Best Puppy Food?

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, pretty much all dog food manufacturers have a store locator on their site so you can find out where to buy locally.

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...

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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???

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.