Best food for doberman pup

customrifle

Hi all, am pickin up my doberman pup next week just wondering what would you recommend to feed him for first few months. He ll be 9 weeks when i collect him. Im considering arden grange or royal canin with some meat feed like pedigree chum ran through it. Will drop in some cod liver oil tablets during week to help with his joints. Used royal canin on my german shepherd when he was a pup and felt he never reached his potential size wise with this. Thanks in advance

ISDW

I'd stick with whatever the breeder is feeding, at least for the first couple of weeks, then maybe introduce a new food gradually. What is he being fed at the moment?

I wouldn't recommend adding tinned food to the kibble, if you want to add anything, maybe some tuna in sunflower oil, some chicken, things like that, but stay away from the tinned stuff. As a pup, maybe just soak the kibble for the first couple of months, just doing that should entice him to eat it anyway, make it more smelly for him. I would just say though that if you're adding anything to the food, you're making a rod for your own back, as the pup will most likely then turn his nose up at just dry kibble:D

If you're feeding a good quality food, then there really is no need to be adding anything to it. Robbies or Luaths from Land of Holistic Pets is a very good food, there is also Best for My Dog, from a company based in Meath that I really like (well, the dogs like the taste, and I like the smaller amount of waste product). Arden Grange and Royal Canin are both good foods, best of luck with whatever you decide, its a minefield getting the right dog food;)

pokertalk

mix dry with fresh chicken and fresh carrotts and as the other poster said tuna with sunflower oil and keep giving him the cod liver oil too.also some calcium supps as they suffer with joint problems later in life

customrifle

Thanks guys the tuna mixed in with food sounds good for him. Cant wait to pick up the new addition to the family:D

wopper10

Orijen dog food!You can't beat its pretty much the best there is in Ireland! I feed mine on it and they do great lovely coats healthy weight less stools really really good food! Good luck with your dob, so few around these days

boomerang

If you're going to feed a high-quality food such as those listed above you don't need the cod liver oil - I wouldn't recommend feeding it to a puppy. If you give too much it can do his joints more harm than good and there is also the risk of hypervitaminosis.

If you're feeding sardines be sure to drain the oil off as much as possible - it's so rich it will likely give your pup the runs. (Sardines in a oil are common cure for doggy constipation!)

Definitely don't mix in tinned food - it's crap! Full of sugar and other additives. Bad for his teeth and will make him fussy about eating dry food on its own. No harm in adding in a very small amount of good quality table scraps if you happen to have some though - such as a bit of mashed potato, carrot, green beans, cooked chicken meat (no cooked bones), plain cooked rice or pasta, scrambled egg, etc.