn't be worried if Cody is doing fine on it and your vet says he's healthy =) There is at least one 5 star puppy food w/o a high protein content and it's the one I use - Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul for future reference.