# What to feed my pup



## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

man, you are going to get as many opinions as there are people on this one.. every one of us is a product of somthing we have read or heard.. personally, I would not be afraid of the Purina..


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## natedog91604 (Apr 10, 2006)

thanks for the reply. But i'm kinda leaning towards giving dixie either eukanuba lamb and rice formula or the natural choice lamb and rice. Unless someone tells me not to. Or if someone is using purina puppy chow for their pups, please share ur thoughts.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

greg bell said:


> man, you are going to get as many opinions as there are people on this one.. every one of us is a product of somthing we have read or heard.. personally, I would not be afraid of the Purina..


Greg: you are *so* right on this one. Maggie was on both of those foods and didnt do well on them.... (VERY ACTIVE) She was always hungry and acted like she hadnt eating in days... She is a very picky eater as well. Just keep in mind that we all live in different areas and not all food is available to us as others(some order off the internet). Maggie is 8 months old and she gets 2 cups 2x a day. Also do a search on food here on the forum..I think there has been several on food.


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## mblondetoo (Jan 9, 2006)

I have been doing research of my own recently and found a great site that can help you in deciding what is best for your pup. It lists lots of foods and ingredients which makes searching so much easier. I hope it helps. http://www.dogfoodproject.com/


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## Lexie's Mom (Dec 14, 2005)

In my opinion, it's sad that we feed our dogs better than we feed ourselves sometime LOL. I've raised my previous dogs on puppy chow with no problems at all. As long as they don't have loose stools or upset stomach etc. then that means they are tolerating it well. Lexie (my 5 yr old golden) did great on puppy chow. She is now eating Purina Pro Plan adult and does great on it. Hooch (my 11 mos old rottweiler) did NOT do well on puppy chow and is doing wonderful on Pro Plan puppy. I think it depends on what you can afford as well as if they tolerate it well. Yes, i also feed table scraps too. I'm sure that everyone will have an opinion on that too but IMO to each their own. As humans, we can go thru all these drive thrus McDonalds etc and eat crap food but want to spend an arm and a leg on dog food. Makes no sense to me. My dogs are doing wonderful and I've always done this in the past too. Good luck with you new puppy. I'm sure you'll figure out what is best for him/her little stomach. 

Welcome to the forums too!!


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## natedog91604 (Apr 10, 2006)

I do understand your sentiments. It's just that almost all dog products have their own claims being the best for the dog. I've been thinking of the dog food switch but right now, I think I may stick to the same brand but I just have to get the large breed formula. I know all dogs are different but if i can narrow down my choices at least based on the size of the breed, I would. None of us want a sickly pet. So as long as i can, i will try to provide the best for her, I would.


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## Lexie's Mom (Dec 14, 2005)

natedog91604 said:


> I do understand your sentiments. It's just that almost all dog products have their own claims being the best for the dog. I've been thinking of the dog food switch but right now, I think I may stick to the same brand but I just have to get the large breed formula. I know all dogs are different but if i can narrow down my choices at least based on the size of the breed, I would. None of us want a sickly pet. So as long as i can, i will try to provide the best for her, I would.



That's great. My dogs do eat large breed formula as well. I've been lucky i guess that they've tolerated it so well. If they didn't, i would be switching too. I want what agrees with them too. Like Greg said in his post, we all very in our opinions when it comes to food. Do a search here on the forums and see if maybe some previous posts may help you out.


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

My wife buys Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy Chow. 

I believe it was Shane that said that Purina has been around WAY too long to be bad for your dog....


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## natedog91604 (Apr 10, 2006)

Purina's getting a bad rep, I'd say. Is Purina puppy chow different from the Purina One Pro etc? Just got back from Target and they don't carry Eukanuba, my preferred plan. Even the Natural Choice (i think the name is). They got IAMS and Purina One. It's just weird that not too far long ago, people would feed their dogs scrap. Now there's hundreds of dog food choices. Just makes it more difficult.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

natedog91604 said:


> Purina's getting a bad rep, I'd say. Is Purina puppy chow different from the Purina One Pro etc? Just got back from Target and they don't carry Eukanuba, my preferred plan. Even the Natural Choice (i think the name is). They got IAMS and Purina One. It's just weird that not too far long ago, people would feed their dogs scrap. Now there's hundreds of dog food choices. Just makes it more difficult.


Have you tried Petsmart or Petco?


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

natedog91604 said:


> They got IAMS and Purina One.


We tried Iams....and it was the only food Samson didn't like....though it's been awhile since we tried it. Now, I don't think Samson would turn down anything edible.

I have a hard time believing that Purnina could be around as long as they have if they were not good at what they do....


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## mblondetoo (Jan 9, 2006)

Tabitha seems to be real sensitive to certain foods, either throwing up, diarrhea or scratching so we're trying out a new one. It wasn't my first choice but the only available one (of my choices) at the store. It's Royal Canin. I can't tell you anything about how she's doing other than no problems so far and she loves it.


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## PeggyK (Apr 16, 2005)

Years ago, my vet said it didn't matter what brand you fed them(this was 25 years ago) as long as you didn't buy store brands. I feed my two Natural Choice or Hills Prescription diet-but years ago I fed our dogs ALPO dry or Purina-now I would never think of doing that. The funny thing is that the dogs eating the Alpo were healthy and lived long lives!!!!!


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## natedog91604 (Apr 10, 2006)

After long hours of thinking, I finally decided to switch Dixie who still loves to bite anyone who plays with her, Nutro Natural Choice for large puppy breed. It's about the same price as the Purina puppy chow i got from Rite Aid believe it or not. At first, I couldn't decide whether to get the lamb and rice formula or the regular dog food. I chose the latter. By the way, with purina, I was feeding my 19.6 pound 11 wk puppy 3 cups a day. Is that enough? Now, I am making it 4 a day since I noticed that my puppy seems thin. I can easily feel her ribs. I just feel bad if she wants more food. Are goldens naturally big eaters? She finishes 2 cups in a minute! Tempting as it may look, I don't want the puppy to suffer from overweight condition.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

natedog91604 said:


> After long hours of thinking, I finally decided to switch Dixie who still loves to bite anyone who plays with her, Nutro Natural Choice for large puppy breed. It's about the same price as the Purina puppy chow i got from Rite Aid believe it or not. At first, I couldn't decide whether to get the lamb and rice formula or the regular dog food. I chose the latter. By the way, with purina, I was feeding my 19.6 pound 11 wk puppy 3 cups a day. Is that enough? Now, I am making it 4 a day since I noticed that my puppy seems thin. I can easily feel her ribs. I just feel bad if she wants more food. Are goldens naturally big eaters? She finishes 2 cups in a minute! Tempting as it may look, I don't want the puppy to suffer from overweight condition.


I think its important to follow the individual bag directions for that particular food. The amounts are based on the amount of protein, nutients and amount of fillers in the food. 

I now feed Lucky Nutro Lamb and rice. He was scratching too much when I had him on Purina and I suspected an allergy to corn or something else. 

His itching has stopped...but quite frankly, if it wasn't for the itching I'd put him back on Purina food. He loved everything they had to offer. He just doesn't have enthusiasm for this Nutro.

But he is eating it, but eating less, which is good. Lucky was a little too padded. Now he's looking more fit.

I over-fed Lucky because he acted so hungry. I was always slipping him an extra cup. He got fat. I think Goldens are always hungry.


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

I feed Samson 2 cups for breakfast and three cups for dinner. And he still acts like he is starving... And sometimes, I worry that he's too thin....


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

RickGibbs said:


> I feed Samson 2 cups for breakfast and three cups for dinner. And he still acts like he is starving... And sometimes, I worry that he's too thin....


Maggie was the same way and thats when the vet said since she was so active she was buring it off and I ended up switching foods and she has been fine now...she eats 2 cups 2x a day


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## Goldndust (Jul 30, 2005)

natedog91604 said:


> We got a 12 wk pup, Dixie and the previous owner told us to give her purina puppy chow. I just found out it's not the best in the market. Any suggestions? I feed my 20 pound pup 1 1/2 cups a meal, 2 times a day. Is it enough? I heard eukanuba and iams are good. :uhoh:


I would feed three times a day if possible at this age, just divide up the portions. If you can't work this in, twice daily is ok. I can't tell you if it is enough because there all so different in energy levels. Just keep your eye on him, you want to feed him enough, but you don't want him to get over weight.

I'm over looking at the Purina LBP formula ingredients now, the first thing they list is Corn. Corn in itself isn't problem unless your dog has a allergy towards it, most times it isn't the corn. The problem though with that kibble I see is why pay good money for that product when you can go out and pay a similiar price for a kibble that will list a meat, or a meat meal preferrably in the first ingredient list! I also notice in the first three ingredients corn is mentioned twice, which is ok and a dog will do fine on it but there you go again....it's comparable to a better product for the money that you will be spending on it. The product has been tested on dogs, and it has been around for a long time and it will work for many dogs....but, keep in mind the price compared to another product that is out there. I also noticed it contains soybean meal, that ingredient could be a problem in the kibble since wheat and soy are two of the top offenders in a dog.

You don't have to go out there and pay top dollar for a product to feed your puppy, I myself like to look for dog testing and the track record behind the product and the amount of years invested in it as well. If there's corn in the first three ingredients it is usually fine, but I don't like seeing it listed twice in them, or at the beginning since it is fine to feed but it is a cheaper form, but your gonna still pay a good price for it.


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## natedog91604 (Apr 10, 2006)

I have fed Dixie twice already with the Nutro Natural Choice for LB. Both times, I didn't see as much enthusiasm when I used to give her Puppy Chow. She finished the food, though. Should I consider the dog's taste preference? Or she's just new to the product? I'd like her to stick to that food since I found its ingredients healthy. I just think of it as kids not liking vegetables and yet parents would still teach them to eat them coz they're healthy. Or am i wrong? I was told not to add warm water because it's gonna make the food pasty and would create more mess. MAybe there are other ways to make the food more enticing aside from starving the dog.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Maggie is a* VERY* Picky eater.... The only way she will eat any dry dog food is to add alittle can food , the can food is the same brand as the dry. This was the only option we had, since she was not eating,and went almost a week without eating, she never has been food motivated what so ever, not by dog food, dog treats or human food.


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## gold4me (Mar 12, 2006)

Food topic is SUCH a hot topic. Everyone has their own idea about what is best and usually the dog's health and coat and skin will back up whatever is a good food. Now I am the raw diet advocate but I do know that I would stay away from corn, wheat and soy because these are the ingredients that could cause itching(dogs seem to be more allergic to these). I would also stay away from BHT, BHA, and ethoxiquin. These are very very bad. I learned through feeding my horse that companies change their ingredients so it is good to read them each time you buy. Bottom line whatever helps your dog to be healthy, look good, not be itchy and something they like is what you should use. You could also check out-Natural Balance, California Natural, Wellness and Solid Gold. Good luck


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## mrod (Apr 12, 2006)

I have a question not so much about food, but rather treats. We had bought soft treats for our puppy, but she isn't interested in the kind we bought. She doesn't like the hard ones yet because they hurt her teeth. We are looking for a good soft puppy treat to use for training purposes.


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## gold4me (Mar 12, 2006)

Try Natural Balance Sausage. You can cut a slice and then cut that into quarters. My kids love it.


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

Natural Balance's rolls are very good. Oinkerroll and Rollover are the same idea.


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## Leo's Mom (Feb 27, 2006)

My input now. I feed all of my dogs Nutro for large dogs. Cheena my snotty eater is not happy but she has learned to deal with it.


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