Shocked and Confused!!

Mike M · 08-15-2008, 01:59 PM

So I'm picking up my puppy in late September/early October from the breeder. The little guy is a goldendoodle [yes I know its a hybrid...please don't give me gruff

] Full grown the dog's going to weigh between 50 and 65 pounds. I've started to research food - and I'm frankly shocked and confused regarding the options. However, after much research I'm between the following foods:

Innova Large Breed Puppy
Nature's Variety Prairie
Solid Gold Wolfcub (Bison)
Wellness

This seems like a very knowledgable (and opinionated

) forum regarding dog food!! If possible please provide the pros and cons of each of the above foods. If you have other suggestions please provide! Right now I'm leaning towards Innova - it seems like the best choice. Of course, I realize the ultimate choice may come down to whether my puppy will actually eat the stuff!!

Your ideas, thoughts, concerns, and/or suggestions are much appreciated!!

Mike

Canadian Dog · 08-15-2008, 02:07 PM

Welcome to the forum Mike. Hopefully, you won't get any gruff here. Lots of good people willing to share their knowledge.

Pepper · 08-15-2008, 02:11 PM

I have fed my puppy welness since she was a baby and am now going to switch to welness adult once she turns one year old. It has worked very well with her.

Inga · 08-15-2008, 02:20 PM

Welcome to the forum Mike. Glad to have another dog lover to share stories with.

As far as those foods I think they are all pretty good foods. What is your breeder currently feeding the puppies? Or will be feeding the puppies? If it is a good food, you might want to just keep the same food to make life easier. I think when it comes down to it, the food that best works for your individual dog is the best food. Might want to consider an adult food though to keep growth nice and slow to lesson stress on joints and such. slow steady growth is the healthiest.

Patt · 08-15-2008, 02:20 PM

Welcome to DF. You picked a hot topic.

I'm sure you will receive lots of replies.

Of course I would go with the Innova & Wellness. They were recommended to me some time ago. I have fed the food with wonderful results. Their coats are shiny, their teeth are white and they are all in good health.

Check this latest link out, perhaps it will answer some of your questions.

http://www.dogforums.com/5-dog-food-...ds-do-you.html (What brands do you feed? No RAW need apply)

www.dogaware.com gives a list of top dog foods that are available.

Mike M · 08-16-2008, 08:21 AM

Thanks everyone for your replies. It's just amazing - everyone has their own idea of what is the best food for their dog. Just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking Science Diet was the logical choice b/c I thought it was one of the best and most healthy foods out there. After some careful research, I don't think SD is the best option for my future pup. However, in the process I discovered that there are soooo many opinions out there it is tough to figure out what is the best food to feed my future pup. Bottom line, I just want to make sure the little guy is getting the best and most nourishing food possible.

rosemaryninja · 08-16-2008, 12:25 PM

Hi Mike.

To be honest, I'll start off by reassuring you that you can't go wrong with any of the brands you listed. Trying to decide between those brands is kind of like trying to decide between a BMW and a Mercedes Benz.

If I were you, I would pick up four small bags of each food. Many pet food stores will actually give out free sample bags, I know Wellness does. Try them each on your pup -- see which ones he likes, or which ones his stomach doesn't take well to (vomiting, loose stools, diarrhoea). He may very well only enjoy eating one of the four, and then the choice is made for you.

French Ring · 08-16-2008, 12:53 PM

IMHO, raw feeding is the way to go and my dogs never need to have teeth cleaning.

I think all beginner raw feeders should start with Nature's Natural Variety Raw Frozen Diet.
http://www.naturesvariety.com/raw_products

rosemaryninja · 08-16-2008, 01:01 PM

If you are going to feed raw, I would get straight into it and feed real raw meat, bones and organs instead of the pre-packed and frozen stuff. It is not at all as complicated as it sounds.

As you said yourself, everyone has their own personal idea of what is best for their dog... it's up to you to do the reading, ask around and make an educated choice on what you want to feed. Raw is a great diet for a dog, but if you've decided on kibble, then the brands you have listed are fairly reputable.

UrbanBeagles · 08-16-2008, 01:22 PM

JMHO, but I'd go with the Wellness pup food.

I have several past puppy buyers who've fed it, and I see the most (positive)difference in coat and growth rates with that brand than most others. As someone else mentioned, they do sometimes give out samples - we just got one of Wellness pup @ Petco so decided to try a 6lb bag. (:::GASP::: lol) Haven't yet tried it on the 4 week old babies but the 12 week old pupper girl is SPOILED and PERSNICKETY when it comes to food, and this, she enjoys. Stools were loose at first but did firm up quite nicely, tho she is pooping slightly more often now. Anyway, if I had to recommend one on your list, it would be the Wellness, because we've seen it work so well before.

Now, the Solid Gold, I would stay far away from. I've had some show people I know feed it & complain of dry coats, regardless of the formula, and I have a good friend with a Chi on the Just A Wee Bit food - AWFUL dry coat. Dog has chronic skin problems, dry, brittle fur. Is just a mess on this brand

Shaina · 08-16-2008, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike M

Innova Large Breed Puppy
Nature's Variety Prairie
Solid Gold Wolfcub (Bison)
Wellness

This seems like a very knowledgable (and opinionated

) forum regarding dog food!! If possible please provide the pros and cons of each of the above foods. If you have other suggestions please provide! Right now I'm leaning towards Innova - it seems like the best choice. Of course, I realize the ultimate choice may come down to whether my puppy will actually eat the stuff!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike M

Thanks everyone for your replies. It's just amazing - everyone has their own idea of what is the best food for their dog. Just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking Science Diet was the logical choice b/c I thought it was one of the best and most healthy foods out there. After some careful research, I don't think SD is the best option for my future pup.

Um...yeah the first bag of good I bought for my Kim was Iam's. I thought I was feeding the best of the best, haha...halfway through that bag when she was itching like mad and having runny stool, I discovered "premium" foods, and tossed the rest of the bag. Basically what I'm saying is...at least you discovered this *before* you got your puppy!

I'm one of those that advocates of starting a large-breed pup on adult food quite young to keep growth slow and steady...any "all life stages" type food would be what I look for. It has appeared that taking more time to reach adult size is easier on the dog's body in the long run, and should be encouraged.

Any of those brands would be fine, though with Innova I would avoid the EVO for a while, as the kcal/cup is through the roof. The biggest thing is to make sure you don't overfeed, as you want your pup to stay nice and lean to avoid stressing those growing bones and ligiments.

Regarding the raw diet, since people brought it up: if you do decide to look into raw (I have no idea if you have any interest), there are many people here that would be happy to help you out. There are also several links in the raw sticky of the food forum.

Cheetah · 08-16-2008, 05:10 PM

Congrats on your new pup! I think all the foods you've listed are just fine. California Natural is also a good one. I agree with waiting until the pup is settled in to switch his food.

Mike M · 08-16-2008, 06:02 PM

Great! Again - thanks for the replies. I figured I was heading in the right direction. I went to a pet food store today and spoke with a very knowledgeable sales representative as well. I'm definitely going to have my pup sample all of these foods to see which food he likes best. Also, I'm thinking of rotating with raw and kibble to expose the dog to a variety of food. I might start off on Innova large breed puppy (or adult) and then work in a little Nature's Variety Raw. Of course, I need to do a little more reading here b/c I really don't know what the heck I'm talking about here

I

Ginny01OT · 08-16-2008, 06:09 PM

My standard poodles start on Innova Large Breed Puppy then we transition to NV Prairie and then finally NV Instinct--all in addition to raw

Mike M · 08-17-2008, 01:42 PM

So it looks like the breeder feeds her dogs Canidae All-Life Stages. I just saw a thread regarding Canidae - anyone have any further opinions about it? Should I consider it for my pup based on the fact he's already eating it and doing well? It looks like the company changed the formula and that concerns me. Additionally, it doesn't look as good as Innova, Nature's Variety and Wellness. Any thoughts?

UrbanBeagles · 08-17-2008, 02:02 PM

I fed Canidae about 4yrs ago - granted, the formula has been changed at least once or twice since then, but we had a load of problems with it. I was feeding my GSD 6 cups of food just to keep her from looking skeletal. Whereas she ate 3.5 cups on Pro Plan! We also had problems with vaginal yeast infections, breeding misses & dull coats. EVERY dog got an ear infection on it. What I really hate about Canidae is how they tweak their ingredient list to make the food appear meat based when it's not. Their first ingredient should technically be poultry meal. They divide that into chicken meal and turkey meal making it seem like they are two seperate ingredients when in actuality, while they DO use chicken & turkey meal, it's combined together and should be called poultry meal. It's only one ingredient, not two. That p***es me off. Not because poultry meal is inferior - it's not! It's just that they're re wording their ingredients to fool the consumer and promote a diet that looks better to the human eye when read on an ingredient list. What else are they shortchanging the dogs on because the food is obviously manufactured to appeal to people moreso than dogs???

JMHO

Mike M · 08-17-2008, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanBeagles

They divide that into chicken meal and turkey meal making it seem like they are two seperate ingredients when in actuality, while they DO use chicken & turkey meal, it's combined together and should be called poultry meal. It's only one ingredient, not two. That p***es me off. Not because poultry meal is inferior - it's not! It's just that they're re wording their ingredients to fool the consumer and promote a diet that looks better to the human eye when read on an ingredient list. What else are they shortchanging the dogs on because the food is obviously manufactured to appeal to people moreso than dogs???

JMHO

Completely agree - I hate it when these large corporations think the consumer is stupid. Thanks for your input - a dishonest manufacturer or even having a prior history of dishonesty automatically eliminates Canidae from my list. I'll likely buy a small bag and begin to mix Canidae with the new food (whatever that may be - haven't decided yet) to ease the dog into a new diet.

I'm thinking NV - Prairie rotating with NV- Raw may be the way to go. Any thoughts? Now I've heard comments that you shouldn't mix kibble with raw - any truth to that???? This shouldn't be this hard!!!

rosemaryninja · 08-17-2008, 09:13 PM

Generally, kibble shouldn't be eaten with raw in the same meal.

kenRC51 · 08-18-2008, 02:38 AM

I have read that mixing kibbles with raw is not a good thing. Raw digest quicker then kibbles and if you mix them it causes digestion to slow down. This increase a chance if you dog in gettinf samolinola (i know i spelled it wrong so correct me please). So either you feed raw only and at least wait about 12 hr before you feed kibble if you want to mix. Correct me if I am worng guys.

As for the 4 brand of food you mention above, they are all premium food. I have only tried 2 brand which is the Innova and the Wellness. Stitch is one the Innova EVO red meat and Melanie is on the Wellness Puppy. Stitch loves the EVO and does great on it. Melanie how ever likes Wellness better then the Innova Puppy. I would give Melanie the EVO as a treat some times and she seems like like it so in the future I would be feeding Melanie the EVO when she grows up.

How ever every dog is different. You have to try each brand to see which food you dog does better on or likes. Alot of local pet shops have sample bag to give you, I suggest you get some of those to see whcih one you dog likes or does better on.

Mike M · 08-18-2008, 01:43 PM

So this may be getting off-topic from my original post - but what is considered a "large breed" dog? Further, what is the issue with calcium content and large breed pups? What is the min/max calcium content to look for in dog food for a large breed pup? Any other similar issues I should be aware of relating to large breed pups?