[bugirll]

My father is getting a yorkie for my mother and will pick it up from the breeder in sept. I have been educating my father about dog care(mostly using this web site) and sent him The Other End of the Leash. I want to help him buy food but have some questions:

Is "puppy" food really nessesary?

Ive seen royal canin for yorkies-is this BS?

what is the real deal with high protein kibbles for puppies?

Im leaning towards innova,chicken soup or merrick, thoughts? the food analysis web site listed on this forum gives them 5 stars. I feed my super pooches Blue Buffalo but it is only given 3 stars and I will be switching them back to innova or canidea.

I look at the ingredient list of treats and they are so carb heavy. I want the treats to be healthy too. I give my adult dogs these organic 100% chicken strips that are dried but would be too hard, I think, for a little yorkie poof ball dog. any suggestions for a brand?

Thanks megan

[rosemaryninja]

1. Some will say yes, some will say no. To be honest, the difference in ingredients is usually negligible.

2. Yes. All dogs have the same nutritional requirements, regardless whether they are a Chihuahua or a Great Dane. Discounting allergies of course.

3. Innova, Chicken Soup or Merrick are all very decent brands of food. You can't go wrong with any of the three in my opinion. Buy sample bags and try each of them on your puppy, and see which one it takes to best.

4. You'd be surprised at what most dogs can handle with their teeth. However, you can always make your own meat-only treats by cutting up pieces of roast chicken, cooked hot dog, raw meat, etc. If you want to go commercial, I like the treats from Natural Balance and Wellness.

[bugirll]

thank you for the information! What about the grain free high protien kibbles for puppies? ive read that people are starting RAW as soon as they are weaned so could these kibbles be different?

Also, Im seriously thinkng about switching my adult dogs to RAW. I dont know how my husband and i will handle it-raw meat really makes me gag.

Megan

[littleboodog]

Is "puppy" food really nessesary?
>>>No. It is good business for dog food companies to have lots of product on the shelves. An all life stages dogfood used to be enough and still is. You have to be more responsible about feeding, since the formula doesn't control the weight gain and growth, amount does.

Ive seen royal canin for yorkies-is this BS?
>>>Yes. It's not even a particularly good food. Another example of marketing. A dog is a wolf is a dog, regardless of size. If you are going to feed kibble, look for the healthiest ingredients, not the marketing buzz.

what is the real deal with high protein kibbles for puppies?
>>>The real deal is all dogs need more easily digested protein than kibble can provide. The brands that offer potato or tapioca instead of grains, and also offer high protein levels are doing the pup a favor unless the calcium levels are also high. Protein is not a pup's enemy, too much calcium is. A pup, like an adult dog and a senior dog, needs protein and fat, not carbs. Ever.

Im leaning towards innova,chicken soup or merrick, thoughts?
>>>If you look closer, you'll see very little difference between these products. Lots of grain, not much meat protein. Merrick makes BG (before grain) which is interesting. BG offers a canned product that's grainfree as well. Actually, going to canned food will provide more healthy options than kibble can. Marie

[bugirll]

Thank you so much. how much is too much calcium? I saw that 1.5 is the max and the grain frees all seem to be above that. evo seems to be the highest.

Megan

[littleboodog]

This is probably more complicated than I can explain (my fault not yours). Whether the amount of calcium in kibble is high depends on how much kibble is required to meet the dog's needs. So a nutrient dense kibble of which you need only feed half as much may show a higher calcium percent but you will be feeding less food. A product like EVO will be fed in smaller amounts than a grain-based kibble.

The easiest way to avoid calcium issues in kibble is to feed an all-life stages food. But the easiest and healthiest way is to feed raw.

This link to Mary Straus' excellent website "Dogaware" can give you more information on puppy foods than I could ever provide. I hope this link is allowed here! Marie
http://ww.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html#commercial

[Cheetah]

Another great site is http://www.dogfoodproject.com
Mordy, the creator of that site, writes several articles, such as "Ingredients to Avoid," "Identifying Better Products," "Grain Free Dog Food," etc. so I think it would be helpful to you.