Getting ready to gradually shift my Pit Bull from puppy food to adult food...?

Question

Which ones are good and why?

c'mon, I'm serious.

Virginia, Chloe, why are you even *in* this section? Ugh.

Some of my options are Natural Choice, Purina (which is the puppy food he's on now, only one available here), Kibbles and Bits... I could go out in town for the food, but I can't read Kanji....

Answer 1

I take it that you are in Japan? If the one you mean is Nutro Natural Choice, it would be the best..not so much fillers, and more chicken (no by products) If it is some other Natural Choice, then see if you can find the Purina Pro Plan..or even Purina One...NOT Kibbles n Bits. Plain Purina has way too much corn..
I used to feed Nutro products, and my dogs did well, but they did have stained teeth..

Answer 2

You're right about Pedigree having too much filler. I really dislike that brand, myself. You're going to find the best foods at pet stores, not grocery stores. My favorite is Champion Pet Foods (Orijen and Acana), and I also like Wellness, Blue Buffalo, and Nature's Variety. Basically, you just want a higher-protein puppy food (I wouldn't go less than 28%) that uses only natural ingredients with no by-products, artificial colors or flavors or preservatives, or corn. A kind of meat should always be the first ingredient, and you don't want unnamed meats ("meat and bone meal" or "poultry by-products", etc). You should be told what kind of meat it is. If you need something you can buy at a grocery store, the only decent choice will probably be Newman's Own. However, if you live near a Harris Teeter grocery store, you'll have a lot more options! They have Evolve, Harmony Farms, Lassie Natural Way, Dogswell, and Nurture in addition to Newman's Own. They're the only grocery store I know of that actually has a half-decent selection of dog and cat food. Unfortunately, they don't have anything grain-free.

Answer 3

I've owned 4 pits,and I always started them off with the Puppy pedigree, this is good because it has no soy,which causes bloat and no corn.I never took my pups off the puppy food until they were close to 15 months,I just added a can of the puppy pedigre beef combo,or chicken and rice,very good for the tummy,there coats come out shiny and healthy,also the marrow bone cookies are great for the teeth and diet.You should also get them a joint supplement with MSM because there bones grow so fast.If you are changing to the adult food go to the adult pedigree dry,or canned food,they have alot of varieties to choose from and also very good for them

Answer 4

Purina is sh*t and Kibbles and Bits are just poison. Try Wellness, Innova, Canidae, Artemis, etc...

I would definitely recommend a raw diet. The main idea of it is: 70% Raw Meaty Bones (aka RMBs), 20% muscle meat, 10% organ meat and maybe supplements if you want.
This is ALL RAW MEAT.
Dogs have a digestive system that is very similar to that of wolves. It is short and therefore bacteria has no time to colonise in it.
When you read the ingredients on a bag of kibble, does it look like something you'd eat? Corn gluten, animal by-products, corn meal, meat meal, animal fat, ethoxyquin? Going natural is definitely healthier for a dog. It poops less, its stools are dry and if you leave them for a few days they will crumble into powder when stepped on. The fur is shiny and hydrated. No dental vet visits, no "chewtoys that will make your dog's breath smell good!". High energy
and generally great health. Go to http://community.livejournal.com/rawdogs/profile for loads of excellent links and information.
Adult dogs should get 2-3% of their weight every day and puppies 10%. Puppies should be fed about 3 times a day.

Now if BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) is not an option, I recommend looking for kibble with no BHA/BHT or ethoxyquin (which are dangerous carcinogenic preservatives. they can be found in Kibbles and Bits!), no corn, minimal to no grain, SPECIFIC meat (no "meat meal" or "byproducts" or any unspecified meat as that can be anything and is deemed unfit for human consumption--many rendering plants recieve euthanized dogs and cats from shelters and vets. They also often use roadkill to save money...) as a first ingredient and no grain (except for maybe rice) in the first five ingredients ("meal" is dehydrated meat). Look for a 100% human-grade kibble with lots of meat (dogs are carnivores: http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html ) and some vegetables wouldn't hurt either. Grain is unnecessary for dogs and corn is a common allergen. However, it's difficult to find kibble without any grain at all.
Corn, soy, brewer's rice, etc. are filler used to make the dog feel full, hence why many kibble-fed dogs are skinny (unless the dog is always hungry, like mine, in which case these fillers fatten the dog up). If the company doesn't want to spend more money on meat, they will fill up the kibble with corn and other junky grains. It goes through the dog at the speed of sound, hence the huge smelly poops.

Some good brands include :
Wellness
Wysong
Nutro Natural Choice
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul
Innova
Canidae
Artemis

Definitely avoid Ol' Roy and Kibbles 'n Bits and Pedigree!!! Eukanuba, Iams, Hills, PURINA and all those highly commercialized products are also bad. Usually, over-advertised means junk. Good things are "advertised" by word of mouth and not by TV commercials, toys, magazine ads,...
If you feed kibble, give some table scraps too. Add chicken, rabbit, turkey, vary a little. What if you had to eat the same old dry cereal all your life?
Make sure never to give grapes or raisins which cause acute kidney failure. Onions and other plants of the nightshade family cause anemia in dogs. Chocolate is very toxic to dogs as well. Milk chocolate is the least dangerous, dark is very dangerous, and baker's chocolate is extremely (!!!!) dangerous.

Did you know that some really bad kibbles that are made with rotten meat and generally crappy ingredients (animal by-products, etc.) is sometimes coated in artificial meat flavor for that the dogs will not refuse to eat it?

By the way, saying that the vet told you to feed Science Diet is a load of barnacles. Most vets get litte to no nutritional training, and those who do simply learn what age should the puppy be to get off puppy chow, when to use weight management foods, etc. They basically just promote whatever is sold in their office, which is unfortunately usually Science Diet or Purina.

Here is a good site on comparing dog foods and dangerous ingredients:
http://www.feedmypet.com/dog-food-comparison.html

Answer 5

I started my pits on Iams and switched them to Purina cause it was cheaper(I have 6). Depending on what you can afford and what body mass you are looking for I would go with Diamond. They have several different types but all have vitamins and such that are great for pits. I say pits because that's what we're dealing with. If you don't want to go that route, stick to Purina, its good food and it taste good. I would stay away from generic brands only because its like junk food. It can make them sick or gain too much weight. Muscle is important not fat with that type of dog.

Answer 6

Nutro , Timberwolf , Canidae or Solid gold . I used to feed Nutro and my dogs liked it a lot .But we changed to the
B. A. R. F. Diet (Raw feeding ) .

Wow , Sarah very good answer !

Answer 7

BONNIE..............ALL NATURAL, NO PRESERVATIVES, AND CAN RANGE FROMM PUPPY TO ADULT NO BY PRODUCTS AND ALL MY DOGS HAVE DONE EXCEPTIONALLY WELL. THE BREEDER OF MY DOGS IS AN AUST NATIONAL CHAMP AND RECOMMENDED IT MANY YEARS AGO AND STILL SWEARS BY IT NOW........NO SHE DOESNT GET ENDORSEMENTS FROM THIS PRODUCT

Answer 8

get large breed dog food...its good for there joints...i feed mine ukanuba...no grocery store food..bad for them

Answer 9

i feed my dog pedigree dry,with pedigree canned food.my vet told me it's best for my dog.

Answer 10

Just give it any leftovers .they are dogs .they enjoy eating
anything that we eat..specially anything with chicken.