Best Puppy Food?

[BigDog2191]

As you may know, I've said it in almost every post:

I'm getting a German Shepherd in six weeks! And I was wondering what is the best but affordable puppy food to get? Any suggestions on that would be great.

And also when should I stop feeding my dog puppy food? I was thinking after 12 weeks because that's when his last puppy shot is. Thank you :) .

[Renee750il]

You typically feed puppy food until about 12 to 18 months old.

If you'll go to www.greatdanelady.com and read her articles on dog food you'll get good answers to your question.

If you feed your pup anything from Purina, Pedigree, Alpo, Iams, Eukanuba, Science DIEt you aren't really saving money over a quality food. You'll be feeding significantly more and the food related health problems, particularly skin ailments, that crop up as your dog becomes elderly get frustrating, expensive and are painful for your dog. German Shepherds are particularly susceptible to food related skin problems. I've had GSDs since I was 12 and would give anything if I'd known what I now know about dog food!

You'll want to read through some of the threads in this forum too, particularly the sticky ones at the top.

Now, don't forget to post some photos of your new pup in the Members' Gallery when you get him/her! There's just not much any cuter than a German Shepherd puppy in my book! :)

[Saje]

What Renee said ^

My favourite is Innova. It's great and the company doesn't use invasive testing on animals. In fact, they rescue lab animals and rehabilitate them

www.naturapet.com

There are tons of posts on this issue that you can look up. It comes up a lot and as you will see not everyone here agrees on the best dog food.

[Mordy]

i would not feed a puppy food at all, but instead go with a good quality adult food. it will allow for slower, more even growth and help avoid orthopedic problems.

innova is an excellent choice, and if you can't get that, canidae is a close second. eagle pack also makes a few nice varieties, but i'd stay away from anything except the "holistic" ones.

there are more good brands, but i don't know what's locally available to you.

[BigDog2191]

I've heard lots about eukanuba and pedigree and iams but does it say on the bag "for puppies" or something. Cause it seems like those are for big dogs or for when my GS is fully grown. Or is there a seperate bag? Thanks for everyone's help.

[Mordy]

if you absolutely think you must feed a puppy food (which, again, i do not recommend), look for something that states it's formulated specifically for large breeds. eagle pack makes a nice one.

an adult food that states "suitable for all lifestages" is the better choice, so for innova that would be the green bag, not the red one.

[Renee750il]

Have you read Linda Arndt's articles about feeding puppies on the link I gave you? That should answer your questions in greater detail.

[Love4Pits]

I usually feed my dogs homemade food aka Raw but I also add Innova to their diet at times.

When I have puppies and their ewaning or i get a younger pup i feed them Puppy cereal with scraps from the other dogs meals like bits of fat or shredded beef into the mix. Usually though around 11-12 I start introducing the regular food my other dogs eat including the innova.

And since feeding raw is pretty expensive especially if you go organic like I do I would do like everyone else is suggesting and feed you puppy Innova.

[crazydog]

is "chicken soup for the dog lovers soul" good? my mom bought that for roxy when she ran out of food and there was only 1 day left until my aunt came down to pick her up with more food. roxy seemed to have loved it! i also showed my aunt that website with the eukanuba animal cruelty thing. but the chicken soup for the dog lovers soul was teh cheapest so my mind just got it, since she only had but a little cash in her pocket at the time

[Renee750il]

From what I've heard and read it's one of the better foods. Linda Arndt has it on her "short list" of good dog foods, and her recommendation is better than mine! ;)

[BigDog2191]

Hmm... so far Innova sounds great. I think I'm gonna look at Linda Arndt's recommendations. Thanks for all your help. :)

[MaxMason]

You know every since I switched Ginger to Innova, I don't see her scratching herself as much. That Science Diet must have been causing her to scratch alot, hopefully I won't have to worry about her having allergies because of bad food :)

[Saje]

I have been trying to get innova up here since I moved to the boonies. Finally, I decided I had failed and I bought Eagle Pack (a close second for me). The dogs love it of course but the funny part is I didn't have enough money to buy it for the cats. Mini, my little princess, sure told me off when she stared at her food dish. She quite a vocal little kitty and she obviously knew I'd springed for good dog food and not the good cat food. It's on the list mini! I swear.

[BigDog2191]

I think I'm gonna go with Innova, it seems to be the best! And if not Innova, Eagle sounds great. Thanks for everyone's suggestions and help! :)

[Saje]

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers soul is good too! (Thought I'd throw that in the mix just in case you can't find the others)

[Barb04]

I've been usin Eagle Pak Holistic and now have added some Innova EVO. I also add a can of Eagle Pak Hostic wet; besides the cooked ground chicken to entice everyone to eat.

What does everyone else add to their dry dog food?

[Renee750il]

Mine eat straight EVO most of the time, but I do mix up some ground beef occasionally, and they love it when I put leftover rice or potatoes in with it.

And they love the days I clean out the 'fridge! You should see the puddles of drool I have to wipe off the floor . . . :eek:

Shiva still loves a bowl of calf milk replacer every now and then - once or twice a week maybe. She's such a baby.

[BigDog2191]

Hehe ^ :D

[gaddylovesdogs]

I like Wellness puppy food, but there are all-life stages foods like Canidae.

[BigDog2191]

I went to Pets Mart earlier and they didn't have Innova :confused:. Anyway, I'm probably gonna use Science Diet instead. Since I heard that that was pretty good and I saw it available over there. Didn't see Eagle there either.

[Mordy]

the big chain stores barely carry any decent foods. petsmart has blue buffalo and petco natural balance, but that's about it.

please don't feed science diet, it's about the biggest scam in the dog food industry.
http://www.mordanna.com/blog/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=3&blogId=1

have a look here (http://www.mordanna.com/boards/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=dogfood), pretty much all dog food manufacturers have a store locator on their site so you can find out where to buy locally.

[BigDog2191]

I know what you mean, but I don't want to go to a store 45 minutes from where I live to find a particular dog food.

So far Science Diet sounds good, even after reading your article. The reason I started this thread is so that I could find good quality dog food, from people who have a lot of experience, for a decent price. I've heard, no good dog food is going to be cheap, but I'm reasonable, I'm just trying to find good quality dog food without having to go so much out of my way. I don't want to have to special order my dog food. I looked for Innova and Eagle... couldn't find any.


I'm not trying to be close-minded here, in fact, I try to be as open-minded as possible so if you could let me know of a brand that I could find at Pets Mart or any other places (Target, Sams, etc.) I'm willing to listen. The whole reason I started this thread.

Now, I feel like I'm starting the thread all over...

[Mordy]

as i said above, at petsmart you can look for blue buffalo, at petco either natural balance, breeder's choice or maybe royal canin natural blend.

heck, even sensible choice or the regular royal canin line are better than science diet.

i also know of a few websites that sell decent quality foods and offer free shipping to certain states, so looking into that is also an option. and feed stores often carry better quality food brands than the big pet store chains as well.

if you want to feed science diet, you might as well save a few bucks and feed purina or something instead. yes, seriously, it sucks that much.

[Renee750il]

Amen to that, Mordy! Science DIEt is just extra money for toxic food.

Bigdogs, the way I handle having to buy my food an hour away is I usually get two large bags at once, which cuts the trip down to only once about every three to three and a half weeks - feeding three dogs, two of whom are almost twice as large as a German Shepherd, and more active than most dogs since they live on a farm and work. I really can't encourage you enough to at least start your pup out with the best possible chances - you're probably spending a significant amount of money if you're buying from an established breeder; consider it protecting your investment.

Have you checked your local farm co-ops and supply stores?

[gaddylovesdogs]

Petsmart doesn't have many options. Probably the best food they have there is Royal Canin and Blue Buffalo. Petco sells Royal Canin, Blue Buffalo, and Natural Balance.

[Mordy]

as far as i am informed, blue buffalo is pretty much limited to petsmart, with very few exceptions in a handful of states where it is sold at smaller chains.

some individual petco's have a better selection tho, for example one near me sells solid gold now.

[LoveNewfies]

German Shephard is considered a large breed dog, therefore, should not eat puppy food at all. A nice quality adult maintenace dog food will do nicely and allow your new pup to grow slow and steadily to help avoid the possibility of orthopeadic issues due to rapid growth.

Check out this link for help in selecting a good quality dog food www.mordanna.com/dogfood

To answer someone elses question, Chicken Soup is made by Diamond. It isn't a bad food and I've heard mixed reviews about it. It is surely far better than grocery store and most so-called premium foods, at the same time, it isn't the best.

Look into foods such as Innova, Canidea, Pinnacle, Wysong, Timberwolf Organics - there is quite a long list of great quality foods to choose from. Find the best quality you can afford and can obtain easily.

[yuckaduck]

Ok my 4 month old german shepherd is on science diet large breed puppy and that obviously is not good [ foolish me I thought it was the best money could buy] We don't have a petsmart but we have a petcetera. They have royal cain but that is way out of my price range. What about the Cosco stuff-Kirkland Signature? I'm sure you've been asked before but I am thinking it looks not to bad. But me I got no a clue??? :)

[ZlatasPop]

Hello! I'm new to this forum. Just found it yesterday. This is my 1st post/response. I just purchased a BEATUFIUL $2,000 (USA) Doberman Pinscher *****. She's my baby. I bought her for my wife who is Ukrainian & her dream was to have a show dog to compete. Well I bought her the dog & 9 days later she moved back to Ukraine (long sad story) & left me with this beautiful baby. Anyways it's my FIRST dog!!! So since I can't do for her what my wife did in terms of training & competing I DO want to treat her as well as I can as a PET. I love her!! I have tried Royal Canin & Iams (she didn't like Iams) & Innova is NOT available other than mail order which to me sounds strange to have UPS deliver your dog food. I was thinking of Nutro's Natural Choice? Has anyone used this food. There is a Petsmart & a Petland close by & none carry Innova. The price is NOT an issue it's the AVAILABILITY. Would anyone recommend the Nutro Natural Choice over Royal Canin? Also if feeding "raw" what do you buy to feed them?

[Mordy]

ZlatasPop, i've replied on the other threads about the brands of food.

if you'd like to feed raw, you basically buy pieces of dead animals (as my husband puts it *grins*). the less processed the better, so you could feed your dog whole chicken carcasses, beef pork and lamb ribs/necks, turkey necks, lamb shanks, whole rabbit carcasses and so on. it's important that you not just feed the meat, but the bones as well to supply an adequate diet. for that, you also need to give some organ meat (heart, liver, tripe, lungs, kidney, etc. etc.

you can add some fruit and veggies, and also feed raw eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt and other extras. supplementing with fish oil is a good idea.

the topic is less complex than it seems, but before diving in, you should read a few good books on the topic. two i like a lot are kymythy schulze's "natural nutrition for dogs and cats" (even tho i don't agree with all her points of view) and monica segal's "K9 kitchen your dog's diet: the truth behind the hype". you can order both at sitstay.com. if you want yet another perspective, read dr. lonsdale's "raw meaty bones", it's also very good.

[ZlatasPop]

Thanks for the feedback. Perhaps I'll just stick to the Royal Canin for now & see if they have tha Buffalo one at Petsmart. I'm going to look into ordering Innova as strange as it might feel to have UPS deliver my dog food. Anything for my Zlata.

[DKim81]

Mordy, by feeding the bones, aren't you exposing the risk of choking? How do you feed them these bones? I buy large raw hens at Costco and boil them whole so I figure I can spare a few from time to time and use the organs inside as well as the meat.. and we're talking all raw correct? Thanks again, you rock!

[yuckaduck]

I'm not arguing here but I lost a dog due to chicken bones so how do you feed whole chicken carcasses if they are not suppose to eat chicken bones. Just wondering because we are seriously looking into going raw for Yukon. No positive decisions yet but we are thinking strongly toward it. I do lack the brain power to figure these things out. :)

[Fran27]

Bones are ok, just raw, I believe. Once cooked or smoked they can splinter. But yes, chicken bones would seem small.

[yuckaduck]

The ones Jesie got into were cooked, and we lost him even after humungous vet bills. So I'm nervous of chicken bones. We are going with the raw diet and buying the food prepared already from mountain foods. It is the only one close to us and that way I won't have to worry about taking time to prepare, so busy with the kids. I found the chat room last night and plan to frequent that as I learn lots and it helped me get through our first night loose.

[Renee750il]

Raw bones don't splinter like processed bones and do a lovely job of cleaning teeth. ;)

[skyhigh]

Well, while we're on the topic, what about fed Vets All Natural Complete Mix Puppies 0 – 2 years? We're getting a GS pup next week and she's been on that and raw bones. Is that ok? Or should i switch her to some other food? Thx

[Mordy]

raw bones aren't a problem, at least not if a dog chews them properly. for dogs who just gulp their food down without chewing (even if you feed large pieces), or if you just can't stand the idea of feeding smaller bones as meals at all, you can always grind them up along with the meat. if in doubt, just feed larger pieces the dog has to work on more.

good meat grinders cost around $200 and are well worth the investment compared to paying for premade ground raw food. they do not handle really large bones, but entire chicken and rabbit carcasses, turkey necks and wings, lamb and pork ribs etc. are not a problem.

i know the concept of going against so many things that have been handed down is difficult, but reading the books i mentioned will make many things much, much clearer. :)

[Dakotah_2009]

So what you are saying Morby is to feed a puppy, a good adult dog food, not puppy food?

[Adrienne]

No that is not what she is saying. She is saying that you can feed any dog, puppy, working, senior citizen a food that is approved for all life stages, like Canidae. You have to find it specifically on the bag to determine if it is acceptable for all life stages.

[Dakotah_2009]

oh ok thanks Adrienne. I was a wee bit confused!!!