puppy food advice

eoinmk2

Hi all,

I am just after getting my new puppy, she is a german shorthaired pointer. all going well she will be my new gundog for the years to come. she is 10 weeks old at the moment.

I am just looking for some advice on what to feed her. I know good nutrition is very important in the early stages of her life as she will be growing very quickly.

at the moment she is on purina pro plan puppy original. i bought this with the advice of the woman in the pet shop. just wondering would this be considered a good feed or is there a better option out there for me
price is not really a huge concern for me, I want to give her the bast start I can

Cheers, Eoin

andreac

What was the breeder feeding it?

eoinmk2

red mills engage mother and puppy. but I changed her off that on the advice of the pet shop woman.

andreac

eoinmk2 wrote: »

red mills engage mother and puppy. but I changed her off that on the advice of the pet shop woman.

Why did you change her off it though? Unless it wasn't suiting her you prob should have left her on it for another while.

DBB

Ahhh, I love GSPs :-)
I think it's a good idea, generally, to go for cereal-free foods, although rice is considered an acceptable cereal as it's usually benign enough. There are dry foods that have no cereals at all, and are bulked out by potato instead. If I had to feed dry food, it'd be a spuddy one!
I'd also be looking for a high meat content: not meat/animal derivatives now, but meat.
These conditions all make for less choice and more money, but as the latter's not a huge concern for you, then I think it's hard to beat Taste of the Wild.... Hard to get unless you order online (www.zooplus.ie does free delivery) but as dry foods go, it's damn fine food.
Having said that, it's been a couple of years since I've been in the market for dry foods as I fresh-feed my dogs, so there could be similar, new products floating around.
Good luck op, can I drop the hint for you to post a photo of her? :-)

muddypaws

DBB wrote: »

Ahhh, I love GSPs :-)
I think it's a good idea, generally, to go for cereal-free foods, although rice is considered an acceptable cereal as it's usually benign enough. There are dry foods that have no cereals at all, and are bulked out by potato instead. If I had to feed dry food, it'd be a spuddy one!
I'd also be looking for a high meat content: not meat/animal derivatives now, but meat.
These conditions all make for less choice and more money, but as the latter's not a huge concern for you, then I think it's hard to beat Taste of the Wild.... Hard to get unless you order online (www.zooplus.ie does free delivery) but as dry foods go, it's damn fine food.
Having said that, it's been a couple of years since I've been in the market for dry foods as I fresh-feed my dogs, so there could be similar, new products floating around.
Good luck op, can I drop the hint for you to post a photo of her? :-)

Just a small point, but I believe under EU law, you cannot put 'meat' on a label, it must be labelled as "meat and animal derivates". Some companies seem to ignore EU law but those that stick with it can sometimes be accused of having lesser quality food, simply because they do comply with the law.

DBB

muddypaws wrote: »

Just a small point, but I believe under EU law, you cannot put 'meat' on a label, it must be labelled as "meat and animal derivates". Some companies seem to ignore EU law but those that stick with it can sometimes be accused of having lesser quality food, simply because they do comply with the law.

Ah! I didn't know that. I suppose I more had in mind that the meat would be a named meat... So does this still apply, does it have to be "beef and beef derivatives", for example?
I have read some packages that did not mention meat on its own at all... Just "meat derivatives" :-o

muddypaws

DBB wrote: »

Ah! I didn't know that. I suppose I more had in mind that the meat would be a named meat... So does this still apply, does it have to be "beef and beef derivatives", for example?
I have read some packages that did not mention meat on its own at all... Just "meat derivatives" :-o

No, "meat and animal derivatives" is the term that has to be used, but it can then also list what meat is in it, and what percentage,and it has to be a minimum of that percentage. Again, if they're just putting meat derivatives, they're not complying. A bit like bent bananas maybe, who bothers checking?

eoinmk2

Iv just been doing some googling and the 'Taste of the Wild High Prairie Canine' seems to be getting some very good reviews.

anyone have any experience of this?

EDIT:

just red your earlier post DBB. i think im going to go with the taste of the wild.

and to answer your question adnreac, her stools were a bit runny and from doing a bit of reading thought the food might have been a cause. plus the fact that is a good bit of grain filler in the red mills i wanted to change her off it anyway.

andreac

AH thats fair enough. Red Mills wouldnt be the best really out there and it doesnt suit a lot of dogs. Hope you get sorted.

ShaShaBear

My older collie is on Taste of the Wild. In fact, if you scoot through a few pages, I actually have a thread on the changes my dog went through from switching him from Lidl food to TOTW - It might give you some perspective!:o

eoinmk2

glad to see you got on so well with it ShaShaBear, great thread too
I think that seals the deal for me with TOTW.

here is a picture of her. Juno is her name

[IMG][/img]

ncur

eoinmk2 wrote: »

glad to see you got on so well with it ShaShaBear, great thread too
I think that seals the deal for me with TOTW.

here is a picture of her. Juno is her name

Aww!

Lacerda

eoinmk2 wrote: »

red mills engage mother and puppy. but I changed her off that on the advice of the pet shop woman.

Hi Eoin.
They'll be fine on anything. I feed my dog lidl complete, and I supplement that with fresh veg occasionally some fish (leftovers) and a bit of roast chicken as a treat.
He is a healthy 30 kg bull terrier/greyhound mix. Great for the chase. Goes like the clappers. I wouldn't mind the vet or pet store. They are just after a sales commission.
Honest mate. Lidl beef and veg or chicken and veg.
Don't feed them that wet gloop. That's poison

muddypaws

Lacerda wrote: »

Don't feed them that wet gloop. That's poison

Do you have any scientific facts to back this up?

ShaShaBear

eoinmk2 wrote: »

glad to see you got on so well with it ShaShaBear, great thread too
I think that seals the deal for me with TOTW.

here is a picture of her. Juno is her name

The REAL question is, would you notice if she went missing...?

DBB

She's beautiful op, the name Juno really suits her! Best of luck with her :-)

DBB

Lacerda wrote: »

Lidl beef and veg or chicken and veg.
Don't feed them that wet gloop. That's poison

Jayney. If ever there was a contradiction!
Lots of dogs get by fine on cheap, wheat-filled food. But that's all they're doing, is getting by. I often hear people saying their lidl-fed dog has a lovely shiney coat... If course it's shiney! The oils in the food give it little choice! Shiney is a sign of good health, but it's not an indicator on its own: I could see my reflection in my old GSD's coat the day she died of liver cancer.
For me, whilst many dogs exist on cheap stuff, and seem fine, it's when they start ageing that the hens come home to roost. Cheap, dry diets, to my mind, give the liver and kidneys a huge amount of work to do over the life of the dog, and it's no coincidence that a huge amount (not all, before anyone posts saying they had a dog who lived to 100 having only been fed sawdust all its life) of dogs are dying too early of liver and kidney problems. It's like the liver and kidneys grow old before the rest of the dog does.
Now, I'm saying this without having read up on it, but because I come into contact with hundreds of dogs every year, I'm going with stronger anecdotal evidence.
So, people can say to me that their dog is fed cheap stuff and they're fine. My reply would be, let's see what happens when your dog hits 10, or thereabouts.

borderlinemeath

Lacerda wrote: »

Hi Eoin.
They'll be fine on anything.

Change what you're feeding from 'dog' to 'child'. Would you be happy just feeding your child 'anything'? ie the cheapest of the cheap? What you're feeding would be the equivelent to feeding your children the cheapest tesco value/lidl processed pizzas/burgers/chips every day.

I feed my dog lidl complete, and I supplement that with fresh veg occasionally some fish (leftovers) and a bit of roast chicken as a treat.
He is a healthy 30 kg bull terrier/greyhound mix. Great for the chase. Goes like the clappers.

So you already feel a bit guilty by feeding a food thats packed full of additives, and probably colourants, and choc full of preservatives by supplementing with some decent fresh food. Your lucky that your dog isn't showing any intolerances to the food, but it can happen in time. And as DBB pointed out, a lot of older dogs are showing organ deficiencies from a lifetime of being fed inferior quality foods. (not unlike a lot of humans who suffer from various illnesses after a lifetime eating junk food)

I wouldn't mind the vet or pet store. They are just after a sales commission.

This is true to a degree. The pet shop employees for the most part have no nutritional knowledge, what they do know is gleaned from the sales reps from the brands they stock who have vested interests. Or are under instruction to sell what makes the most profit. For a pet shop employee to say that 'x' brand is best for your dog over 'y' brand is rubbish. All these dry dogs foods are trial and error, so many people find that 'x' brand, recommended by the pet shop runs through their dog and maybe even cause some discomfort, such as itchy skin or an upset stomach.
Vets, for the most part get limited nutritional training when studying, and it's usually from some of the major dry food companies and then when they've graduated and are in surgeries rely on the sales reps to give them information on the foods.

Honest mate. Lidl beef and veg or chicken and veg.

And because your dog hasn't shown any problems yet, you're recommending a food that is pretty low quality, full of wheat fillers, probably colours (I don't know because I've never bought it, nor even looked at it in the supermarket) and additives and preservatives.

Don't feed them that wet gloop. That's poison

What wet gloop is that?

OP, what is different about TOTW, Barking Heads, Eden and a few other select dry foods is the lack of wheat/maize/gluten used as protein fillers. So many dogs are intolerant to wheat, but may not show the symptoms for years, and maybe not ever, but again in older dogs, the organ function may tell a different story. I feed a raw/fresh diet to my pair of setters rather than dry food, I think variety is key to keeping their gut healthy, so many people stick to the same food, day in, day out, and I think (just my opinion) that it fine tunes the gut to react harshly to new foods. In saying that one of my setters will get a runny poo if he eats a full dentastik. (whatever is in them reacts with his gut) but both of them love getting a few dry kibbles as treats.

Newport81

I've tried every food with my puppy I now have him on Eden pet food he loves it and he's done really well on it can't reccomend it enough. It was the first dog food rated 5 stars on whichdogfood website have a look it's not expensive either

eoinmk2

thanks for all the good advice people. I now feel I am very well informed and up to date on what I should and should not be feeding my dogs with all that was said taken into account i went for this.

Markus Mühle NaturNah:

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/markus_muehle/128238

it scored 4.5 out of 5 on whichdogfood and was the best value I could find. it might not be as good as the Eden or TOTW but I felt the saving justifies my choice.

here is the review:
http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0341/markus-muehle-naturnah

it does have whole maize, but the review goes on to say it is pre-cooked to help digestibility. looks to be a very high quality food at a very reasonable price.

tk123

eoinmk2 wrote: »

thanks for all the good advice people. I now feel I am very well informed and up to date on what I should and should not be feeding my dogs with all that was said taken into account i went for this.

Markus Mühle NaturNah:

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/markus_muehle/128238

it scored 4.5 out of 5 on whichdogfood and was the best value I could find. it might not be as good as the Eden or TOTW but I felt the saving justifies my choice.

here is the review:
http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0341/markus-muehle-naturnah

it does have whole maize, but the review goes on to say it is pre-cooked to help digestibility. looks to be a very high quality food at a very reasonable price.

I'd advise getting the smallest bag possible because kibble/food size might be a bit too big for a puppy? I only use dry food for treats but had to buy smaller food for my pup when she was your pup's age - she wasn't able to chew the bigger sized food.

Edit : they have a puppy food - http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/markus_muehle/markus_muehle_black_angus/380223#more

eoinmk2

I went for the big bad because we have two other dogs to feed too which I will switch on to it also. between a collie and a weimaraner and herself id say we will be through it in no time. that is true about the kibble size, I never though of that. I'l just have to wait and see when it comes.