What kind of food should I be feeding my puppy?

Question

He's about 4 months old. Not sure if I should give him wet or dry food, or a combo? Any good brands of food I should be getting?

Answer 1

Dry food is better for their teeth so you can wet dry kibble with water till he takes it dry , feed him small amounts a few times a day then as he gets older feed him dry food only once a day or twice if he seems hungry in the morning Wet food is terrible for a dogs teeth but great as a treat a few times a month

Answer 2

I've done a lot of research on dog foods lately and to make a long story short; I've been using Canadae which is a very good food but about 5 days after his bath he starts smelling like the dog food. I'm going to change to Nature's Variety and if I don't like that I'm going to make my own. The first 3 ingredients should be meat not meat-by-products. The meat-by-products may be made from feet, hooves, beaks, heads ect. and sure they have the protein but they're the kind that usually don't get digested so they may as well not be there. I think these 3 additives can cause cancer, BHT, BHA and ethoxyquin. Most grains are just fillers and most of them have no nutritional value because they are the left overs from something else and even if they do have the protein in them it's harder for dogs to digest. Example: My daughter had a cat when she was a teenager and I bought cheap food but it had the protein so I thought it was good then I read an article about what I've been telling you about the protein. I bought a better food and the skinny cat gained weight and looked good. A lot of dogs are allergic to grains, pork, beef and soy so I'm trying to stay away from those. Hopes this helps.
Check this out,
How to grade your dog's food: Start with a grade of 100:

1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (I.e. "ground brown rice", "brewers rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3points
9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:
1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the
first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein
source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are
pesticide-free, add 1 point

Score:
94-100+ = A 86-93 = B 78-85 = C 70-77 = D 69 and below = F

Here are some foods that have already been scored.
Dog Food scores:

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal &Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B
Iams Lamb Meal &Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb &Rice / Score 23 F
ProPlan Natural Turkey &Barley / Score 103 A+
Purina Beneful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

Answer 3

Its best to give your puppy DRY Puppy Food for the Dry(small pieces which increase as the dog grows)Cleans the teeth and gums as he eatas them while canned does not and if just canned food will add to serious gum problems.Tarta buildup can only be removed by a vet under sedation. Any Dog Food from a PETFOOD Store is Ok but I prefer AUTHORITY or NUTRO FOR CONTAIN ONY pure healthy food with NO BYPRODUCTS which unfortunately you find in just about all Grocerystore and Discount stores like Walmart etc. Byproduct is the junk parts of the animal ground up no real meat also a lot of corn etc. A dog needs MEAT .real Meat. Also good idea now to start brushing puppies teeth-chk out Petsmart.Petco and other Petfood stores for a lot of products choose what is best for you.What you feed your puppy is most important for a good quality food will have him be the dog he can be while poor food will not bring him to his full potential. Great that you care enough to ask about it.

Answer 4

I recommend dry food or a brand of raw food. Never canned. (It is too fatty).

There are good brands of dog food out there. They are *not* the ones you see in commercials. Go to a specialty dogfood store, or order online. Some good brands are Innova, Solid cold, wellness, Aunt Jennies, Prairie.

Most dog foods that are known, are made of diseased and rotting animals, that can't be fed to humans. Would you want you sweet pup to eat this?

I suggest reading the book *Foods that pets die for*. You can get it on Amazon.com.

It will teach you about what dogfoods are made of. Of coarse, now there are good dog foods out there....some of which I mentioned above.

Stay away from Purina, Eukanuba, Hills Science Diet, Iams...and basically all the popular brands.

Natural balance is good also, and that one, I beleive, you can get it at petsmart.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I've raised dogs all my life. Mainly Rottweilers. I feed Pedigree hard food which is available to the dogs at all times along with fresh water. At night I feed them Pedigree soft food mixed in with hard food. They don't get tired of it. I've tried every brand you can think of including Science Diet, Iams, Techni Cal from Canada which was great but I can't get it anymore because I no longer import anything. USA baby! Pedigree has been very good to me. Pups should have the puppy version til they are adults. They turn their nose up at Science Diet & won't even eat it. That hurts the pocketbook as it's quite pricey. My dogs are all champion quality & look great. Whoever gave me the 2 thumbs down must be nuts. My dogs average 150 lbs, have shiny coats, bright eyes & energy that's unbelievable. I'm looking at an empty bowl right now that I'm going to fill.

Answer 6

I'm not a vet, but a vet tech. I hear the doctors say most often that over all it doesn't matter that much. Meat should be in the top three ingredients. If you can afford it, Eukenuba and Science diet are good foods (Granted we sell the prescription versions) but they do seem to do the job. Don't get the cheapest, but you don't need the most expensive.

Puppy food is appropriate up to about six months, after that use a gradual mix to make the move to adult. If they don't vomit or have diarrhea, your probably all right. Though if she/he does, he may have worms or be sick, check with the vet and rule out illness before you blame the food.

Answer 7

I have a 9 month Golden Retreiver and for the first couple of months he was on Science Diet Puppy small bites(which most vets recommend) but then I did some research on dog food and most of them have chicken byproducts and so I decided to switch to natural and healthier food. I switched him to INNOVA, so I really recommend this brand. Other good brands that have no byproducts are CANIDAE and WELLNESS. You can go to this website and make a comparison with popular brands of food and these other natural ones and you can decide then. Good luck!

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab

Answer 8

"Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul" puppy food.
You get it at the petstore, feedstore, or online..

I would start him out on dry food, then later in a couple of years you should start mixing in a little can food with the dry...

Heres their site, hope you'll check it out....

Answer 9

Dry food is better for his teeth. Any good quality puppy chow is good. I don't use Iams because of their testing procedures, but Purina always works for my puppies, but their are many great brands out there.

Answer 10

Rice, cooked chicken,raw hamburger,carrots, apples....right?