What is the best brand of dog food for my westie puppy?

Question

Bringing her home next week & I'm tring to be prepared.

Answer 1

Much of the foods that have been recommended to you so I will not feed my dogs they range for poor to medium quality, some have food colouring and other ingredients that could potentially causing cancer, some have next to no meat, some have ingredients that dogs are often highly allergic to, some may contain euthanized pets, or rotting road kills that were picked up off the side of the road. Some contain peanuts shells often refered in an ingredient list as cellulose fiber, learning what ingredient terms means is important in choosing a good dog, learning what ingredients are dog for dog or bad for dogs is also advantageous. So I am going to give you a list of sites to read so you know what to look for in a good food. A vet is not always the best person to recommend a food, their nutrition course was put together by some of the worst dog food companies when it comes to quality ingredients example Hills who makes Science Diet, they use some of the cheapest ingredients possible and have next to no meat in their food, dogs were born to eat meat all you have to do is look at their teeth to see that is what they were designed for, ever seen a wild canine sitting in a corn field eating corn in place of meat? Yet that is the main ingredient is Science Diet.

While you do your reading and research I will recommend Canidae as quite a good food that is price in the same range as most of the food listed above but unlike the other foods uses lots of human grade meat that is hormone free and antibiotic free, and they use pesticide free rice, they use no dyes, chemical perservative or other ingredient which are known carcigens, and they do not use ingredients that dogs are most likely to be allergic to, it can also be fed to dogs of all ages http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html

For reading resources
This give you a reason why you want to learn about foods
http://www.y2khealthanddetox.com/annmartin.html
http://drjackie.freeservers.com/articles/mar28-1999_food_even_a_dog.html
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1

Now for sites to learn from

http://www.doberdogs.com/menu.html

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main

http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html#commercial

For my own dogs based on a lot of research I have chosen
Innova EVO RM
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=product-detail&pxsl=%2F%2Fproduct%5B@id%3D%271404%27%5D
I chose to go with a very high meat protein diet with no grains

One of the reasons I chose a no grain food is because every single major dogfood recall pretty much is related to high levels of mycotoxins that have occurred in various grains, and which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of dogs

Today a new recall went into effect due to dogs dying of kidney disease details will be released to the public tomorrow morning info about is on Yahoo but I am pretty sure the news will be related to some kind of grain toxin.

Diamond foods had a toxic batch of corn with high levels of aflatoxin about a year ago which resulted in many dogs dying from liver failure, reported number of deaths as a result is much lower than actually occurred the only numbers counted are from those owners who decided to go ahead with a necroscopy(autopsy) after their dogs died, if an owner does not do due to finances or emotion pain their dogs or they lost their dog before the recall was announced and could no longer do are not counted into the death toll. Over the years there have been several other food recalls as a result of mycotoxins

I also chose because of research I had done on protein requirements for dogs especially seniors since 2 of mine were older dogs, many vets do not recognize the newer research and will still tell us it will cause kidney disease, original high protein research was done on rats not dogs, current research was done on dogs and the finding wee complete opposite if the rat study research.
http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/protein.html


Canidae is a good food, has a better meat ratio than most other dog foods but about 18% less than EVO, EVO is one of the most expensive foods available, so it is much higher than most people feel comfortable buying, and the reason I recommend the Canidae as a good food to start on plus it can be fed to large and giant breed puppies with out risk of causing Pano.

Answer 2

Best Dog Food For Westies

Answer 3

1 -Just a head's up on Westies, they can tend to have allergies that result in upset stomach and skin problems. You might find you need a good potato / fish formula and avoiding wheat, corn, soy and other common allergens might be necessary.
2 -Another thing to consider if you want to be prepared is that he/she should continue on the food she has already been eating for at least 2 weeks while you make a gradual change to a new food. A sudden change to a new food can be quite a shock to the system and result in symptoms like lethargy and diarrhea.
My sister in law has a Westie and he's such an adorable, handsome little charmer. Good choice!!

Answer 4

Westiepoo Puppies

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is the best brand of dog food for my westie puppy?
Bringing her home next week & I'm tring to be prepared.

Answer 6

The breeder will have started the puppy on a food, so first, ask her what she is feeding the puppy. You will need to buy some even if you plan to switch brands.
Eukanuba has recently redsigned their small breed kibble, also Solid Gold and Bil Jac would be good foods for a westie.
But, talk to the breeder first. She may even have a starter bag of food to go with your puppy for youl.

Best wishes!

Answer 7

Steer away from the corn, wheat, soy, beet pulp and by product laden store brands such as Science Diet, IAMS/Eukanuba,Purina, Pedigree they are low quality foods..Particualrly stay away from Beneful, Kibbles n'Bits, Alpo, etc they are poor quality foods.
Corn, wheat, soy are all allergens. They are also hard to digest. They don't give dogs proper nutrition either. Soy & corn are also implicated in recent studies as one cause of unexplained seizures in dogs. Beet pulp adds nothing but bulk and unnecassary sugars. Remember dogs are carnivores...meat eaters not grain eaters. It takes up to 3 times more of grain laden foods for a dog to get proper nutrition then it does of a good quality meat based ( meat as at least the first 2-3 ingredients) food.

Some real good choices:
Canidae, Innova, Solid Gold, Percise, Premium Edge, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Wellness, California Natural, Blue Buffalo just to name a few.

Answer 8

Dogs are one of the most common pets world wide. Because of this, it makes sense that there are many different dog training methods out there. Unfortunately, most of these training methods are less than ideal to use for your pet.

Because of all of these differing dog training methods out there, many new pet owners get confused which to follow and even start using methods that are highly inaccurate or counter-productive for their pets. This article will show you the top three dog training methods that you should avoid like the plague!

Method 1: Using Punishment as Training

You'd be surprised how many pet owners use punishment as their "bread and butter" for obedience training. Unfortunately, as with bread and butter, this is one of those dog training methods that is very "unhealthy" for both you and your pet.

Think about it. When you punish anything, whether it's a dog or a human being, you're using negative energy. It's like you're a dictator and your pet is your slave. This is a very negative relationship between both and will only lead to problems in the future.

You want to establish a positive, loving relationship with your dog. Punishment is NOT how to do it. There are much more effective training approaches out there that work much better.

Method 2: The "One Person in the House Trains the Dog" Method

I couldn't think of a more creative title so I just named it the most descriptive title! Basically this is one of those common dog training methods that people follow without even realizing it! Here's a common scenario:

There is one dog and multiple people in the house that play with, feed, and take care of the dog. Out of those many people, only one actually trains the dog to listen and obey them. The others merely play with the dog.

This dynamic is highly ineffective if you are serious about training your dog. The reason is that only one person training a dog, no matter how great their training skills are, will not get the dog to listen to everybody. The dog will realize that it needs to behave around one person, but know that the other people don't care. Dogs are smart! They know who the "dominant" people are and who they can get away with more "mischief" with.

I've seen this problem happen with many pet owners where they try really hard to train their pet but cannot achieve any results. The reason is often that while one person is trying to train their pet to not do one thing, the other people in the house are actually rewarding the very thing!

An example of this is when dogs jump on people. This is not good behavior and one person could be training them to stop this. At the same time, another family member may think it's cute and pet and cuddle them after they do this. What's a dog to think when different reactions happen with different people?

Method 3: Following No Dog Training Methods - Using Intuition

I know many pet owners that think that because they have children and successfully raised them that they can get their dog to listen to them as well! Aside from the big ego, this approach assumes that dogs learn exactly the same way that humans learn.

While this is true to some extent, dogs are dogs and people are people. Different approaches are needed for different animals. While they may be more subtle than training a giraffe, they are still there and have a big impact on the results you'll see.

It is important to understand exactly what you are teaching your pets to do and not to do. If you don't, you may very well end up doing things counter-productive.

The best solution to this is to pick up a book or go find some training course out there that has a depth of coverage on the topic.

Other Poor Methods of Approach

If you've been trying to train your dog for a few weeks now and haven't seen any real results then I'm pretty sure that you're following a "Method to Avoid" approach. While I only listed three methods, there are thousands of other approaches that don't work. Take the results that you are getting as a signal if you are using a good method or a poor one. If you haven't seen any good results from your approach, move on and try another one.

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Answer 9

I'm doing basic obedience right now. My trainer hasn't once handled my dog. He has shown me how to handle my dog by using his own dog but that's about it. The reasoning is that I need to learn how to do these basic corrections and what not myself. Learn more https://tinyurl.im/JmHjv

I have never considered sending my dog away for training. I guess I haven't found that much of a problem with him to even think about it.

Again, it may also have to do with the level of training you are looking for etc. No idea lol. I'm not a trainer. I think a first time dog owner needs to learn simple commands and how to handle their dog themselves as well.

Answer 10

Royal Canin is the number one rated food by vets. You can only by it a vet's office.

Nutro is another great choice and can be purchased at most pet stores.

Stay away from Iams, Pedigree, Ol'Roy and other store brands

Answer 11

I see a lot of expensive brands being listed. you need to make sure you are mixing what the breeder was using with what you use if you decide to change it. Iams and science diet are very good brands the vets actually carry them. as well as walmarts and grociery stores so pretty easy to find. I recomend dry food over wet. do not mix wet with dry as when the dogs eats it it expands inside of its stomache and the dog throws up. I had this problem with my first one as they fed her that where I got her and she threw up the whole way home. You may wet the dry food if you feel neccasary but dry is best for there teeth.