Dog Food For All Life Stages Question., Doubting myself again !?

Question

Hi All

Today I was going to get my bag of Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance and I ask the store manager what he think of the product. He said that he does not believe that buying for suitable for all life stages like Dick Van Patten's and Eagle Hollistic is notgood as it is not 'specially formulated' for a puppy. He recommened Advance,Eukanuba or Hills.

Then I go when I ask the fourms they said Advance Eukanuba and Hills is full of by products and he said that was good

Then I go compare the ingredient list from Dick Van PAttens and Advance Puppy Growth. They look both the same to me ? . Except Dick Van Patten does not contain corn,by products and has less Crude Fat and Crude Protein.

So what do you think about suitable for all life stages food ? Or should I follow him and get 'specially formulated food' I really do not want to be feeding my dog by-products

I keep doubting myself

Hi the food will be for a beagle puppy and sadly they do not stock Canidae in Australia

Answer 1

You can feed "suitable for all life stages" food to a dog at any life stage. Typically the puppy foods have higher fat and calorie contents per cup to support growth, feeding a puppy a little bit more of an "all life stages" food accomplishes the same thing-more fat and calories by giving a larger portion. Dick Van Patten's is a good food and I have no problem with you feeding it to a puppy. The biggest thing is to not give your puppy a "senior" or "restricted calorie" food because these don't have as much protein or fat as a puppy would need. Pretend he's a toddler: you could feed him the Gerber Graduates stuff but you don't have to, you can feed him what the adults eat too, just don't put him on Weight Watchers or Slim-Fast.

OK for all you ignorant people who don't have a clue: You know how you lab test a food? You feed it to dogs, give them a physical, and weigh them, simple as that. There is NO "cutting up a dog to examine its insides" or other bulls**t like that. And if you think it's better to risk food borne illnesses and parasites by feeding raw food than feeding a proven diet with a track record, know this: dogs DO get salmonella, and most dogs that are fed the BARF diet are carriers of salmonella. Dogs don't generally get sick from it, but you CAN catch salmonella and become sick yourself if you feed dogs BARF. In a recent study, over 3/4 of BARF diets sold in the US were contaminated with salmonella-ALL BRANDS OF RAW FOOD HAD THIS LEVEL OF CONTAMINATION, and the U.S. has the strictest food safety standards. Human beings have been cooking food for thousands of years, and the practice has done nothing but benefit our species. Killing off parasites and disease is a GOOD THING...what a shock!!!! The body breaks down food into its component molecules during digestion, so nutritionally there is NO DIFFERENCE between raw and cooked food. All cooking does is change the shape of proteins in the food, which is irrelevant because the body takes those proteins apart.

Answer 2

Canidae is a high quality food. It's organic, hypoallergenic and does not contain any of the corn or wheat flours that many dog foods contain and that many dogs are allergic to, instead it contains brown rice. The All Stages contains brown rice and chicken or other meats. Whenever you switch a dog food, even if it is the same brand,such as Canidae, you should gradually wean them onto it. The first day mix 2 parts of the old food with 1 part of the new food. Then every couple of days gradually increase the new dog food amount and decrease the old food. After about a week, your dog should be totally weaned onto the new dog food. My dogs love the Canidae dog food. Since they have been on it, they have had no allergy problems. Best of luck with your dogs. Hope I helped.

Answer 3

Don't doubt yourself. There are sooooo many choices, and as long as you're spending some time picking mostly suitable foods (ie all three of my dogs 2 y/o great dane, 1 y/o shepherd/beagle and 9 week old rott/mastiff mix all get Eagle holistic Duck- great for large breeds, good for puppies) that are of high quality, there's not too much worry. I still remember feeding my dogs puppy chow and purina food from the grocery store- really they did all right, but I feel better now. Kind of the difference between good food and MacDonald's.

Answer 4

I think all life stages formulas are just fine. By products, and anything with wheat or soy, is not good. From what I have read all you need to do is make sure that your puppy gets plenty of all life stages food. BTW enjoy your puppy! It's such a fun time!!

Answer 5

the Natural Balance is a far superior food, as it is made from all human grade ingredients. That means that nothing is in there that you would not feed your children.. I used to feed Eukenuba, but wouldn't ever again, as they do support cruel labratory testing, AND they use corn and by-products..Yuck!

Puppy's tummy does not have room for fillers, as it needs all the room for adequate nutrition. I think your dealer makes more per bag from the ones he recommended.

I feed my pups the all stages formula of Caniade, and they grow exceptionally well...Natural Balance and Canidae are just about the same.

Answer 6

Your first step is to find out your dog's nutritional needs, and then find a food that supplies those needs. I have a cool pamphlet entitled Your Dogs Nutritional Needs that is taken from the 2006 release Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats. Its a pdf file. If you would like a copy to help answer you questions send me an email and I will forward it to you.
[e-mail]

Answer 7

Evolve pet food...you can buy it online and its inexpensive.. There are no animal by-products, its organic. Contains all natural ingredients. Also contains probiotics to maintain healthy digestive system. After I found this I will never go back. I checked online and their dog food has the different stages, puppy, adult, senior, etc. You might want to look into it :)

Answer 8

oh my goodness i'm so glad u r in australia!!!! there is a product called BARF that is AMAZING!! I absolutely swear by it. hills diet, science diet, eukanuba, iams, etc have many byproducts and are also lab tested on animals, which is disgusting. Many of the products found in pet stores and supermarkets contain harmful preservatives too, which can dramatically shorten ur dogs diet.

i feed my dog BARF (i also mix into it raw egg 3 times a week and every day i mix in finely chopped raw carrpt, broccoli and raw pumpkin). her poo is hard and doesnt smell at all and her pee in not acydic. she is very healthy and happy!

I would never ever feed my dog (or any dog i will own in the future) anything but this product. you will find it in pet warehouses in the frozen food section.
the web address is www.barf.com.au
check it out, its well worth it!!
Good luck with ur new pup!! =)
(ps- this food is made of high grade products, focusing on the products which r best 4 ur dog. it is so good infact that humans could eat it- if it were cooked!!)

Answer 9

I think it is fine especially if you have a large breed. Go with Dick Van Pattens and avoid the corn, by product, food dye.
Here are some sites to look at
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main

Answer 10

My dogs have always lived longer than most in their breed. I alway fed them a small bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, snack on raw baby carrots and spring beans, Jack mackerel for dinner and as a treat for the big dogs i give them a raw whole fryer chicken. What do you think dogs did to survive B4 we had companies to convince us that we need to give our dogs processed food that is not healthy. The Vet says he never worries about my dogs health and none of mine have had the problems that most in their breeds have had and died from. Stop buying that junk!