Red Mills Puppy

bobirl

Hi all,

I collected my puppy 2 weeks ago. The breeder had him on Red Mills Star. The pet store didnt have it, so I got him the Red Mills Puppy Leader. I find he is pooing alot and his Feces is very runny.

Any suggestions what is wrong, is red mills a good dry food?

Thanks in advance.

stevoman

bobirl wrote: »

Hi all,

I collected my puppy 2 weeks ago. The breeder had him on Red Mills Star. The pet store didnt have it, so I got him the Red Mills Puppy Leader. I find he is pooing alot and his Feces is very runny.

Any suggestions what is wrong, is red mills a good dry food?

Thanks in advance.

what protein is it and what breed is it? when changing a dog from one dry food to another they will always have very runny stool for a few weeks as its a complete chage to them. you should really try get re mills star from somewhere and ease the pup into the red mills leader.

i have a working springer and during the hunting season she is on 27% protein redmills tracker. once the hunting seson is over i ease her onto the 21% red mills. its in this stage that i get runny stools aswell so thats your reason. its not a health thing or anything so dont worry.

bobirl

The dry food contains
Raw Protein 30.00%, Raw fat 16.00%, Raw fibre 2.00%, Raw ash 9.00%, Moisture Content 10.00%, Minerals, Calcium1.5% Phosphorus 0.85%, Sodium 0.48%, Magnesium 0.09%, Iron 75 mg/kg, Zinc 70 mg/kg, Copper (Sulphate) 25 mg/kg, Selenium 0.2 mg/kg, Vitamin A 10.000 iu/kg, Vitamin D3 2.000 iu/kg, Alpha - Tocopherol (Vitamin E) 200 mg/kg, Digestible Energy 16.8 mj/kg

Would Pedigree Puppy be better ?

Toulouse

That is extremely high protein, way too high, your pup must be bouncing off the walls.

Try to steer clear of supermarket brands, they don't have alot of nutritional value.

Try brands like Arden Grange, Burns, James Wellbeloved. You can also get them online http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food

Paul91

i wouldn't use red mills, found my lot had very runny poops on it, will never get it again, depending on your budget you could get the pedigree puppy food (dry food) for the time being while you research some other brands, but mix what you are currently giving him and the new stuff so it's not a drastic change, i have fallen in love with Acana - which i get from zooplus.co.uk not sure if that is in puppy form but they have orijen which is what my two are on

you'll find with trial and error what best suits your puppy (butjust be careful when going from one food to another)

Paul91

Toulouse wrote: »

That is extremely high protein, way too high, your pup must be bouncing off the walls.

Try to steer clear of supermarket brands, they don't have alot of nutritional value.

Try brands like Arden Grange, Burns, James Wellbeloved. You can also get them online http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food

non of my four like James Wellbeloved either - bought 36kg of the stuff! so if you can get either trial packs or small bags till you find what works and what your pup will eat

paultf

Like the other posters said, switching over to a new food will probably cause an upset tummy. Normally when switching over to a new food you need to mix the old and the new for the first week.

For my last pup I used to feed Red Mills puppy too. She liked the food but I found she produced alot of poo. In fact I had both my dogs on Red Mills Leader as adults and I found they produced alot of poo.

There are better quality foods. I have mine on Burns and the they produce way less poo. You can get Burns Minibites for pups - around 9 or 10 euro for a 2kg bag.

(I have also tried some of the supermarket brands like Bakers and Pedigree. IMO you'll have the same problem with these.)

bobirl

Is it the high protein that's causing the runny poo's?

I was always told the higher the protein the better for the puppy?

Should I put him back on the red mills star instead of the leader, or is the star no better then supermarket bought food?

andreac

Red Mills is not a bad food, but if you are going to feed Red Mills it should be the Leader range or the Leader Supreme as these are the best quality Red Mills ones.
The star is actually one of the lowest quality foods in their range so wouldnt be the best at all.

I know someone who feeds their show great danes Red Mills Leader and they are doing fantastic on it, so it really does depend on the dog and how it agrees with them.

The pup prob has runny poo's due to the fact that you changed over to the new food too quickly and its not agreeing with them initially. Any changes should always be done gradually so the dog can get used to the new food without too much upset to the stomach.

paultf

Red Mills star was the first food I tried my dog on years ago! They say its lower quality than Leader.

In saying that lots of people use Red Mills and their dogs do fine on it. It all depends on the dog and what he likes. Its all trial & error. Some people swear by the more expensive foods. Others go for the cheaper stuff.

As for the protein I think alot of the puppy foods would have high protein. Some even higher than 30%. Orijen for example. Burns Minibites is 21%.

andreac

bobirl wrote: »

Is it the high protein that's causing the runny poo's?

I was always told the higher the protein the better for the puppy?

Should I put him back on the red mills star instead of the leader, or is the star no better then supermarket bought food?

No, high protein does not cause runny poo's. its just that the pup is not sued to this food and the tummy is a little upset. You should see a good improvement in the next few days with the poo's and if not then its time to change to a diff food.

Personally i would steer clear of the star as its not really that good quality at all.

Pups do need a higher protein than an adult dog, but some large breeds can suffer from joint problems as they are growing and the high protein can be bad for them as it makes them grow too quickly, but in general, pups do need a high enough protein while they are growing.

bobirl

There is more choices for Dog food then for our food! Will I stick with red mills or is there a more suitable food that isnt going to break the bank?

andreac

I would stick with the Red Mills you have for another few days and see how it goes. If in about 4/5 days the pup still has runny poo's then i would change it back to the star for the moment and try and find something better then after he settles down again.

What breed is your pup? As a 15kg bag would last an average size dog about a month or more, so they really work out much better value than any of the supermarket brands as they are a much better quality and you dont have to feed as much.

namurt

I know every dog is different and I'll probably get criticised for this but we have our 2 on the Aldi dog food. 10kg bag for €8. We have a gsdxlab and a dalmation. The GSDxlab came from Ashton so haven't a clue what he was on. We tried a few different ones and the Aldi one seems to agree best with him. When we got the dalmation she was on Arden Grange so I was a bit concerned about changing her from what is considered a good brand but there has been absolutely no change in her so she's getting on really well with it. I think they only do an adult one though so not sure if it would be suitable for a pup.

Also, I just saw it mentioned that with the "higher quality" foods you have to feed them less so it works out better financially, I had to laugh when I read that because I was at the pet expo a few months ago and was approached by a sales rep who said the same thing but I could clearly see on the bag that the quantity was in fact a significant amount more than what was required with the food we were giving at the time.

Anyway, to make a long story even longer my recommendation would be don't be afraid to try the reasonably priced brands, just remember to ease the pup from one brand to the next.

stevoman

bobirl wrote: »

There is more choices for Dog food then for our food! Will I stick with red mills or is there a more suitable food that isnt going to break the bank?

bob, whats the breed? whats the age?

greyhounds during racing season get 27% protein! 30% is lunacy. throw out that bag seriously.

go with puppy feed for now. even pedigree puppy will be fine.

stevoman

namurt wrote: »

I know every dog is different and I'll probably get criticised for this but we have our 2 on the Aldi dog food. 10kg bag for €8. We have a gsdxlab and a dalmation. The GSDxlab came from Ashton so haven't a clue what he was on. We tried a few different ones and the Aldi one seems to agree best with him. When we got the dalmation she was on Arden Grange so I was a bit concerned about changing her from what is considered a good brand but there has been absolutely no change in her so she's getting on really well with it. I think they only do an adult one though so not sure if it would be suitable for a pup.

Also, I just saw it mentioned that with the "higher quality" foods you have to feed them less so it works out better financially, I had to laugh when I read that because I was at the pet expo a few months ago and was approached by a sales rep who said the same thing but I could clearly see on the bag that the quantity was in fact a significant amount more than what was required with the food we were giving at the time.

Anyway, to make a long story even longer my recommendation would be don't be afraid to try the reasonably priced brands, just remember to ease the pup from one brand to the next.

nothing wrong with aldi at all. in fact i think the borio from aldi is actually madra dog food aswell. sourced in the same factory but different packaging. either way i would have no gripe with any aldi dog nuts etc. i just use redmills as i work my dogs but i had a setter that wouldnt eat nothing but aldi dog nuts and she was the height of fitness.

bobirl

He is a Samoyed. 12 weeks old. Vet said he was under weight, gave me Royal Canine puppy but he wouldnt touch it so put him back on red mills.

stevoman

bobirl wrote: »

He is a Samoyed. 12 weeks old. Vet said he was under weight, gave me Royal Canine puppy but he wouldnt touch it so put him back on red mills.

if you want to put up weight its easy. just give him puppy nuts and go into lidl and you will see canned ham. its about €1. give him half of a tin of that evryday with the nuts and watch the weight come up. i fattened a llewellen setter this way that was underweight and it built her up lovely.

andreac

bobirl wrote: »

He is a Samoyed. 12 weeks old. Vet said he was under weight, gave me Royal Canine puppy but he wouldnt touch it so put him back on red mills.

How long did you try him with the royal canin? They can intially turn their nose up at something new for a day or so but you need to be patient but persistant and give them a chance.

Put the food down and take it up after 15 mins or so if eaten or not. Then offer nothing else until next mealtime and repeat the process. The pup will get the message that he gets nothing else apart from his dinner so will eat it eventually.
Dogs are very clever and can often hold out for something tastier, but will never go hungry so you just need to be firm with them and establish a good feeding routine.

andreac

stevoman wrote: »

bob, whats the breed? whats the age?

greyhounds during racing season get 27% protein! 30% is lunacy. throw out that bag seriously.

go with puppy feed for now. even pedigree puppy will be fine.

Stevoman, you will find most good quality puppy foods are all in around the 30% protein mark. Puppies need extra protein for their growing bones. Once they reach around a year or so, the protein levels come right down again.

bobirl

I tired it for 3 days with only a bites taken every time.

andreac

bobirl wrote: »

I tired it for 3 days with only a bites taken every time.

Were you giving him any other treats or food as well? If so then he wouldnt be hungry enough for his dinner and will be picky as he knows he is getting something else tastier.
If not then that food just might not agree with him, but they deffo need a few days to get used to a new food but along with a strict feeding routine which will help.